Harry24

Did anyone notice if Rafa was wearing the strap on his knee in earlier matches? I can't remember the last time he was wearing one. Should we worry?

Stealinghome and RCC, how come Farrell should have been fired? Did he do a bad job?

Way to go, guys!!!!! Unfortunately, we go into Cleveland with a hugely depleted bullpen. Come on, starters!

This is very late, but I absolutely LOL'd at Stephen's version of Lawrence O'Donnell's meltdown. Just thinking about it now, and I'm still laughing. And, boy, do I need the laughter.

AuntieDiane6 and HartofDixie ... Thank you for taking the time to post the TV schedule!!!! I'm sure I'm not the only one here who appreciates your efforts.

I judge him to be adorable! He has a very sweet, genuine smile. People seem to want to compare him to Jeter, but I find Aaron the much more appealing personality. And completely agree about the Archer cuteness too.

Wow. Much to my surprise, the Laver Cup was REALLY exciting. I hope they can keep the momentum up. It was more exciting than the US Open or Wimbledon this year.

Sigh. What a dispiriting final. I'm glad for Sloane to get this great title, but I was really hoping for a great final. I hope Madison responds by getting angry at herself and doubling down on determination to win a few majors herself!

Sigh. I was rooting for Petra. But she didn't bring it in the tiebreaker and Venus did. Big time! Such bold shotmaking. Rooting for Madison and Pliskova tomorrow. And of course Roger.

So happy for my dear Petra. She's such a joy to watch when she's playing well, and of course she's just a lovely person. I adore Garbine too. I wish they hadn't had to meet so early.

Phew. Roger (my man) looked much, much better tonight. Not as good as the online analysts (Robbie Konig and someone I didn't recognize) were saying, but much better. Can't disagree about Coco. I saw her in a World Team Tennis tie a few summers ago, and she was incredibly unpleasant. I really enjoy her game, powerful, athletic and forward moving, and wish more women played like her. But I just can't with the obnoxiousness. I gather she and Keys were/are good friends, which is a point in her favor because I think Madison seems pretty nice. So who do you guys think will be the men's finalist from the bottom half? My money is on Shapovalov.

I really loathe how packaged the "stories" are on the ESPN broadcasts (although I do enjoy hearing Darren Cahill quietly resist being told what to say). I wonder if the ESPN producers contemplated making Sharapova and her return a story of "outrage," and trying to turn her into a click-bait villain. That would have been wonderful. That said, I'm sure Sharapova's sponsors and the tennis insiders (USTA? WTA?) all pushed heavily for the "champion returning from no-particular-reason-la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you" storyline. I often wonder how influence like this is actually wielded. Is it in the form of direct communication between higher-ups? And re the McEnroe yammering, it's always so instructive to hear commentators like him, Tracy Austin and Lindsay D doing commentary for the BBC, when they are quiet for long stretches. It's the producers who are deciding how much they talk. The producers, however, shoulder no blame when it comes to McEnroe's poor quality and lack of preparedness, aside from deciding to hire him in the first place. I'm so bummed that my two favorite women's players, Kvitova and Muguruza, are playing each other next. Sigh. Finally: Cilic lost too? The highest seed left in the bottom half is Lucas Pouille?!!!!! I seriously think Shapavalov could win this thing. He reminds me of Boris Becker (aside from not being a serve-and-volleyer, obviously)

From the AP: If Murray had pulled out of the field anytime before the draw was conducted Thursday, then Federer would have moved up to the No. 2 seeding and automatically would be in the bottom half of the bracket, setting up the possibility of a final between him and Nadal. Instead, Federer stays where he is at No. 3. No. 5 Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion, shifts to Murray's slot in the bracket and takes on the man who was supposed to face Murray in the first round, Tennys Sandgren of the United States. Under Grand Slam rules, the man seeded 17th — in this case Querrey — moves to Cilic's vacated spot and will play Gilles Simon of France. Querrey's old line in the draw gets filled by the highest-ranked man who was not seeded originally, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany; he becomes seed No. 33 and plays qualifier Tim Smyczek of the U.S. Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, who lost in qualifying, gets into the 128-man field as a "lucky loser," replacing Murray. Lacko will play Benoit Paire of France.

Now, I may be missing something, but wouldn't you think that the fact that Federer and Nadal are in the same half of the US Open draw pretty well proves that the draw isn't fixed?* Surely the folks in charge would want them playing every other day and possibly meeting in the final rather than playing both on the same days and possibly meeting in the semi. That said, Rafa's draw looks pretty darn good, unless Shapovalov gets through qualifying and ends up in his section. Has anyone heard anything about how Fed and Murray are looking in terms of injury recovery? Halep-Sharapova in the first round is insane. I am NOT looking forward to Sharapova's screaming again. If there was a god, at some point she would have to play a tournament with laryngitis. *There was a period where I read some pretty convincing opinion pieces about the Wimbledon draw being fixed, at least to some degree.

Don't forget the best of them: Tony Pena.

<Shallow> He'll look so great in the Dodger colors. </Shallow> Plus, I will be genuinely thrilled for him if they win, which, duh, they are favored to do.

Oh, that scruffy look does not suit Fed. I think it was clearly the source of his (relatively) sub-par play this week. Secondly, Juan-Carlos F still smoking. Lordy.

This Yankee fan is totally enjoying the HR derby. I was rooting for Giancarlo to get it done, even though it would have meant beating Sanchez. (It was sweet to see Sanchez with his little daughter, whose birth he credits for turning him into a more serious player.) I think Tex is doing a really nice job. He seems genuinely enthusiastic, which is always charming, but he's also informative. So Bellinger has a definite douche look to him. True? Unfair? I don't know anything about his personality. And, good grief, his mother is a Ann Coulter look-alike. Yikes. I haven't read anything about an official reason for Chris Berman not doing the derby this year. Has he been on the air since his wife's death?

I didn't see much of the Rafa-Muller match, but I am SHOCKED Rafa lost. The first three rounds he looked as good as he did at the French, and that was terrifyingly great. For those of you who saw the match, did he play on the same level or was there a drop off?

To be fair, despite the ugly incident with Wawrinka, Kyrgios has the reputation of being very well liked ... off the court. Tomic, not so much. ETA - Sorry, I mistakenly put the quote in spoiler tags and can't get it out. Definitely NOT a spoiler.

So sad Kvitova is out already. I was looking forward to seeing her languid, powerful game on my TV screen for several days longer. Alas.

That's so sweet that MLB had a take-your-kid-to-work day.

While watching Rafa's match against Thiem I was struck by how effortful Thiem's shotmaking is. He seems to have to throw his body fully into every shot to get all that power, but I would assume that would make it harder to be consistent. Has anyone heard any commentary on this? It seems to me the top guys have much more effortless power shotmaking.

I read that CC Sabathia and a few other black players said that Boston is the only city where they hear that sh*& from the stands. Sigh.

I was so impressed with his acting in the latest Tuck Buckford bit. Wow. That was a Melissa-McCarthy-as-Sean-Spicer level of commitment.