Tennis Thread

[Avon.Blakes7]

2 minutes ago, KFC said:

Yeah, Nadal will be #1 officially next week and thus the top seed at the USO regardless of what happens in Cincinnati. The official ATP rankings are always a little behind what's actually happening because they're only published once a week, but he is definitely #1 now that Federer has withdrawn from Cincy.

Also, Sharapova was granted a wildcard for the U.S. Open.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/us-open-announces-maria-sharapova-among-2017-wildcards

The live rankings have already lowered Roger and elevated Rafa: - http://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-live-ranking - 

[shok]

13 hours ago, KFC said:

Yeah, Nadal will be #1 officially next week and thus the top seed at the USO regardless of what happens in Cincinnati. The official ATP rankings are always a little behind what's actually happening because they're only published once a week, but he is definitely #1 now that Federer has withdrawn from Cincy.

 

Rafa being #1 has nothing to do with Federer. Murray has 600 points dropping off from last year's Cincy and Rafa was only 200 or so points behind him. It was just a matter of time because Rafa has had the best record and the most points for 2017 and has been #1 in The Race rankings for pretty much the whole year. Hope he can stay healthy and keep his lead until the end of the year so he'll get that lovely huge trophy that's presented at the WTF.   :-)

[Spunkygal]

Yay for Tiafoe! He was strong against Zverev today! I love his passion...hope he goes far.

[topanga]

13 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

Yay for Tiafoe! He was strong against Zverev today! I love his passion...hope he goes far.

I saw him play live, and he is amazing. He almost won a tough 5-setter against fellow American John Isner in last year's US Open. I hope he goes far in his career. 

His next match is rematch with Isner. Should be good. 

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, topanga said:

His next match is rematch with Isner. Should be good. 

Oh shit.  Isner again.  I hate watching him play.

[topanga]

4 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Oh shit.  Isner again.  I hate watching him play.

LOL. Why?

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, topanga said:

LOL. Why?

Because the matches go on forever.  Remember Nicholas Mahut?  Isner is just good enough that you can't just take him out early, but not good enough to finish someone else off early and there will probably be a tie-break that goes well into the night if it's an evening match.   The good thing about Cincinnati is that they're three-setters so even with tie-breaks the match shouldn't last that long

[KFC]

On 8/16/2017 at 3:24 AM, shok said:

Rafa being #1 has nothing to do with Federer. Murray has 600 points dropping off from last year's Cincy and Rafa was only 200 or so points behind him. It was just a matter of time because Rafa has had the best record and the most points for 2017 and has been #1 in The Race rankings for pretty much the whole year. Hope he can stay healthy and keep his lead until the end of the year so he'll get that lovely huge trophy that's presented at the WTF.   :-)

That's incorrect.

Federer pulling out DID enable Nadal to obtain the number 1 ranking at Cincy. Had Federer entered the tournament, mathematically he would have had a chance to become 1 himself depending on how he finished in the tournament. With Federer and Murray out of Cincy, there was no one left besides Rafa who could obtain enough points to claim the top ranking.

Also, I don't know where you're getting your information that Rafa has been "#1 in The Race rankings for pretty much the whole year." Federer led the race until the clay season (which we all know he skipped entirely), due to his winning the AO AND the Sunshine Double.

I'm speaking purely in terms of mathematic possibilities, not as a fan assessment of their games or performances.

Edited August 18, 2017 by KFC

[Ohwell]

Nice run for Tiafoe but he lost to Isner.  Dammit.

[crimsongrl]

Victoria Azarenka might miss the US Open because of an ongoing custody battle.

[topanga]

53 minutes ago, crimsongrl said:

Victoria Azarenka might miss the US Open because of an ongoing custody battle.

Wow. That stinks. California should honor the Belarus agreement if that's the precedent. 

[BitterApple]

Sounds to me like loser baby daddy wants $$$. This is like the tennis version of Halle Berry and her ex, where he's going to make life miserable until she agrees to hefty child support payments. 

[Harry24]

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.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Harry24

[truthaboutluv]

11 hours ago, Harry24 said:

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.

Once it was clear that the US Open, as they often do, was going to go by the rankings and have Rafa at #1 and Federer at #3, it was pretty much a given they would meet in the semifinals because that's usually how the draw works. 

11 hours ago, Harry24 said:

That said, Rafa's draw looks pretty darn good, unless Shapovalov gets through qualifying and ends up in his section.

Shapovalov qualified for the main draw. He's not in Rafa's section. YMMV, I love Rafa but he has not looked great this summer, in my opinion. While Shapovalov played well in their Rogers Cup match, Rafa made a ton of errors and blew something like 11 break points. Honestly, it's a credit to how good he is that the match ended up as close as it was because he did not play very well that night. Cincinnati was better but he got solidly outplayed by Kyrgios. Of course, as many have always said, beating Rafa in a best of 3 match is very different than playing him in a best of 5. So we shall see. 

 

11 hours ago, Harry24 said:

Has anyone heard anything about how Fed and Murray are looking in terms of injury recovery?  

No kidding, this is how little I care about Murray, that I swear I thought he'd pulled out of the Open. Like I was convinced he had pulled out along with Stan and Djokovic. So imagine my surprise when my friend sends me a message about watching him practice on Armstrong. As for Federer, haven't heard anything and most seem to believe he's the odds on favorite to win. 

 

11 hours ago, Harry24 said:

*There was a period where I read some pretty convincing opinion pieces about the Wimbledon draw being fixed, at least to some degree.

That's probably because Wimbledon, unlike every other Slam, doesn't go by ATP/WTA rankings and ranks players based off their own system. So yeah some of their rankings in the past have certainly been side-eye worthy and they would avoid accusations of being fixed if they'd just go by the damn rankings. But that wouldn't make them act like they're special and give them a reason to rank Federer #1 damn near every year (I'm being facetious with that last statement). 

[Quof]

Murray is out. 

What do they do now? Seeds are set.  Do they change the seeds, take another player for Qualifiers, or does his first round match just get a walkover?

[Harry24]

7 minutes ago, Quof said:

Murray is out. 

What do they do now? Seeds are set.  Do they change the seeds, take another player for Qualifiers, or does his first round match just get a walkover?

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.

[Quof]

Quote

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, 

Well, damn, as if I didn't hate Andy enough....

[Ohwell]

Well, congrats to Lukas Lacko, the "lucky loser!"

[dcalley]

5 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Murray, that I swear I thought he'd pulled out of the Open.

You can see the future!

[truthaboutluv]

9 minutes ago, dcalley said:

You can see the future!

lol, I said the same thing to my friend and she insists that I just blighted him. But yeah, the US Open organizers must be so pissed he denied them their dream final. Doesn't matter, the dream semi won't happen. One or both will be knocked out before. Just a gut feeling.

[Jillibean]

I was over at the Open today, and Andy was practicing with Pouille for about two hours. Have to guess that he determined based on that that he couldn't make a run this year. I'm happy for Sam Querrey, who just substantially improved his draw, but I agree that it's frustrating for both the tournament and the fans to have the two most well known men in the draw slated to meet in the semis and not the finals when a 28 or so hour earlier withdrawal would have put them in opposite ends of the draw (and alternating day schedules). With all the big names who are already out, the organizers must be beside themselves. They're probably grateful that Maria is playing and hoping she overcomes HER awful draw to make a deep run. 

[Dejana]

Rafa and Roger have never faced each other at the US Open at any point, ever, at this stage in their careers, the "dream final" would have been expecting way too much anyway.

Seems strange to me that everyone else just couldn't move up a seed with Murray out, but I suppose rules are rules.

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, Dejana said:

Rafa and Roger have never faced each other at the US Open at any point, ever, at this stage in their careers, the "dream final" would have been expecting way too much anyway.

Seems strange to me that everyone else just couldn't move up a seed with Murray out, but I suppose rules are rules.

I think the issue is because the draw has already been set. I definitely think if that had not been the case, they would have just moved the seeding up. But to do that would necessitate having a whole new draw.

[Quof]

Quote

But to do that would necessitate having a whole new draw.

So? What would that take, half an hour?  I can see them not doing that after the order of play is set for Monday, but why can't they do it Saturday? 

[theatremouse]

It's not that your suggestion is unreasonable, but they need to draw the line somewhere. That's why they have existing rules for cutting off how/when they'd do what. So they're following their existing protocol. It's getting more attention because of who it is, but if the same thing happened with a 9 seed the process for adjusting the draw would be the same as far as I know. Based on the timing they wouldn't redo that draw either. One could make the argument for changing the process for future tournaments, but it'd be super sketchy to do something other than the established policy when the process has already begun for the current tournament.

[Jillibean]

12 hours ago, Quof said:

So? What would that take, half an hour?  I can see them not doing that after the order of play is set for Monday, but why can't they do it Saturday? 

Theoretically, if the policy was to do a whole new draw if a seeded player withdraws prior to the tournament starting (but after the draw), that gives a lot of power to withdrawing players. There seems to be some real potential for corruption there, as well--perhaps a player who knows he is injured waits for the draw to see if it favors his countrymen or other people under the same management team before deciding whether to withdraw before the first round or retire during the first round. Just as an example. If it's not all seeded players, you have to draw a line somewhere. Top eight? Top sixteen? The draw is a relatively big deal--they have a ceremony, sponsors are involved, etc.--and beyond the ceremonial aspect, it is the event that can set players up or eliminate them from winning the tournament and huge amounts of money. I can see why they would only want to do it once. I also imagine the players' unions would not agree to the draw being done multiple times. 

[blackwing]

Loved watching the return of Maria Sharapova. I know she has her detractors, but I have always admired her power and determination.  That match last night was a great performance.  I really thought she was going to steamroll through in two sets but Halep made a match of it.  

I know other players criticise Maria because they say she is cold and unfriendly, but it was obvious how emotional she was about her Grand Slam return.  She dropped to her knees immediately after Halep's match point return went wide, and then she was visibly in tears.  I liked her interview afterwards as well.

I feel that she served her time and paid the price for her infraction.  The governing body determined it was enough and allowed her to return to the game.  I know many in the court of public opinion think it wasn't enough and that she should be permabanned, but the governing body didn't agree.  I enjoy watching her play and I hope she goes far in this tournament.

[topanga]

11 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Loved watching the return of Maria Sharapova. I know she has her detractors, but I have always admired her power and determination.  That match last night was a great performance.  I really thought she was going to steamroll through in two sets but Halep made a match of it.  

I know other players criticise Maria because they say she is cold and unfriendly, but it was obvious how emotional she was about her Grand Slam return.  She dropped to her knees immediately after Halep's match point return went wide, and then she was visibly in tears.  I liked her interview afterwards as well.

I feel that she served her time and paid the price for her infraction.  The governing body determined it was enough and allowed her to return to the game.  I know many in the court of public opinion think it wasn't enough and that she should be permabanned, but the governing body didn't agree.  I enjoy watching her play and I hope she goes far in this tournament.

I'm not Maria's #1 fan, but I do think women's tennis is better when she's playing. And that was a BIG win. 

[truthaboutluv]

It's weird, I went into the match fairly neutral but the longer it went on, I found myself really rooting for Halep. She's a little bit of an emotional case but I really like her. But I think the real reason for my turn around is that I got really sick of the commentators constant blowing smoke up Maria's ass. I was so damn tired of Chris Evert's "no one is as tough as she is, no one hits like that, etc." at which point Chris Fowler always had to jump in with, "except for Serena".

It just became nauseating.  I do feel Maria has paid her dues for the whole doping thing and I don't begrudge her return and I won't get into the debate of whether or not she should have been given the wild card or not. I'm just not here for all this, "Maria is here to save women's tennis" bloviated crap. I could tell how much the win meant to her but eh, was totally bummed for Halep. 

But in better news, so impressed with Darian King last night. As a West Indian myself, I thought he handled this moment so well. First time ever in a major draw and first time ever for any Barbadian, male or female. I almost felt bad for Zverev at points in the way he looked like he didn't understand why this match was being so difficult. Like you could see the confusion on his face and that he was clearly thinking that this is not how he envisioned the match going. That this was supposed to be quick and easy. 

Now about that outfit he's wearing. I'm going to assume this is an homage to Borg? At least I sincerely hope so. I love Pharrell, brilliant musician/producer but I'm not sure about the tennis designer thing. Those dresses Muguruza and the other Adidas women are wearing is kind of ugly. 

Edited August 29, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[blackwing]

I would agree with you there.  Chris Evert is obviously a fan and was clearly rooting for Sharapova.  At one point in the third set when Maria was up maybe 4-2 or 5-2, Evert said something about how it was so unfortunate for Halep that she got Maria in the first round.  As an experienced commentator, Evert should know to not display bias.  I also thought it was a bit premature, considering I think Maria was up 4-1 in the second and ended up losing the set 6-4.

The two female players I truly dislike the most are both playing today... Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe.  Pliskova to me seems like such a cold automaton, I feel like there is absolutely no joy in watching her play.  And Vandeweghe is the very definition of brash arrogance.  Wouldn't mind seeing them both lose.  Especially since Halep is out in the first round, I'd like to see Pliskova out early so she doesn't extend her points lead.

12 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Now about that outfit he's wearing. I'm going to assume this is an homage to Borg? At least I sincerely hope so. 

I think one of the McEnroes said that he was channeling Will Ferrell.  Whatever it is, it isn't a particularly great look.  Is this how he always looks?  

[Ohwell]

I know Sharapova has paid her dues but I am sick of the media blowing smoke up her ass and portraying her as some kind of savior for women's tennis.  However, I'm waiting for the media to blow even more smoke up her ass if she continues to win matches.   I never had an opinion one way or the other about her because of her "infraction."  I have never liked her because of the annoying sounds she makes when she plays.  I know she's not the only one who does it, but it's annoying nonetheless.  

[mojoween]

I HATE the shrieking and that is why I could never root for her, which makes me sad because we Marias have to stick together.

Every time Chris Myers or one of the other ESPN peeps complains about the rain in NY I squirm a little bit more.

Edited August 29, 2017 by mojoween

[Ohwell]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Every time Chris Myers or one of the other ESPN peeps complains about the rain in NY I squirm a little bit more.

I squirm here in the DC area because we've got a little rain today and it's chilly and some of the newscasters are complaining.  

[blackwing]

I don't know why, but the Sharapova Shriek has never bothered me.  I know some players have complained about it.  But it's not like she's the only one that shrieks / wails / grunts / whatever you want to call it.  Victoria Azarenka does what I call a banshee wail.  Serena grunts.  Halep was grunting in the match too, not sure if she normally does or if it was in response.  Sharapova has lots of company.  Some complain that her shrieks are high pitched and "different" than others', but who is to say why one player's shriek is more offensive than another's grunt?

As long as there's no rules about it, I don't see why they can't.  

This reminds me of Bud Collins getting all excited about an upcoming match.  Something like "Tomorrow's match will be a grunting afficianado's dream.  It's Monica Seles...... uh EHHHHHH [short low sound followed by louder longer higher pitched grunt] versus Gabriela Sabatini..... uhhhhhhhhh [low long moan of pleasure]!"  Too funny.  I miss Bud Collins and the way he insisted on calling her Maria "shuh-RAHP-uh-vuh". 

[Ohwell]

Well, I already said that she wasn't the only one making the noises, but she was annoying nonetheless.

[BitterApple]

7 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I know Sharapova has paid her dues but I am sick of the media blowing smoke up her ass and portraying her as some kind of savior for women's tennis.  However, I'm waiting for the media to blow even more smoke up her ass if she continues to win matches.   I never had an opinion one way or the other about her because of her "infraction."  I have never liked her because of the annoying sounds she makes when she plays.  I know she's not the only one who does it, but it's annoying nonetheless.  

You and me both. I was really pissed at her for taking that extra long bathroom break right after Halep had rattled off five straight games to win the set. They really need to start docking players who push the time limits like that. 

[Jillibean]

I had the tennis channel on yesterday, and Martina N was very clear that she didn't think Sharapova should have been given the wildcard. One of the other analysts suggested it was similar to Kim Clijsters being given a wildcard when she returned to tennis, and Martina said, "Kim Clijsters wasn't coming off a doping ban." I thought it was noteworthy because no one else seems comfortable voicing a personal opinion one way or the other, and Martina made no apologies for thinking Maria needed to "earn her way back."

7 hours ago, blackwing said:

I would agree with you there.  Chris Evert is obviously a fan and was clearly rooting for Sharapova.  At one point in the third set when Maria was up maybe 4-2 or 5-2, Evert said something about how it was so unfortunate for Halep that she got Maria in the first round.  As an experienced commentator, Evert should know to not display bias.  I also thought it was a bit premature, considering I think Maria was up 4-1 in the second and ended up losing the set 6-4.

 

I mean, I DO think it was an unfortunate draw for Halep. It was going to be an unfortunate draw for any seeded player who wound up with Maria as a first round opponent. Even if Halep had won in straight sets, it was still a very unlucky draw for her. However, I agree with your sentiment. Chris seemed very pro-Maria and made a lot of comments about the difficulties of being a counter puncher that seemed to imply Maria's game was superior because she could drive the point. 

Yes, Maria has a great power game. Her downfall time and time again has been that that's really ALL she has. If her serve is off, or if her opponent has a good power game too, she has few other weapons. Many players have won matches against Maria by just letting her beat herself with errors, and it almost worked for Halep last night. However, as the media icon she is, I'm sure the woman's tour is happy to have her back with Serena out and a lot of top ranked players who are not stars. But I would rather they just say that than pretend her game is one of the best ever.

I agree with all; those white/yellow/red/blue outfits are awful. What brand is that? 

[BitterApple]

Wow, major props to Martina for having the balls to keep it real. Kim Clijsters was given a wildcard after she had her baby, correct? That's an entirely different ball of wax than returning to the game after serving a doping suspension. 

[khyber]

Thank god for the mute button. I hate it when they interview random celebrities in the audience. I'm here to watch tennis.

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, Jillibean said:

I agree with all; those white/yellow/red/blue outfits are awful. What brand is that? 

Adidas. Apparently they created a partnership with singer/producer Pharrell, (he was in Zverev's section last night, wearing a shirt similar to the one designed for Zverev) for him to design the outfits for this year's US Open. Let's just say I'm not impressed. 

 

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Kim Clijsters was given a wildcard after she had her baby, correct?

Yes and I may be wrong but I don't think she was the first person to be given one after having a baby.

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, Jillibean said:

I agree with all; those white/yellow/red/blue outfits are awful. What brand is that? 

The women look like cheerleaders.

[MostlyC]

Sartorial note:  I like the shirt Federer is wearing tonight.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

My goodness--does Roger have his hands full with this kid.  It's a shame this is the first round.  This is Quarter/Semis/Finals material.

[truthaboutluv]

17 minutes ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

My goodness--does Roger have his hands full with this kid.  It's a shame this is the first round.  This is Quarter/Semis/Finals material.

Based on his shaky fitness coming in and what I saw of Tiafoe at Cincinnati, my gut told me this would potentially be a competitive match. Mary Jo predicted the same earlier today. Still, I have to say, I thought for sure Roger would run away with it after he blew through the second and third sets.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

2 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Based on his shaky fitness coming in and what I saw of Tiafoe at Cincinnati, my gut told me this would potentially be a competitive match.

I know!  I too wondered about his back and how prepared he would be for this tourney.  But I'm really wondering how Tiafoe isn't ranked higher.  He is the full package.  Great news for the future of US Men's Tennis.

[MostlyC]

That was a match!

[theatremouse]

Tiafoe has been a bit streaky this summer, but he does have the goods. I think he needs another year or two to really bust out. And to not meet top 5 players in round one of slams...

[truthaboutluv]

6 minutes ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

But I'm really wondering how Tiafoe isn't ranked higher.

I can see it. He's good but still a little immature and erratic in his play. He's fearless, which is always a good thing and just goes for it all the time but he hasn't learned how to finesse his game and play the big points smarter. That comes with experience though.

 

Quote

And to not meet top 5 players in round one of slams...

lol, yup that would help immensely. 

Edited August 30, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[BitterApple]

What an effort from Tiafoe! I thought he was done when Roger breezed through the second and third sets, but he surprised me by coming back and making it interesting in the fifth. Tiafoe has a ton of talent, he's going to do well once he matures and has more experience handling the big matches.

Edited August 30, 2017 by BitterApple

[Ohwell]

Great effort by Tiafoe!  I loved the fact that he didn't fall apart after Roger smoked him in those two sets.  Those folks really got their money's worth watching those two play.

I'm excited by the new crop of men's players like Tiafoe, Zverev (sp?) and others who will take the place of the  30+ "oldsters" in a few years.  I'll miss some of them when they retire, but bring on the young'uns!