US Open (tennis)

[BSR]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

OK, before the tournament started, how many tennis pundits predicted that the women's final would be between two unseeded bi-racial (Ecuadorean/Filipina and Roumanian/Chinese) teenagers, both born in Canada to immigrant parents?

I saw part of one of Raducanu's matches at Wimbledon.  While she clearly had talent, I never expected she'd get to the USO final.  Beyond unseeded, Raducanu (ranked #150 going into the USO) was a qualifier.  I don't know the last time, if ever, a qualifier made it to a Slam final.  Aslan Karatsev made lots of headlines in February when he reached the Australian Open semifinal as a qualifier.  The British press must be going absolutely bonkers. 

While I don't watch much women's tennis, I will definitely watch the final on Saturday because I'm simply gobsmacked that these two are the last women standing.  By the way, Leylah Fernandez turned 19 on Monday (9/6); Raducanu turns 19 on Nov 13.  While the last teenage Slam champ was fairly recent (19yo Iga Swiatek at the 2020 Roland Garros), it's becoming increasingly rare.  I doubt we'll ever see it again on the men's side.

Edited September 10, 2021 by BSR
Typo

[BSR]

I have to mention my man Novak.  Lucky for Novak that he got such an easy draw early on because he played C-level tennis for the first four rounds.  Novak had to up his game and fast because he would face (imho) the three toughest outs in the draw QF-SF-F:  Berrettini, Zverev & Medvedev.

It was like Novak flipped a switch after his first set against Berrettini, going from B- tennis to his A game to win the last 3 sets.  If he can bring the same level against Zverev & Medvedev that he did against Berrettini, I will be a lot more optimistic about Novak's chances of winning the calendar-year Grand Slam.  But that's a big IF.

[cany10011]

Going to day and evening sessions today. Seeing Djokovic tonight. Not a fan of tennis- it's far too hot and too long to be outside.. but my friend has an extra ticket and he says it will be a big deal to watch.

Edited September 10, 2021 by cany10011

[+ Charlie]

11 hours ago, BSR said:

I saw part of one of Raducanu's matches at Wimbledon.  While she clearly had talent, I never expected she'd get to the USO final.  Beyond unseeded, Raducanu (ranked #150 going into the USO) was a qualifier.  I don't know the last time, if ever, a qualifier made it to a Slam final.  Aslan Karatsev made lots of headlines in February when he reached the Australian Open semifinal as a qualifier.  The British press must be going absolutely bonkers. 

While I don't watch much women's tennis, I will definitely watch the final on Saturday because I'm simply gobsmacked that these two are the last women standing.  By the way, Leylah Fernandez turned 19 on Monday (9/6); Raducanu turns 19 on Nov 13.  While the last teenage Slam champ was fairly recent (19yo Iga Swiatek at the 2020 Roland Garros), it's becoming increasingly rare.  I doubt we'll ever see it again on the men's side.

Raducanu actually is the first qualifier, of either sex, to make a Slam final. She had to play a lot of matches, but she didn't have to eliminate opponents as formidable as Fernandez's triumvirate of Osaka, Kerber and Sabalenka.

[BSR]

6 hours ago, Charlie said:

Raducanu actually is the first qualifier, of either sex, to make a Slam final. She had to play a lot of matches, but she didn't have to eliminate opponents as formidable as Fernandez's triumvirate of Osaka, Kerber and Sabalenka.

I saw the entire Raducanu-Sakkari match and the key parts (1st set tiebreaker & last half of the 3rd set) of the Fernandez-Sabalenka match.  I also saw Sabalenka's & Sakkari's press conferences.  Both veterans admitted that the pressure got to them.  Watching their matches, oh boy, did it ever. 

After hitting a beautiful winner for her first point in the tiebreaker, Sabalenka then made 7 unforced errors to gift the breaker to Fernandez.  Leylah didn't have to do much beyond keeping the ball in play.  And when serving to stay in the match at 5-4 in the 3rd, Sabalenka once again became a font of unforced errors.  Same song, different verse with Sakkari.  She admitted that nothing was working for her.  Yikes, some of her shots were flying out by 20 feet!

When Boris Becker played his first Wimbledon final at 17, he wondered why his opponent the veteran Kevin Curran was so nervous.  Only years later did he understand what was going through Curren's head.  I have to think a similar dynamic played out in the 2 women's semis:  a youngster playing freely while the veteran on court was playing with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

PS:  Special congratulations to Emma Raducanu for being the first qualifier ever to make it to a Slam final.  John McEnroe once said that making it through Wimbledon qualifying was the toughest thing he ever did in tennis.  If a qualifier wins their 1st Round match, that in itself is a helluva moral victory.  Making it all the way to the final is simply unreal.

[+ Charlie]

The men's final is as predictable as the women's was unpredictable: #1 vs. #2, for the second time this year in a slam. I found the women's draw more interesting to watch for that reason.

Felix is a talented, likable young man, but he is too mentally fragile to become a top player. It's remarkable that he has gotten to #15 in the world without being able to win a single ATP title at any level.

[+ E.T.Bass]

Loved watching Félix Auger-Aliassime

❤️

That said, the men's final could be great!  I hope Medvedev plays well.  He will need his best game, right?

[mike carey]

Dylan Alcott won his quad singles wheelchair semi-final on Saturday, putting him one game match away from a golden slam in the event. Breath is being held and fingers crossed in this country for him.

Edited September 12, 2021 by mike carey

[BSR]

8 hours ago, mike carey said:

Dylan Alcott won his quad singles wheelchair semi-final on Saturday, putting him one game match away from a golden slam in the event. Breath is being held and fingers crossed in this country for him.

Wow, he did it!  Congratulations to Dylan Alcott!

My man Novak is about to go down two sets to love ... it sucks being a die-hard fan sometimes.

[+ Charlie]

1 hour ago, BSR said:

Wow, he did it!  Congratulations to Dylan Alcott!

My man Novak is about to go down two sets to love ... it sucks being a die-hard fan sometimes.

I suspect that most of the celebrities that showed up to see the match only wanted to be able to say that they were there when Novak won the Grand Slam, and were probably more annoyed than disappointed. It certainly was a surprise that Medvedev won as easily as he did; there will be lots of Monday morning quarterbacks explaining the result, but to me Novak just looked old for the first time that I can remember. I kind of wish that the Big Three all retire with 20 slams apiece.

[BSR]

45 minutes ago, Charlie said:

I suspect that most of the celebrities that showed up to see the match only wanted to be able to say that they were there when Novak won the Grand Slam, and were probably more annoyed than disappointed. It certainly was a surprise that Medvedev won as easily as he did; there will be lots of Monday morning quarterbacks explaining the result, but to me Novak just looked old for the first time that I can remember. I kind of wish that the Big Three all retire with 20 slams apiece.

Although the match is sitting on my DVR, I can't get myself to watch it because the disappointment is just too much for this die-hard Novak fan.  Granted, Novak played 4 4-setters in the first 5 rounds and a 5-setter in the Zverev semifinal, but I doubt Novak is actually getting old.  He moved like a man 10 years younger during many points in the Zverev match.  I'm guessing the pressure was just too much.

Lindsay Davenport on Tennis Channel said she talked to Mike & Bob Bryan and Gigi Fernandez (all 3 came close but no cigar to the Grand Slam in doubles, which gets a fraction of the attention singles gets) before Serena's Grand Slam quest at the 2015 US Open, and all three doubted that she could do it because the pressure is just too much for anyone to bear.  No disrespect to Roberta Vinci, but under normal circumstances Serena could beat her with one hand tied behind her back (even Vinci, in one of the greatest post-match interviews of all time, basically said as much).  With the Grand Slam on the line, however, it was a very different story.

Mind you, Serena was far more dominant over the competition in 2015 than Novak is today (imo).  My heart believed 100% that Novak was going to do it, but my head was saying something very different.  Ah well, just getting within one match to the Grand Slam is an astonishing feat, although I imagine that's pretty weak solace to Novak right now.

[BSR]

Oh no, with all the disappointment over Novak's failed Grand Slam bid, I almost forgot about Emma Raducanu.  She went through 3 rounds of qualifying and won 7 matches to win the title, winning 20 straight sets -- a run for the ages.  I felt bad for Leylah Fernandez, losing the final after beating three top-tenners (Osaka, Svitolina, Sabalenka) plus Kerber (who's playing like a top-tenner lately), but Fernandez will have so many opportunities in the future.  Her smile during the trophy presentation looked like genuine optimism, not a fake smile to hide the pain.

It was a good match, with both teens playing well.  A lot of strong hitting, good rallies, and games within the match that could have gone either way (the first 4 games took 28 minutes).  I wonder if Leylah was a bit tired after 4 consecutive 3-setters against top-notch competition.  She must have been mentally/emotionally fatigued at the very least.  Then again, you could say the same of Raducanu, who played 9 matches prior to the final (although technically so did Fernandez because she played 3 doubles matches as well).

While most unexpected, Emma's & Leylah's runs were not a fluke or "just lucky."  They both have strong games that could keep them at the top of the women's tennis for years to come.  It looks like they both have strong teams around them who will guide them right.  I'm very curious to see what happens to these two. 

[+ WilliamM]

I finally watched the entire match. Even at the very end Novak was fighting with all his heart

 

Even though I am no longer a Novak fan, many people at the Open shared a tear even the few folks who were there for the event

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by WilliamM

[+ Charlie]

Apparently even Novak shed some tears under the towel at the end, and I don't blame him: to come so close and lose each set in the final by only a single break is the bitterest kind of disappointment.

[+ WilliamM]

Watched the match, I wouldn't call it close

[BSR]

5 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Apparently even Novak shed some tears under the towel at the end, and I don't blame him: to come so close and lose each set in the final by only a single break is the bitterest kind of disappointment.

Tears of sadness and disappointment, surely, but I wonder if they were also in part tears of relief.  While Novak appeared to be managing the pressure of the Grand Slam as well as anyone could, it had to feel like a ton of bricks on his shoulders.  Dealing with that day in-day out, every waking moment (Novak might deny it, but come on) would overwhelm anybody, and I can see how being liberated from that pressure could trigger tears of relief.

While I'm sad that Novak fell one step short of the Grand Slam, let's put his loss in perspective.  If the tennis gods offered anyone Novak's year ("you win the first 3 majors but will lose the USO final, and the disappointment will be devastating"), every single player in the sport would pop out of their sneaks to sign up for that "disappointment."

What I found so ironic is that only after suffering the most crushing defeat of his career did Novak get the love from the crowd that for so long he has desperately craved.  After seeing Novak give his all (even if had little left in the tank) and his very human response to the loss, I think the crowds will warm up to Novak a lot more after this.  He'll never get Roger or Rafa levels of support, but he'll be less villain and more hero to lots of fans.

PS: maybe Martina, Serena, and Novak can form the world's most exclusive support group, players who came thisclose to winning the Grand Slam.  Navratilova won the first 3 majors in 1984 but lost in the Australian Open (back then the AO was in Nov/Dec) semifinal against Helena Sukova.  Serena lost that 2015 USO semi against Vinci, and Novak lost the USO final today.  I guess they could invite the Bryans (lost in the 2013 USO semi), Gigi Fernandez & Natalia Zvereva (lost in the 1993 USO semi).

[+ WilliamM]

Belgrade is quiet and in tears this morning and afternoon

 

Sarajevo not so much

Edited September 13, 2021 by WilliamM

[BSR]

On 9/12/2021 at 6:27 AM, mike carey said:

Dylan Alcott won his quad singles wheelchair semi-final on Saturday, putting him one game match away from a golden slam in the event. Breath is being held and fingers crossed in this country for him.

I just saw this.  After completing the Golden Slam, Dylan Alcott celebrated by popping a beer and drinking it from his US Open trophy, LOL

 

[+ Charlie]

I think he did it mainly because the tv camera was on him in the stands as he watched a more popular later match, which probably got wider attention than his own trophy ceremony, unfortunately. I have watched wheelchair matches, and they are not easy--imagine trying to maneuver a wheelchair into position on the court to return a ball and hit a winner.

[mike carey]

14 hours ago, BSR said:

I just saw this.  After completing the Golden Slam, Dylan Alcott celebrated by popping a beer and drinking it from his US Open trophy, LOL

He's a character, and not exactly publicity-shy. A clip of that was used in the TV news reports here of his win.