Why, I won't spend 170 bucks just to prove a point?
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. - God
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. - God
I didn't say he sucked. He was actually pretty decent for a tennis player in a relatively subpar Bond film. Interesting casting choice though.
Oh I don't care if you like him. We were just touching on the fact that I had him in a promo poster for Octopussy* as my avatar for like 5 years.
*It's a funny word.
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. - God
Do you recall that he lived with me as a child? Well, I was a child anyway.
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. - God
This year's U.S. Open figures to be the most wide open men's major in a years. Five of the top-11 ranked players are out with injuries, including 3 past champions (Murray, Wawrinka, Djokovic, Nishikori and Raonic). Nadal is seeded #1 but has struggled since the clay court season ended.
If healthy, Federer is the clear favorite, but he hurt his back in his last match, and (for once) actually looked his age after that injury occurred. If Federer isn't 100%, that creates a big opening for a number of players to win their first major. I'll go with Grigor Dimitrov for my pick, winning the finals over Sam Querrey. If ever there were a time for the top American men (Isner, Querrey, Sock) to have the best two weeks of their career, this is it.
Joe K wrote:This year's U.S. Open figures to be the most wide open men's major in a years. Five of the top-11 ranked players are out with injuries, including 3 past champions (Murray, Wawrinka, Djokovic, Nishikori and Raonic). Nadal is seeded #1 but has struggled since the clay court season ended.
If healthy, Federer is the clear favorite, but he hurt his back in his last match, and (for once) actually looked his age after that injury occurred. If Federer isn't 100%, that creates a big opening for a number of players to win their first major. I'll go with Grigor Dimitrov for my pick, winning the finals over Sam Querrey. If ever there were a time for the top American men (Isner, Querrey, Sock) to have the best two weeks of their career, this is it.
yeah, and by the unluck of the draw Federer-Krygios is a 4th round match and Nadal-Dmitrov is a quarterfinal. In the same hal of the draw
Bottom half has nobody, Zverev, Cilic and Tsonga (Tsonga-Isner is also a 4th round match) and Shapovalov!
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..
Zverev is really good but he's still so skinny that I don't think he's quite ready to win seven best-of-five matches in 2 weeks. And Cilic has also been fighting an injury, so the bottom half of the draw is completely wide open. I think Querrey has a good game for the surface and will have the crowd behind him, but really anything could happen on that side. Dimitrov looked great in Cincinnati so I really like his chances unless either Nadal or Federer can play their best (and I have my doubts about both).
Frances Tiafoe (kid from the DC area) got his first grand slam win.
Tiafoe just took the first set off of Federer at the US Open. Tiafoe has big-time power off of both sides. Not sure he has the consistency to keep this up for a few more sets, but the talent is evident.
Rex wrote:lol at the New York crowd going full throated against the American. This won't be as funny Friday night in Harrison.
I fully understand why Federer is so beloved but the lack of crowd support for Tiafoe is a bit disappointing. Federer had already had a great year and career and this could've been a big breakthrough for Tiafoe. Not to mention that Tiafoe has a pretty remarkable backstory -- son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who got into tennis because his father worked construction and then custodial work at a tennis facility in the D.C. Area.
Rex wrote:lol at the New York crowd going full throated against the American. This won't be as funny Friday night in Harrison.
I fully understand why Federer is so beloved but the lack of crowd support for Tiafoe is a bit disappointing. Federer had already had a great year and career and this could've been a big breakthrough for Tiafoe. Not to mention that Tiafoe has a pretty remarkable backstory -- son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who got into tennis because his father worked construction and then custodial work at a tennis facility in the D.C. Area.
I watched that first set. That kid is special. Couldn't believe I saw he took it to 5 (and 4-6!) with Feds. Give Tiafoe 2 more years before he's a lock for major late rounds.
That was a lot of fun last night. Wife and I were catching up on shows and I took a break to make some popcorn and flipped on ESPN... "Hey, honey, this Tiafoe kid just took a set off of Federer!" She then astutely said "I don't think he's lost a set in like... forever. I know he didn't lose one at Wimbledon. " McEnroe or whoever proceeds to confirm that...
He got beat like a drum in the next set, so we go back to watching our stories. Flip it back over and he's in the midst of crushing in the 4th set. HOLY SHIT.
He did a lot of stuff you'd expect a 19 yo playing Federer to do... But he also hit some amazing jaw droppers. Gonna be fun watching him (hopefully) mature in the coming years.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
degenerasian wrote:Bottom half has nobody, Zverev, Cilic and Tsonga (Tsonga-Isner is also a 4th round match) and Shapovalov!
Cross Zverev and Tsonga off your list after last night. I watched some of Zverev's match and for as talented as he is, he really needs to learn how and when to come into the net to finish off a point. Zverev was taking control of baseline rallies, but then letting Coric float a ball back to him to get back in the point. With Zverev's height, he'd be really hard to do that against if he had a net game. Ironically, his brother Mischa (still alive in the tourney) is basically the only serve and volleyer left in the sport.
With A. Zverev out, Isner and Querrey are now the seed favorites to make the semis from that quarter of the draw. Like I said, if ever there were a time for the American guys to go on a run, this is it.
If Cilic is fully fit, and he looks good so far, he's hands' down the best remaining player in the bottom half. But Shapovalov could easily make the quarters.
Another 5-set win for Federer. He steamrolled at Wimbledon but has otherwise had to show some serious fight at the Slams this year. He's now 9-0 at the Aussie and US Opens, but 5 of those 9 matches have gone the full 5 sets.
degenerasian wrote:Highest seed left in the bottom half is #10 Isner.
Make that #12 Pablo Carreno Busta. Zverev the Elder, who just took out Isner, is really fun to watch. I enjoy seeing him have success with a pure serve-and-volley game, after becoming a fan of the sport watching guys like Sampras, Rafter and Henman. Kind of crazy that one of Querrey, M. Zverev, Lorenzi, Anderson, Shapovalov, Carreno Busta, Pouille or Schwartzman will be a finalist.
degenerasian wrote:Highest seed left in the bottom half is #10 Isner.
Make that #12 Pablo Carreno Busta. Zverev the Elder, who just took out Isner, is really fun to watch. I enjoy seeing him have success with a pure serve-and-volley game, after becoming a fan of the sport watching guys like Sampras, Rafter and Henman. Kind of crazy that one of Querrey, M. Zverev, Lorenzi, Anderson, Shapovalov, Carreno Busta, Pouille or Schwartzman will be a finalist.
We root for Isner pretty hard in this house and that was tough to watch. Being that tall just doesn't lend itself to effective tennis. Monster serve, but not much else. I think he has peaked due his physical stature alone...kinda sad.
degenerasian wrote:After 2 womens matches that took 3 hours, Nadal is down a set as the night crowd arrives. It could be 3 hours before they are allowed in.
Nadal has played a bad first set in all 3 of his matches before seriously turning it on. He has an extremely favorable draw and I really can't see him losing unless Federer finds his top form. FWIW, Federer looks much better so far tonight than he did in his first 2 matches. Federer-Del Potro would be a nice throwback QF if they both make it that far.