Tennis 2017
- Thread starter Infield Infidel
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I hate the women's tennis announcers. Chrissy Everet who is warming up the Waambulance about the fact poor Madison had to play until almost 2 am the other night.
Every single shot she misses is fatigure.
At least she finally gives some credit to Svitolina who is in better shape and just keeps every rally going a couple extra shots putting a ton of pressure on Keys
I guess fatigue is not an issue again as Keys breaks back to even 3rd set at 4-4
Keys wins 6-4, so all the crying by Everet and Shriver was for not
Every single shot she misses is fatigure.
At least she finally gives some credit to Svitolina who is in better shape and just keeps every rally going a couple extra shots putting a ton of pressure on Keys
I guess fatigue is not an issue again as Keys breaks back to even 3rd set at 4-4
Keys wins 6-4, so all the crying by Everet and Shriver was for not
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That was your takeaway from last night? It was an awesome match. The crowd was pretty biased, too, but that's the US Open. There's no doubt Keys had to dig deep into her energy reserves, and the fact that she did made it incredibly exciting.
Also, your observations aren't wrong, but by far the worst announcing yesterday was Pam Shriver's terrible on-court interviews.
Yes, I would say that as good as Killer Cahill is, and he is awesome (witness earlier Delpo match), the women are beyond insufferable, and sucked any joy out of the match for me as it was ongoing.
oh and yes Pam Shriver on court interview are laughably bad
Fair enough. I guess I was too sucked in to be distracted by it. I will say that I like the crew that ESPN has (including Evert most of the time), and I enjoy how much fun they have being at these majors. There are a lot of moving parts though and not all the combos work well. Mattek-Sands has been great and I'd love to see her brought on for good whenever she hangs it up.
How much game does Andrey Rublev have? I don't think I've ever seen him play (other than in the Tarkovsky movie...) but tennis could use a fresh face and it's always interesting to see a teenager make it this deep into a major.
I don't think he takes out Federer, but I absolutely love watching Delpo. When healthy, he's basically a top-5 player, capable of beating the big 4 on a good day. He just wasn't healthy much at all from 2010 to 2015. That Thiem match was thrilling, probably the match of the tournament (until Federer-Nadal on Friday).
I really don't think announcer quality divides along gender lines as much as BigMike thinks it does. Brad Gilbert doesn't do any better job with a postgame interview than Pam Shriver - they're all insipid. It's like NFL sideline reporters. But in the booth, Evert knows her history and can sense player tendencies or match trends and does a good job communicating them. She gets the best out of players like Federer when they come around the studio for a more-casual chat after a match. McEnroe is cantankerous, and his compulsive honesty can be amusing, but each member of the announcing team adds value in my eyes (well, ears).
Really not sure how anyone can criticize the announcing and not mention John McEnroe, who has fallen down the Tim McCarver/Billy Packer wormhole of awfulness. Evert isn't nearly as good as Navratilova and in this tournament, she seems to have given herself the role of mama bear over all the American women, but Johnny Mac really really really needs to retire ASAP.
Great match happening with Venus vs Kvitova. Venus went down a break 1*-3, then won 5 straight games to take the set. Kvitova has started the second with a hard-won break to go up 2-0, and is having the devil's own time avoiding getting broken back immediately.
Earlier, Carreno Busta won the first spot in the semis in straight sets. All 3 other QFs, including Querrey-Anderson later tonight, should be high quality matchups, each with many reasons to watch.
Earlier, Carreno Busta won the first spot in the semis in straight sets. All 3 other QFs, including Querrey-Anderson later tonight, should be high quality matchups, each with many reasons to watch.
What a comeback from Venus. Down 4-1* in the final set, levels the match, holds on in a blistering 4-4 game and eventually forces a final-set tiebreak, and then bosses the tiebreak (up 6-1, double fault, won 7-2).
Y'know, if her sister decided that her sport would be field hockey or something, it's probably Venus Williams who ends up on the Mt Rushmore of women's tennis rather than Serena. 2-7 against her sister in GS finals, 3 other late-round GS losses to Serena... but up through 2009, and in her resurgence 2015-present, she has been routinely at the level of a top-5 player. At age 37.
Y'know, if her sister decided that her sport would be field hockey or something, it's probably Venus Williams who ends up on the Mt Rushmore of women's tennis rather than Serena. 2-7 against her sister in GS finals, 3 other late-round GS losses to Serena... but up through 2009, and in her resurgence 2015-present, she has been routinely at the level of a top-5 player. At age 37.
Perhaps, but she wouldn't have had the dominance of her sister. Venus has always been a bit more of a limited player, relying heavily on her serve. Without her sister she might have gotten that 1 Aussie Open, and that 1 French Open Championship, as she did make the finals in both tournaments losing to her sister.
Good match with Querrey and Anderson tonight, including a wild 2nd set tiebreakear, where Sam ran out to a 6-1 lead before blowing it and falling behind 8-7 at one point before finally pulling the set out.
Querrey is not getting the crowd boast some of the other Americans have gotten as by the middle of the second set there has been next to no one in the stands. As the announcers pointed out at one point you could hear the breaks on the 7 train as it pulls in
Vandeweghe totally thrown off by that challenge. Pliskova challenged a second serve let served by Vandeweghe, thinking it went out. The challenge showed the ball was in, umpire gave Vandeweghe a second serve, but she thought she'd get a first serve, umpire explained that since it was a let it remained second serve. I did not know about the rule on challenges on lets.
Pliskova wins the next three points to break it back on serve, but Vandeweghe breaks Pliskova in the game to go back up a break.
Pliskova wins the next three points to break it back on serve, but Vandeweghe breaks Pliskova in the game to go back up a break.
Vandeweghe is playing better than I ever thought her capable of playing. Her defense just exceeds what you'd ever expect from someone of her body type and plus skills.
Congrats to her, we're 3/4 of the way to an all-American semifinal. And Keys-Kaiepi is the gimme of the QFs, frankly.
Congrats to her, we're 3/4 of the way to an all-American semifinal. And Keys-Kaiepi is the gimme of the QFs, frankly.
Just looked it up so correct me if I'm wrong, but women's #1 seeds not named Serena are zero for their last five in grand slams since Azarenka in 2013. 0-4 this year (Serena was #2 at Australia)
Eurosport announcers >>>>>>> US announcers. They are mostly pleasant and are critical without losing a sense of enjoyment. The only one who is occasionally overharsh is Mats Wilander, who has a recap/talk spot between matches with Barbara Schett called "Game, Schett, & Mats"
Thank you, this has improved my day.
Meanwhile, Nadal has shown Rublev what a real top player looks like. 1, 2 and 2 in 1:36. The much harder task falls to Federer, tonight following the Madison Keys undercard, in order to grant us our first US Open meeting of the two rivals.
It's the first time the US has had all four semifinalists in a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 1985, and if you only count American-born players (so, not Martina Navratilova), I think this might be the first time ever. Amazing they did it without Serena there...
Sadly this seems to be all Roger has in this tournament, and as has been said since the first set of the first match, this just clearly isn't enough. Delpo is certainly not on top of his game either, but it was enough for the first set
God, Del Potro just doesn't move like normal humans. He glides effortlessly... at 6'6". He's like what you'd cook up in a lab to make the perfect tennis player, except like Achilles, he has a fatal weakness (in his wrist, not his heel). What a rare talent he is.
And the other three who aren't Serena's older sister all grew up never knowing a WTA that didn't prominently feature the Williams sisters. Vandeweghe is 25, Stephens 24, and Keys 22. Serena, with not inconsiderable help from Venus, has created an american surge of tennis-playing girls (many of whom probably had a poster of her in their bedrooms), which will be her lasting legacy to the game.
Federer' stamina might win this match. Who knows? They both seem...dare I say...old. I can see this going 5.
This tiebreak has been crazy; it seems like about half the service points are being broken. (As I write this, DelPo finally strings two holds together.)
Federer should have had that tiebreak several different times, and (by his standards) choked.
Delpo is outplaying him tonight. Usually, slightly outplaying Federer overall means he still finds a way to beat you on the important points and win the match. I predict this goes 5.
Delpo is outplaying him tonight. Usually, slightly outplaying Federer overall means he still finds a way to beat you on the important points and win the match. I predict this goes 5.
Old is an understatement, this is horrible tennis.
There have been less than a handful of compelling rallies in this match
You can say that again.
Anyway, Federer was playing well tonight, but Delpo's passing-shot accuracy and forehand power completely neutralized Federer's net game. Anytime Federer did something slightly unexpected, Delpo was able to hit the narrow window that would exploit the weakness of Fed's aggression.
Won't work nearly the same way against a baseliner like Nadal.
Fed missed a couple gimmes at crucial times. Good on del Potro though. He's easy to root for and played pretty well.
That might be the single dumbest comment relating to sports that I have read on this site.
A few looked like special effects. Watching live they looked like lasers. What a forehand.
Del potro has one of the best forehands in the game ever. His ability at his size to constantly run around the backhand and hit massive forehands is amazing. He had number 1 in the world potential before he injured his wrist the first time and he is completing and winning in big matches with what is essentially a 4.5 rec player backhand. It seems that he either has a mental block with turning over his backhand or the wrist isn't flexible enough for him to hit full backhands. I lean towards a mental block/worry of re injury because his last two matches he went from 95% slice backhand to 50-60%. If he can get back to even a backhand approaching average he will be back in the top 5
Big mike I was harsh last night with my comment but mays in his last year was an abysmal ball player. Federer has 4 losses the whole year and has won 2 majors. He looked all out of sorts the first two rounds probably due to lack of court time and thus loss of timing after his back injury. He looked much better in the 3rd and 4th round. Last night he did make some uncharacteristic mistakes in the 3rd set tiebreak and in the point before match point last night. Instead of a game fed it was probably b minus fed last night and against delpo that is not enough.
Big mike I was harsh last night with my comment but mays in his last year was an abysmal ball player. Federer has 4 losses the whole year and has won 2 majors. He looked all out of sorts the first two rounds probably due to lack of court time and thus loss of timing after his back injury. He looked much better in the 3rd and 4th round. Last night he did make some uncharacteristic mistakes in the 3rd set tiebreak and in the point before match point last night. Instead of a game fed it was probably b minus fed last night and against delpo that is not enough.
Mays as a Met was harsh, but it was very hard to watch the last 5 matches as a Fed fan. With the exception of a couple 5-8 game stretches was poor the entire tournament. Federer probably peaked at C+ Federer during the tournament, and had several D performances during the tournament, including last night. His Backhand was rancid garbage the entire tournament, and it was clearly in his head as he often played with panic
I was certainly not talking about the whole season, where he has been great up until the injury in Montreal
I assume he will take a break and see if he can get back to where he was earlier in the year, but I would think that if this US Open represented the best he is capable of playing, he would walk away from the game and retire
This has been one of the bigger Jekyll-and-Hyde games I've ever seen. Venus looked stricken with fatigue in the first set, had no energy to drive her opportunities into winners, was hitting the net for totally-unforced errors, 19 of them in the first set alone.
Then she turned on the gas in the second set and bageled Sloane Stephens. Sloane, who has been playing immovable-object quite well, chasing things down and not making much in the way of either errors or bold moves alike. Hammered, 6-0.
At the start of the third, the switch flipped back, Sloane actually kicked it up a notch, broke Venus very quickly, got a few errors too, and had a break point to go up *3-0. Venus fought back.... and back... and back. Held, broke, held, and just came very close to breaking as well, although Stephens has leveled for 3-3. This match is on a knife-edge, and there are some really great points now that both of them are fully invested.
Then she turned on the gas in the second set and bageled Sloane Stephens. Sloane, who has been playing immovable-object quite well, chasing things down and not making much in the way of either errors or bold moves alike. Hammered, 6-0.
At the start of the third, the switch flipped back, Sloane actually kicked it up a notch, broke Venus very quickly, got a few errors too, and had a break point to go up *3-0. Venus fought back.... and back... and back. Held, broke, held, and just came very close to breaking as well, although Stephens has leveled for 3-3. This match is on a knife-edge, and there are some really great points now that both of them are fully invested.
Happy for Stephens here, I hope she wins it all. Venus fought hard, I didn't catch most of the third set due to the Pats though.
I think Keys wins the whole enchilada. Her forehand is making absolute mincemeat of Coco, who herself thoroughly dispatched the world #1 in their QF.
edit: That's final, now. 6-1, 6-2, and it wasn't even as close as that scoreline suggests.
edit: That's final, now. 6-1, 6-2, and it wasn't even as close as that scoreline suggests.
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No evening session today. Anderson-Carreno Busta starts at 4pm, with Nadal-Delpo to follow in closer-to-prime-time.
Needless to say, Nadal-Del Potro is likely the "real final".
Needless to say, Nadal-Del Potro is likely the "real final".
Too bad he couldn't get ARod, and maybe LeBron to come sit in the box as well
DelPo wins the first tonight. Go DelPo
Seems like a good bet Rafa's going to pass Roger in career grand slams, right? After he destroys Anderson tomorrow, he'll be at 16, and then how many more Roland Garroses can you pencil him in for at age 31? Four or five? He's so far ahead of anyone else in the world on that surface that he could decline a decent amount and still win there. The only real obstacle is health.
Meanwhile, I'd probably rate 36 y.o. Roger's over/under for remaining grand slams at 0.5. Would love to see him take one more Wimbledon and end his career with a nice round 20.
Meanwhile, I'd probably rate 36 y.o. Roger's over/under for remaining grand slams at 0.5. Would love to see him take one more Wimbledon and end his career with a nice round 20.