Man, I've been rooting for Brady a lot as an underdog in recent tournaments (always thought it was cool she played in college before going pro, I think that's relatively rare). But Pegula is winning me over.
Tennis 2021
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
Jennifer Brady in interesting position, Pegula next round and then Ash Barty in the semis, who she beat in straight sets the last time they played, in Brisbane last Feb.
Don’t forget (I did) that Brady had an impressive run at last year’s US Open, knocking out three seeds including Kerber on her way to a three set loss to Osaka in the semis so she’s pretty legit at this point.
Don’t forget (I did) that Brady had an impressive run at last year’s US Open, knocking out three seeds including Kerber on her way to a three set loss to Osaka in the semis so she’s pretty legit at this point.
Pegula will beat Brady if they both play like they did yesterday. Of course, I’m aware that Pegula hasn’t historically played that well. The oddsmakers say Brady is roughly a 2-1 favorite to win their quarterfinal match.
https://www.oddsshark.com/wta/jessica-pegula-at-jennifer-brady-odds-august-23-2020-1299816
It looked like the clock had struck midnight for Karatsev against an exceedingly fresh Dimitrov, who won six games in a row early on and was up 6-2, 1-0 with countless chances to break in game 2 which would have been his seventh straight game. Karatsev somehow held on and then found his game again, 6-4 and tied at a set apiece now.
I need to fact check but a friend told me that Karatsev would be the first male qualifier to ever make the semis here if he won this one.
I need to fact check but a friend told me that Karatsev would be the first male qualifier to ever make the semis here if he won this one.
Karatsev has Dimitrov on the ropes in the 3rd. When was the last time two Russians made the semis at a Slam?
Zverev broke Djokovic in the first game of the match and looked incredibly comfortable for about 30 minutes - he had a set point on Djokovic's serve at 5-3 in a game that went to four or five deuces, failed to capitalize, then played a really bad game serving for the set at 5-4. Djokovic basically played himself back into the set in that long game on his serve, and Zverev lost his nerve having come so close; they're now in a first-set tiebreak.
But Zverev somehow hung on to win the first-set tiebreak 8-6. So he's very much in the match now.
And then Zverev played a very loose game to start the second set and got broken - trails 2-0 now. This feels like a Djokovic win as long as he stays healthy.
Well...Djokovic just demolished his racket after missing a shot at deuce, down 1-3 in the third. (There's a shard of the frame still on the back of the court; Zverev held to lead 4-1 in the third.) So that's interesting.
(EDIT - heh, a ball girl has just come out on the court with a dustpan and brush to sweep up the remaining racket detritus.)
(EDIT - heh, a ball girl has just come out on the court with a dustpan and brush to sweep up the remaining racket detritus.)
If Novak can finish this, he is in very good shape, with only Karatsev between him and the final and an extra day rest in between. On the other side, Medvedev/Rublev and Nadal/Tsitsipas should wear each other down, so Novak presumably is back to the favorite here.
Djokovic would certainly be a massive favorite against Karatsev, but I don't think he's playing great tennis - if Zverev weren't a bag of loose nerve endings, he'd probably be on course for a four-set win. I'm sure Djokovic would have the best odds to win the tournament, but more because he's that much more likely to be in the final than anyone else (and he'll have the rest advantage), not because he's in the best form.
That has to have been a massively frustrating match for Zverev. Djokovic was there to be beaten, and Zverev was up a break early in three of the four sets, but he wasn't up to the task on too many of the big points.
Muchova serving for the match. I really didn't see this coming. Muchova was awful in the first set and took a medical time-out. Since then, she's been dominant.
My son is fuming over the medical timeout. He thinks Muchova was just out of shape and should’ve been forced either to play on or forfeit.
My view is that if she’s entitled to the break, it’s wrong to hold it against her. Whether the rule is too lenient is a separate question, and I don’t follow the sport closely enough to have an opinion.
Brady absolutely scorched through that third set. Looking forward to seeing what she can do this time against the Osaka/Serena winner.
Edit: Assuming she gets past Muchova first, that is.
Edit: Assuming she gets past Muchova first, that is.
2019 in Muchova’s home country on clay. Muchova won in a 3rd set tiebreaker.
Medvedev looks outstanding tonight. Hoping he can play at this high level in a couple days against Nadal.
During the Muchova comeback, the Eurosport commentators were suggesting that anyone who takes a medical timeout should have to forfeit a game or two to do so. Interesting idea that would hopefully weed out the players just using that rule to try and stem their opponents' momentum.
It occurred to me that the men’s draw could be summed up as Novak/Rafa and 126 others, now down to Novak/Rafa and 3 others. I plan on rooting for Tsitsipas but also I would love for the final to be another swing match in the alltime Grand Slam count so kind of torn.
It's all Rafa at the moment, to the point that this match is borderline unwatchable. Personally, I can't wait for Nadal and Djokovic (and Federer) to leave the stage or at least get old enough to fall out of the Top 5 (like Federer?) so we can see more unpredictability in the Slams in particular. The women's game is really great that way at the moment.
I won't get into that debate, but luckily for current tennis fans, you have both to choose from.
Nadal just won a ridiculous 27 straight points on serve and still lost the set with a very sloppy tiebreak, breaking his consecutive Grand Slam set streak at 35 straight, one short of Federer's record. Onto the fourth...
Nadal just won a ridiculous 27 straight points on serve and still lost the set with a very sloppy tiebreak, breaking his consecutive Grand Slam set streak at 35 straight, one short of Federer's record. Onto the fourth...
7 break points total (4 for Tsitsipas, 3 for Nadal), midway through the 5th set is an insane stat. My partner and I blew 6 break points in a paddle tennis match in one game last night!
Nadal serving first gives him the slight edge I think, but this seems destined for a breaker.
Nadal serving first gives him the slight edge I think, but this seems destined for a breaker.
Don't forget that it'll be a 10-point tiebreak if they get to 6-6. (Which I still think is an open question...Tsitsipas will likely have to hold at 4-5 and 5-6.)
I have not seen many games from Nadal over the years like the one we just saw at 5-5. Looks gassed.
He has been sloppy at key moments the last few sets, he hit some amazingly bad shots in the third set breaker.