The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

smurfs5

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Ugh Delpo loses to Isner

I'm gutted. He looked exhausted by the end of the match. It seems weird how he can sustain fitness to win Washington and come so close to reaching the Wimbledon final in a 5-hour semi-final yet in some matches, he just looks shattered in a third set. Still, I'm hopeful that he has the momentum, form and confidence to potentially replicate his 2009 showing for the US Open

woopah92

Li served for both sets but completely had a meltdown in both. And those dfs on crucial points (Her SP, Serena's SP and MP) really ruined her chances of getting a win over Serena. Carlos better help her improve it before NY.

yerwanthere123

smurfs5 wrote: »

I'm gutted. He looked exhausted by the end of the match. It seems weird how he can sustain fitness to win Washington and come so close to reaching the Wimbledon final in a 5-hour semi-final yet in some matches, he just looks shattered in a third set. Still, I'm hopeful that he has the momentum, form and confidence to potentially replicate his 2009 showing for the US Open

Whilst it's disappointing, I'd rather he lose early in Cincinnati than in Flushing Meadows

woopah92 wrote: »

Li served for both sets but completely had a meltdown in both. And those dfs on crucial points (Her SP, Serena's SP and MP) really ruined her chances of getting a win over Serena. Carlos better help her improve it before NY.

Aww stop, it was awful. Serena didn't play well for most of the match either so Li really missed some chances here. On paper she should be a contender in New York, but her level ranges from extreme highs to extreme lows in such short spaces of time it's impossible to know what to expect.

woopah92

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Aww stop, it was awful. Serena didn't play well for most of the match either so Li really missed some chances here. On paper she should be a contender in New York, but her level ranges from extreme highs to extreme lows in such short spaces of time it's impossible to know what to expect.

And against Vika in the final who DIDN'T hold serve ONCE in the first set against JJ. :rolleyes: Real opportunity missed here for Li. I can't see her being a contender for NY unfortunately, although I really hope I'm wrong (massive Li Na fan here). The AO hardcourts just suit her so much better.

the_monkey

BANNED FOR TWO WEEKS FOR REPEATEDLY IGNORING MOD INSTRUCTIONS

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Marion Bartoli will be working with Eurosport during the US Open, commentating in English and French.

smurfs5

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Marion Bartoli will be working with Eurosport during the US Open, commentating in English and French.

Wow, certainly a big-name signing. Hopefully she'll work for them at RG next year as well. It'll be interesting to hear some insight from a player who has achieved success in recent times and is literally just out of the game.



Great win for Rafa today. Isner played some phenomenal tennis and if he serves like that at the US Open, he certainly has a great chance of making the Qfs or Sfs. Fantastic to see Rafa get his first Cincy win and he now moves up to No.2 in the rankings which is somewhat significant and from Murray's P.O.V, his title defence just got tougher.
It's shaping up to be a great tournament though. Such a shame that Tsonga won't be there but with Rafa, Novak, Murray and Delpo all on form, I really can't wait.

woopah92

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Marion Bartoli will be working with Eurosport during the US Open, commentating in English and French.

Good news. I really like Marion as a person so I'm glad she's not totally out of the sport right away.

Elro

So I was watching BT Sport earlier and they mentioned that the Williams sisters have started taking toilet breaks after the warm ups leaving their opponents sitting on court for 5-6 mins before the start of the match. I'm not sure how true it is though and was wondering if anyone here had notiiced or heard anything about it and what do you think of it?

It stirkes me as very unfair abuse of the rule and I would quite like to see some of their opponents make a stand over it.

woopah92

Elro wrote: »

So I was watching BT Sport earlier and they mentioned that the Williams sisters have started taking toilet breaks after the warm ups leaving their opponents sitting on court for 5-6 mins before the start of the match. I'm not sure how true it is though and was wondering if anyone here had notiiced or heard anything about it and what do you think of it?

It stirkes me as very unfair abuse of the rule and I would quite like to see some of their opponents make a stand over it.

I take it you were listening to Sam Smith? I've only ever seen Venus do it once and I can't remember Serena doing it. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Serena was doing it recently, she seems to have some sort of stomach problem.

Elro

woopah92 wrote: »

I take it you were listening to Sam Smith? I've only ever seen Venus do it once and I can't remember Serena doing it. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Serena was doing it recently, she seems to have some sort of stomach problem.

No I saw it on a show called the BT Sports Panel, the host Tim Lovejoy mentioned it and showed a clip of both them doing it. Like I said though don't know if it was a once off thing or as you say maybe she is ill so they maybe be making too much out of it. I just thought it was an unusual to see such obvious lack of sportsmanship in a tennis match and was wondering whether others had noticed it or if they were just over reacting on the whole thing.

woopah92

Elro wrote: »

No I saw it on a show called the BT Sports Panel, the host Tim Lovejoy mentioned it and showed a clip of both them doing it. Like I said though don't know if it was a once off thing or as you say maybe she is ill so they maybe be making too much out of it. I just thought it was an unusual to see such obvious lack of sportsmanship in a tennis match and was wondering whether others had noticed it or if they were just over reacting on the whole thing.

Oh, okay. Sam Smith is on BT sports too and she was berating them for it when I was listening to her commentate a few days ago. TBH, I don't think you can question Venus on her sportsmanship (bar the grunting), I've seen numerous times where she has touched the net in a point and admitted it straight up to the umpire. Serena probably did it a few times in Cincinatti but during a match I do remember her calling the doctor and getting some medication for her stomach (not sure if it was for muscular pain or something else though). If I'm wrong and they have been doing it often I definitely agree that they should be called out on it, but if it's in the rules there's not much that can be done.

yerwanthere123

Some win by Azarenka!

woopah92

An unexpected win given her form against Wozniacki and JJ. She knows how to play Serena better than Maria ever could.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Serena does the toilet break thing nearly every match. I'm not sure she violates any time rules but it's really annoying. She's just come from the locker room, why does she need to go back to the toilet? It's just mind games. It's like Rafa's pre match antics where he leaves his opponent at the net for ages before he comes out for the coin toss and then again when the umpire calls time on the warm up. Djokovic is the only one that stays seated until Rafa gets up, why others don't sit it out too I don't know.

Floppybits

I got the feeling watching Cincinnati that Murray and Djokovic were holding back and saving their energies for the US Open and they were just looking to go as far as they could in the competition not playing their best tennis but just getting in match practice. Nadal on the other hand I felt went all out to win here and get as much match practice he can before the US Open. Nadal looked good but I would wonder about his fitness over a 5 set match.

As for Federer I dont think he can now beat the top 3 mens players over 2 or 5 and I think he will struggle against any of the other players in the top 10 over 5 sets. Looking at the match the other night he was better than Nadal for a set and a half and then his performance level just dropped off a cliff and he couldnt maintain the performance for the 3 sets. It is sad to say but I do hope that Federer takes stock at the end of this year of tennis and calls it quits.

yerwanthere123

US Open next week, can't wait for it now! My favourite grand slam by a mile
Really eager to see what Robson, Hampton and Kuznetsova will do, especially seeing as they will all be seeded.

Andy Murray will be the #3 seed, which must sting a bit, being overtaken by Rafa at the last minute.

woopah92

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

US Open next week, can't wait for it now! My favourite grand slam by a mile
Really eager to see what Robson, Hampton and Kuznetsova will do, especially seeing as they will all be seeded.

Andy Murray will be the #3 seed, which must sting a bit, being overtaken by Rafa at the last minute.

Robson's injured, Kuznetsova is in awful form. I can't see them making it by r2. Hampton, hmm, I could see her choking early too.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Andy Murray will be the #3 seed, which must sting a bit, being overtaken by Rafa at the last minute.

Doesn't make that much difference really. There's the same chance of meeting in the SF as there was with the seeds the other way around. Plus Murray can't gain any points at this so again chances are Rafa would've been #2 after anyway.

yerwanthere123

Oh I know it doesn't make that much difference, but had he been #2 he might have been able to avoid either Nole or Rafa, now he'll most likely have to play both, should they progress to the later stages.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Oh I know it doesn't make that much difference, but had he been #2 he might have been able to avoid either Nole or Rafa, now he'll most likely have to play both, should they progress to the later stages.

True.

I'd be surprised if Rafa makes the SF to be honest. He's said himself that he really has to push himself on the hard courts and he's really only played one Slam this year so it's been a while since he's had to play a couple of 5 set matches.

I think Andy has the beating of them both though.

yerwanthere123

I've never believed Rafa's knees are quite as bad as he states, and if he was that worried about them he wouldn't have played both Montreal and Cincinnati imo.

It's a bold predicition, but I'm gonna pick Rafa to win his second US Open in 2 weeks time.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I've never believed Rafa's knees are quite as bad as he states, and if he was that worried about them he wouldn't have played both Montreal and Cincinnati imo.

It's a bold predicition, but I'm gonna pick Rafa to win his second US Open in 2 weeks time.

I'm not sure he was talking about his knees when he said that about hard courts, just more in general. A bold prediction indeed

You never know.

jupiterjack

Another great win for Nadal but is Federer on the slide. I know he was defending a lot of points last week & also losing early in Wimbledon didn't help either. Down to number 7 in ranking, hasn't been that low since 2002.

WaterLily.

Great win for Rafa, he really has had quite a year so far! Isner had an incredible tournament as well, if he keeps this form he could definitely make it to the QF or SF in the US Open

I'd love to see Del Potro win in New York or just someone different for a change, but I can see it being a Djokovic/ Nadal final. Murray's level seems to have dropped quite a bit recently so I really can't see him successfully defending his title and Federer just won't last over 5 sets against any of the top guys; it's sad to see but unfortunately it's inevitable at this stage of his career.

Stevecw

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Some win by Azarenka!

Yeah, hopefully Serena beats her when it matters at US Open. By then Vika prob will have suffered another "injury" when she happens to a set down along the way.

woopah92

Stevecw wrote: »

Yeah, hopefully Serena beats her when it matters at US Open. By then Vika prob will have suffered another "injury" when she happens to a set down along the way.

Vika will probably "extremely injured" the next time she loses to Serena.

Keith300

jupiterjack wrote: »

Another great win for Nadal but is Federer on the slide. I know he was defending a lot of points last week & also losing early in Wimbledon didn't help either. Down to number 7 in ranking, hasn't been that low since 2002.

Is Federer on the slide?

Of course he is, if you have sky sports four put it on now and watch Federer beat Djokovic in the 2007 US Open final. Its on now. It's night and day, Fed is a mere shadow of himself.

MisterAnarchy

Keith300 wrote: »

Is Federer on the slide?

Of course he is, if you have sky sports four put it on now and watch Federer beat Djokovic in the 2007 US Open final. Its on now. It's night and day, Fed is a mere shadow of himself.

Yes ,he has deteriorated quite a bit.
The main difference is his serve and forehand ,they are alot more error prone now .
They were his main weapons before .He rarely lost his serve.

His forehand now is a completely different stroke,it looks alot more rushed and less fluid.

He is losing matches now to guys like Berdych that he used to easily dispose of in his prime.
Prime Federer would beat Djokovic and Murray every day of the week ,and beat them well too.
Nadal would be a tougher challenge but he would take him on most surfaces.

I'd argue Federer hasnt been the same player since he had glandular fever in late 2007.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Is it that Federer has deteriorated or is it that he has a back injury? Whatever was wrong with his back earlier in the year seems to still be bothering him. Could explain his serve and forehand wobbles.

Rob2D

Deteriorated. He's just getting old, its simple as that unfortunately.

He just needs to relax and enjoy it at this stage. I mean his records speak for themselves, he has nothing left to prove.

Acceptance is all that's left.

RosyLily

Glandular fever for an ordinary person is bad enough when when you're a world class athlete, it can be a nightmare!! I remember a rugby player had it for a year before he was properly diagnosed. I don't think you can fully recover from it, can you?? Combine that with age and it's no wonder Federer is starting to slide.

I knew this day would come! *sob*:(

On a brighter note, what I wouldn't give to see Federer or Delpo lift the U.S. Open trophy next month!!! To quote Keegan, "I would love it if we beat 'em!":pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

There's a rumour doing the rounds that Sharapova wants to change her name to Sugarpova for the duration of the US Open. If she's allowed to she'll be introduced on court as Maria Sugarpova and the umpire will have to use Sugarpova when calling the scores.

Personally I think it's a brilliant marketing strategy but she's already taking a lot of mocking for it.

MisterAnarchy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Is it that Federer has deteriorated or is it that he has a back injury?

Its a bit of both really,his back isnt right and he has had to change his strokes to allow for his back.

yerwanthere123

Stevecw wrote: »

Yeah, hopefully Serena beats her when it matters at US Open. By then Vika prob will have suffered another "injury" when she happens to a set down along the way.

I do wonder about the implications of this defeat, will it make Serena a bit more wary of Vika, or will it make her even more determined to destroy her at the US Open.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

There's a rumour doing the rounds that Sharapova wants to change her name to Sugarpova for the duration of the US Open. If she's allowed to she'll be introduced on court as Maria Sugarpova and the umpire will have to use Sugarpova when calling the scores.

Personally I think it's a brilliant marketing strategy but she's already taking a lot of mocking for it.

This can't be true. Oh god please don't let it be true. Sharapova has a hard enough job getting people to take her seriously as a tennis player as it is, god help her if she does this :eek:

woopah92

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

There's a rumour doing the rounds that Sharapova wants to change her name to Sugarpova for the duration of the US Open. If she's allowed to she'll be introduced on court as Maria Sugarpova and the umpire will have to use Sugarpova when calling the scores.

Personally I think it's a brilliant marketing strategy but she's already taking a lot of mocking for it.

So who are you on TennisForum then? :cool:

yerwanthere123

Nobody on here posts on TennisForum... I'm sure of it :pac:

woopah92

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Nobody on here posts on TennisForum... I'm sure of it :pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

woopah92 wrote: »

So who are you on TennisForum then? :cool:

I've never even visited tennis forum. Why did you think I had?

yerwanthere123

Maria Sugarpova not happening thank god. It was a publicity stunt, to coincide with the launch of Sugarpova in New York tonight :rolleyes:

woopah92

I wanted her to change her name though. "Sugarpova to serve." "Game and first set, Sugarpova".

And Baltacha won her first round qualifying match against Oudin for the USO! And to think, Oudin made the quarter finals there only 4 years ago. Such a huge drop.

yerwanthere123

Yeah a big fall from grace alright, another one hyped to death and nothing really to show for it.

I don't think there has been a bigger fall from grace than that of Donald Young, also playing qualies at the moment. He won his first round match, doubt he'll get to the main draw. Quite sad really.

yerwanthere123

Sabine back to being useless, out of New Haven to Pavlyuchenkova :rolleyes:

She'll lose in R1 of the US Open to a qualifier, you heard it here first! :pac:

KINGVictor

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

True.

I'd be surprised if Rafa makes the SF to be honest. He's said himself that he really has to push himself on the hard courts and he's really only played one Slam this year so it's been a while since he's had to play a couple of 5 set matches.

I think Andy has the beating of them both though.

Just like any other player, there is a possibility that he might not get to the Semis but winning two back to back Hard court 1000 Masters that all the top 4 played in is enough evidence that he could be considered the actual favourite for the USO.

What Rafa says before Slams is different from what he does on the court; before Montreal, he said the same things but he went there and beat Novak and won it. You are right that the best of 5 at the slams could have a physical effect on him but that is what it is.

Personally I think it is Rafa---Novak---Murray.

WaterLily.

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Sabine back to being useless, out of New Haven to Pavlyuchenkova :rolleyes:

She'll lose in R1 of the US Open to a qualifier, you heard it here first! :pac:

Couldn't agree more!

Sabine Lisicki has to be the most frustrating player to support in the women's game. Every time I watch Wimbledon she plays fantastically and I keep thinking that she has finally got herself together and might be a bit more consistent; and then she just goes right back to square one again :rolleyes::(

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Lisicki is one of those grass court specialists, and unfortunately for her/them there's only 2 or 3 tournaments a year that you can play on grass. I'd love it of the Australian Open went back to being on grass

WaterLily.

^ Yes! There really are far too few grass tournaments.

I'd love it if they even changed one of the hard court masters 1000 tournaments to grass.

RosyLily

Sabine must be dying for the longer gap between the French Open and Wimbledon to start...could be a chance of another grass tournament to fill it. But she definitely is one of the most frustrating players to support!!

I reckon it's time for the annual U.S. Open thread! Who wants to do the honours?:pac::)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I love the grass tournaments but realistically most players only play Wimbledon, especially if they've had a bit of a run at the French. The Australian Open is in the middle of the first hard court season, so I don't see why they couldn't have a few grass tournaments after it too. Some players were back on clay between Wimbledon and the US swing starting.

woopah92

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I love the grass tournaments but realistically most players only play Wimbledon, especially if they've had a bit of a run at the French. The Australian Open is in the middle of the first hard court season, so I don't see why they couldn't have a few grass tournaments after it too. Some players were back on clay between Wimbledon and the US swing starting.

Where would the grass courts go though? Europe might not be suitable with the climate and the possibility of the grass not be ready. The heat in South America would kill the grass. Anyway in 2015 the grass court season will be longer and there'll be an extra week or possibly 2 weeks of tournaments.