The 2014 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Emz93

Tsonga with 18 aces! Defeats Murray 7-6 4-6 6-4.. fantastic match I thought

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Happy for Jo but how random is this week for him. He's been pretty dreadful all year.

Woz lost a very close one with Serena. She's been playing well lately which is good to see.

Rjd2

He may be done for a while now Murray. Truly awful year indeed. No need to talk about injury anymore been playing for 8 months since.

He seems to have lost a lot of desire this year, one of his many great attributes was how he could always hang in and obviously with lots of skill but mainly courage and desire win when struggling.

That element is gone these days, he has rolled over quite meekly a lot this year.

Mauresmo you need a lot of help here.

Emz93

Venus Williams up 2-1 in the final set. I'm hoping she can win it, nothing better than a Williams semi!

walshb

Federer's record goes to 15-0 vs. Ferrer:eek:

smurfs5

Finally, Jo has managed to salvage something from a pretty awful year. I didn't give him a chance in any of his matches with Top 10 players during the year - his game just looked so one-dimensional and he does seem to give up quite easily if things aren't going his way (pretty common with the male French players). Fantastic win last night and hopefully a good run here and at Cincinnati will give him the confidence he needs going into Flushing Meadows. I think he could be a real contender if he regains some form.

grohlisagod

Good contest in the Williams semi so far.

KINGVictor

Stunning win by Venus over Serena. Shocking result in my opinion.

Looks like Venus is back. She is looking very physically fit and composed

yerwanthere123

People might kill me for saying this but I'm a teensy bit suspicious about Venus' win over Serena earlier today..

Aga beats Makarova. If only she could do it when it really mattered! Nevertheless I hope she wins the title now, might give her a chance at the US Open.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Easy win for Aga there. Still a great week for Venus. She's back into the top 20 and she and Serena are once again the two highest ranked US women. That's quite an achievement.

John.Icy

Federer really letting himself down with the serve and play at times.

His chances to win another 1000 series won't come any better than this but I really can't see him beating Tsonga. Is getting barely anything against Tsongas serve.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

What a win for Jo, and what a week! 4 Top 10 players he soundly dispatched on his way to winning. He sorely needed that after what's been a poor year.

the_monkey

He's looking good all right, if he can keep this up it will be a nice US Open for sure .

They said this was his second 1000 masters title , I thought it was his 1st, what else did he win ?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

the_monkey wrote: »

He's looking good all right, if he can keep this up it will be a nice US Open for sure .

They said this was his second 1000 masters title , I thought it was his 1st, what else did he win ?

He won Paris in 2008.

walshb

Great win for Tsonga. Gutted for Federer. Real chance to add another top title to his account. May not come along again.

Rob2D

walshb wrote: »

May not come along again.

That's what people say every time he makes a final these days. I wouldn't ever count him out of anything.

yerwanthere123

Where the hell has Jo been hiding this form from all year? Either way, I'm certainly not complaining. Would make things extremely interesting if he could bring it to the US Open. Cincinnati this week should tell us where he actually is, and whether Toronto was a flash in the pan or not.

Good win for Radwanska too, should giver her a bit of confidence heading into NY, but I'm still not expecting great things. She always seems to get overpowered by someone she really should beat.

yerwanthere123

Federer reckons the court surfaces are speeding up. Great news for tennis if true.
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/08/federer-court-surfaces-speeding/52398/#.U-eW01aOYud

whiterebel

I played on clay yesterday for the first time.....what a difficult surface that is. No wonder they sweep it between changes in the big tournaments. I nearly smashed a service return from the baseline at one stage. Give me back the artificial turf, quick!!!

walshb

Tsonga goes from 3 wins vs. the best players on tour to getting trounced by Youzhny in Cincinnati...:eek:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Not that surprising. Tough turnaround. Venus also lost in R1, ridiculous scheduling her match early on Monday given she was in the final in Montreal on Sunday.

whiterebel

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

^ Not that surprising. Tough turnaround. Venus also lost in R1, ridiculous scheduling her match early on Monday given she was in the final in Montreal on Sunday.

Seems very hard on them to put them back in again that soon. Whatever confidence they had from Canada has probably evaporated after that.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ I don't know, I'm sure they won't mind a little break before going into the US Open.

Floppybits

walshb wrote: »

Tsonga goes from 3 wins vs. the best players on tour to getting trounced by Youzhny in Cincinnati...:eek:

I think Tsonga was hard done by by the Cincinnati organisers, he should have been scheduled to play either in the evening session or today. Look at Federer, he played in the final on sunday but he is not playing until today. There is no way Tsonga was ready for that match after just 24 hours rest.

yerwanthere123

Nice to see Petra has really stepped up to the plate since winning Wimbledon again :pac:

James McGee will be playing US Open qualies for the first time next week. Fingers crossed

RosyLily

Great win for Janowicz over Dimitrov! Jerzy definitely needed it...hasn't been the best year for him.

yerwanthere123

Genie loses to Kuznetsova in three sets. No shame in losing to Kuznetsova, but unless she does well in New Haven next week Genie will carry no momentum or confidence into the US Open.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Genie loses to Kuznetsova in three sets. No shame in losing to Kuznetsova, but unless she does well in New Haven next week Genie will carry no momentum or confidence into the US Open.

I'm not sure Genie's confidence has anything to do with results. She's lost her first match in practically every event she's played this year outside the slams. Her clay title won just before the French is the last time she won 3 matches in a row.

No idea where her performances in the Slams have come from this year. On the plus side it's going to be very difficult for her to defend all those points next year so having very little to defend outside the Slams may prove a blessing for her. Otherwise she's looking at being another Sloane Stephens and slipping back down the rankings as quickly as she climbed up them.

irishguy1983

Happy he lost but surprised Djoko lost - usually Mr. Consistent.

I think winning Wimby and marriage, baby on the way might be taking its toll - hasn't look his usual fighting self the last two matches I have seen where he has lost.

Still if I had to put a tenner on someone to win US Open I'd put it on him.

#TeamRafa

Floppybits

Cant wait for Murray vs Federer.

Floppybits

Absolutely shocking display from Wawrinka against Benneteau. Wawrinka is missing everything since he won the first set 6-1. Lost the second set 6-1 and is down 3-2 in the third. Wawrinka is not moving to the ball. Never seen him play this bad.

yerwanthere123

Wawrinka Doesn't inspire confidence for the US Open

yerwanthere123

Great match between Halep and Sharapova there. Terrific fight from Maria to win after being down 2-6 0-2. But terrible from Halep, she couldn't win even after Maria hit 53 unforced errors. As great as she is, this does show her limitations, and I don't think she'll ever be able to cut it against the biggest hitters on tour.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I can't actually believe Maria won. She's been so awful lately. Happy though

RosyLily

Dat match! :eek:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Maria telling Ana to go check her blood pressure might just replace "Allez up your F-ing ass" as my favourite Maria moment.

I don't even mind that she lost, nobody needs another Serena beatdown.

walshb

Rob2D wrote: »

That's what people say every time he makes a final these days. I wouldn't ever count him out of anything.

On his way to another 1000 title now.

irishguy1983

Amazing at 33.

Shouldn't be happening but there you go.

What a comeback year - might even finish top 2 at end of year.

Still don't see him winning US Open but pretty class the way he is playing at 33 and the year he just had.

John.Icy

If Djokovic doesn't find form and Nadal doesn't play, Federer is definitely the best of the rest but still would be an incredibly open slam and could see the 2nd first time GS winner of the year.

yerwanthere123

Fed is certainly a contender in NY, something we weren't saying last year. Not really that big a fan, but it'd be amazing if he could win another one.

Serena restores order to the tour by dominating the US Open series. Can't see her losing in NY now.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Nadal officially out of the US Open.

Should make it a bit more open but I bet it'll end up with one of the usual suspects anyway.

the_monkey

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Floppybits

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Nadal officially out of the US Open.

Should make it a bit more open but I bet it'll end up with one of the usual suspects anyway.

I think we may have a repeat of the Wimbledon Final it just depends on the schedule Federer gets, if for some reason gets backed up and he is playing day after day then I dont think he will make the final but if as had happened at Wimbledon he gets a day off between games I think he can make the final. I dont think he can win a 5 setter one day and go out and win the next day anymore against the any of the guys in the top 10. If you look at his performance in Cincinatti I think he was helped by the fact that he didnt play until Wednesday evening giving him nearly 3 days between the final of Toronto and starting in Cincinattie, where as Tsonga had a much shorter turn around time, I think another days rest for Tsonga and he could have gone far in Cincinatti.

In saying all that I think this is as good a chance as any of the guys, like Raonic and Dimitrov to make a final.

irishguy1983

So sad.

I think most Djoko/Fed fans would rather he was there. I know it means a lil extra for me when Rafa beats a Djoko or Fed in final.

the_monkey

irishguy1983 wrote: »

So sad.

I think most Djoko/Fed fans would rather he was there. I know it means a lil extra for me when Rafa beats a Djoko or Fed in final.

I agree nothing beats when Djoko beats Rafi in a final, but he's so strong I'd rather him out of the tournament from the start.

Anyway, Novak is broken, barring a miracle from him I hope Fed collects #18 ...

yerwanthere123

Great that there'll be no Nole-Nadal final. It appears to be very open this year, but as already mentioned it'll probably be the usual suspects there at the end. Federer-Djokovic final would be quite good actually.

irishguy1983

the_monkey wrote: »

I agree nothing beats when Djoko beats Rafi in a final, but he's so strong I'd rather him out of the tournament from the start.

Anyway, Novak is broken, barring a miracle from him I hope Fed collects #18 ...

We agree on something finally

Whilst you don't want your main competitor around it feels much sweeter beating them.....

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bouchard seems to have finally found her form again. Beats BoJo 6-1 6-1 in New Haven. It's only BoJo, I know, but a win is a win.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Started the US Open thread a little early as James McGee and Louk Sorensen are both in quallies there this week. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=91796570#post91796570

Rjd2

ice bucket challenge

think the german girls, Puig and Stephens were decent, not hugely impressed with Wozniacki and Azarenka though.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4082139/title/wta-stars-take-ice-bucket-challenge