2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486904#Comment_119486904

I've said from the start that it looks to me that Raducanu has a pretty limited game.

Which I stand by.

It mainly relies upon opponent mistakes.

She looked better as I said in that match than she has done.

As said she (still) hasn't been able to win more than 2 matches at any tournament since September 2021.

If she does it here it will be a first since then.

You won't find anyone in the Top 60 of the WTA who hasn't managed to win at least 3 matches at WTA level in that timeframe.

That's not a high level shown over a fairly long period.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486839#Comment_119486839

So much strength in depth in men's game Shelton is world 229 and he is outplaying Ruud

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486924#Comment_119486924

Her serve can be very effective, her movement is fantastic , she is 11 in the world on return of serve in a very poor season. You have taken a dislike to the girl, im not sure why shes seems nice. The brits are insufferable but of course thats not her fault. I think she will win more tournaments to be honest.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486929#Comment_119486929

Crazy , that US collegiate system really is a brilliant standard.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486937#Comment_119486937

I'm neutral on her (although the coaches turntable thing which I suspect is possibly her father's doing mostly is completely dumb and uniformly recognised as same) - just think as I've repeatedly said that it's a joke that that level of player managed to win a slam.

That's my main issue as I've said several times.

And she hasn't proved that wrong yet as she hasn't managed to get more than 2 wins in nearly a year which lots of low-ranked players who haven't had the advantage of seeding have managed to do.

And of course still has never beaten a Top 10 player once (in the actual meaning of one ranked currently in the Top 10).

I believe that she was the first ever Top 10 (albeit briefly as out of the Top 10 now) ranked player never to beat one.

Which is another joke really.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486965#Comment_119486965

Haha Ah now you arent neutral on her at all. Nice to see kygrios losing though! Who would you fancy for mens and womens us open?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486983#Comment_119486983

WTA you can't call as it's too random tbh

Not enough seeds regularly make the 1/4 finals of slams or masters tournaments

Would wait until after this tournament to see the form of the contender ATP players on the hard-court

Hopefully Kyrgios goes out here in 2 sets

That Robbie Koenig guy on amazon has literally only about 5 lines that he reuses over and over - gets grating.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487009#Comment_119487009

Kontaveit being no 2 says a lot about the wta at the moment. I miss justine henin, klijsters and the Williams . I think id back Medvedev but no way at 23/10 jaysis. Yeah I love the choice on amazon so much coverage all the time , but the pundits arent the best , anyones better to me than greg though.

Kyrgios didn't really bother there in that match.

Vintage Krygios.

Crowd booed him at the end.

Fritz comes across as too-easy-going to be a singles player.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487036#Comment_119487036

Anyone is better than Andrew Castle....literally anyone

Itssoeasy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119486965#Comment_119486965

Well she couldn’t help who she played during her run to the US open title. She played who was on the other side of the net in every round.

Is her being the first top 10 player not to beat one on her or is it on the lack of depth in the woman's game ?

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487119#Comment_119487119

Oh jaysis , very fair point hes a dope. A lot of British tennis is. Loved aul Sue barker though.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487164#Comment_119487164

Raducanu has played plenty of tournaments since the US Open but has rarely faced a Top 10 player because she hasn't won more than 2 matches anywhere since the US Open and had a seeding due to the US Open points which means avoiding high-ranked players in early rounds

Losing to low-ranked players in early rounds before facing higher-ranked ones in later rounds because she was out already

So it's simply a sign of not winning matches really

not facing one in the US Open run in that 1 tournament was WTA inconsistency

Pegula is an "improved" sort of player through mainly putting the work as opposed to a shoot-the-lights-out-type in so should be a reasonable test to see if Raducanu really has turned a corner

dublin49

The umpire in the Kyrgios game got dragged down to Kyrgios's level and IMO it wasnt a good look.He allowed Kyrios away with 3 profanities and then lost it when Kyrios questioned him with some justification about people moving during points.The umpire adopted a satirical tone with Kyrgios and at the time it seemed to us it was the wrong way to handle the situation,anyone else see it the same way,or differently.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487314#Comment_119487314

only saw near the end of it by which point Kyrgios had effectively given up.

I do think that some umpires choose not to tackle Kyrgios on things like profanities because they fear that doing that might "set him off" a la Miami vs Sinner.

So in a way he gets away with things there and I think that he's aware of that also.

Nadal out to the returning from long-term injury Coric.

Third win in five matches over him for Coric

Nadal put a volley out for the first set in the tie-break and then double-faulted when Coric had set point.

Won second set but lost the third 6-3

Means that Medvedev guaranteed top seed at the us open

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119487372#Comment_119487372

You can always tell when Kyrgios is not interested in playing when he starts moaning and whinging within the first couple of games. He has been going on for a while now about wanting to go home and how is mother is ill so I am wondering why is he playing on, why not just go home? Is he doing it to get his ranking as high as he can for the Aussie Open or is it to top up the bank account? I am surprised that he didn't pull out of this tournament after winning in Canada.

As for Raducanu she has been catapulted into the limelight after that win in the US Open and as I said before it is going to take time for her to adjust to playing week in week out and we have seen that with the blisters and other injuries and also time for her to build her team around her. This time last year she was playing her 3rd or 4th, if even, professional tournament in Chicago which was a 125 event and then qualifiers for the US Open. People wanting her to sweep all before her was ridiculous, look at Muguruza , when was the last time she did anything or look at the other finalist from the US Open Fernandez, she hasn't set the world alight either. I don't think Raducanu will win the US Open this year and will take a drop in ranking which I think will be good for her, it will take the focus off her and those ridiculous expectations as well, then she can do what she should have been doing in this part of career and building up her fitness, her game and like said building the team around her. I think she will win more majors but I wouldn't expect that to happen for another 2 years.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119483748#Comment_119483748

Great to see Raducanu follow up the win over Serena by beating Azarenka too, I know both aren't up to much now, but, hopefully these wins will give Raducanu the boost in confidence she needs to go on a bit of a run. Some people just can't wait to see her lose so that they can rip her apart. She's obviously had a poor year since, she knows that better than anyone else and is struggling to find some form.

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119488051#Comment_119488051

I was happy to see her get the 2 wins over Serena and Vika, they are not bad scalps to take even if they are coming to the end. The rise of Raducanu has been meteoric, from just last summer playing her first professional tournament in Nottingham I think, to the getting through to the 4th round of wimbledon and then coming back after having to concede match due to her nerves and winning the US Open after coming through the qualifiers. That is some run and there was no way unless she won the Aussie Open or some other big tournament was this year going to match it. Having covid at the end of last year disrupted her preparation and I think her rise has caught everyone out such as the LTA and others that should be there to help her build her team which is why you see her going through so many coaches. This is why I think when she takes a drop in the rankings it will be good for her, then she can get everything in place around her to be successful and give more consistency. I would expect to see Andy Murray working with her maybe not as a coach but as an advisor type to help her making the decisions for what she needs around her.

Alcaraz would move up to number 2 in the world with a title win in Cincinnati this week.

A bit of an ask for sure with his lack of cheap service games and a lot of good hard court players left in the draw but not impossible if he really starts firing

If he is to have any chance of making year end number one he has to have a big run over the next month and maybe even get a win or two over Medvedev

Iga wants the other balls

Maybe they suit some players tho - some players with less power?

Same US Open Balls used at Cinci this year also.

https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/us-open/2022/i-dont-get-why-women-use-different-balls-than-men-iga-swiatek-slams-horrible-us-open-tennis-ball-rul_sto9089896/story.shtml

‘I DON’T GET WHY WOMEN USE DIFFERENT BALLS THAN MEN’ - IGA SWIATEK SLAMS ‘HORRIBLE’ US OPEN TENNIS BALL RULES

Iga Swiatek has hit out at US Open organisers for using different tennis balls to the men which she claims “many players” have complained about.

The US Open is the only Grand Slam where two different types of balls are used for the men’s and women’s tournaments, with the latter using lighter balls.

"We make more mistakes [with these balls], for sure,” Swiatek told the press after her 6-4 7-5 win over Sloane Stephens at the Cincinnati Masters. “So I don’t think that’s really nice to watch visually I don't know why they are different than men's ones.

"Fifteen years ago probably women had some elbow injuries because the balls were heavier and they changed them to women's balls. But right now we are so physically well prepared that I don’t think it would happen.

“I feel, it’s really hard to control them, but everybody has the same conditions, so we are trying to deal with that. I don’t get why they are different, honestly.”

This could be a disadvantage to the harder-hitting players and Swiatek has called on equality in terms of the balls that should be used.

In 2019, the North American swing saw the WTA tour use different balls at different tournaments. This year that has changed with the United States and Canadian events using the same balls as the US Open.

However, this is still inconsistent with the rest of the season where the women use the same balls as the men.

‘I think those balls are horrible, especially after like three games of really hard playing, they are getting more and more light.

Floppybits

Fritz is on fire here

A day of carnage on the WTA in the Round of 16 so far as seeds 2, 3 and 5 are out.

And the world Number 1 should be long gone

Madison Keys had it one set up , 5-0 up, 40-15 up against Swiatek so a definite bagel of the No. 1 seed there for the taking but now she has somehow bottled it back to 5-4 and it's Swiatek's serve.

But finally does it - 6-4

1, 2, 3 and 5 out.

4 Sakarri out already

But then again it was the same by the quarter finals stage last week at the Canada Masters 1000 also - 1 to 5 were out (1 Top 8 left)

yerwanthere123

Wheels coming off a bit for Swiatek post clay, and maybe we shouldn't expect a whole lot from the US Open if she's already expressed her dissatisfaction with the balls they use. Was never gonna keep up the insanely high level from the first half of the season, but hopefully she can still mount a decent effort in New York, she did reach the 4th round there last year.

gmisk

Norrie absolutely pummeled Shelton 6-0, 6-2. Serve kind of fell apart for Shelton. (Alcaraz next)

Pegula beat Raducanu 7-5, 6-4

Comfortable win for Pegula

Played solid quality tennis without significant errors, was able to pick spots down the line on the backhand and had Raducanu under pressure on her serve a lot but was not really under pressure herself. Result was only ever going one way.

Commentary from Amazon was hilariously one-sided in hoping for a different result but "jpeg" (apparently the obvious abbreviation in her case) was competent

Very odd tactic from Raducanu who was fairly constantly calling for review on the automated line calls.

Interestingly Pegula is the daughter of a billionaire who made his money in fracking

Apparently she spent nearly two years coming back from a shoulder injury

With that huge money there might have just decided to pack it in in that situation but didn't

Without seeding ER going to be facing Pegula's in early rounds now

Raducanu has looked a bit better here but the matches against a player who had three matches in a year and just about to retire and an Azarenka that actually looked like a middle-aged woman out on court didn't inform on anything. Those lighter balls do seem to work better for her.

Against Pegula she was ok but out-classed in terms of technical tennis. it looked like one player being able to pick precise spots and the other hitting into a general area of the court.

Pegula herself struggles against bigger hitters (and the draw ahead might not suit her) but was comfortable here.

Raducanu will get wins against players who make a lot of mistakes but equally at the moment unless she adds more to her game loses to a lot of players in the 20 to 40 or even 50 rank also. Most likely will be ranked about 65 after the US Open I think unless something bizarre happens.

Alcaraz looks better acclimatised to the hardcourts now as he took out Cilic who looked decent but was broken down after the first set. Alcaraz serve looked good actually from the bits I saw except for a wobble on not serving out first set but immediately recovered for a solid tie-break.

Some of alcaraz's gets were insane. Would have been winners against any other player. Hard court is really where his movement shines the brightest and is the most effective.

The recently vaunted Sinner gone to FAA after completely botching a match-winning situation of a set up, break up, 40-0 up.

Lost 6-1 in the third

The ATP quarter-finals lining up pretty well - I'd like to see a Medvedev - Alcaraz final - having only met once on grass and over a year ago before Alcaraz's rise that would be something to look forward to if the tennis gods are kind

And a Medvedev - Tsitsipas semi could possibly be a reasonable starter also

gmisk

Norrie beats Alcaraz, very good win for him. Three tight tough sets, Norrie took his chances slightly better (was 4-1 up in second set before losing it but fought back in the third), not flashy but he works extremely hard.

Coric continues his good form beating Auger-Aliassime.

Haven't seen that match as was on too late and out today so won't til later

Norrie finds a way to win after 3 defeats - fair play to him I suppose

Seems a tight affair

And Pegula who has a problem with big hitters out in the next round also.

Medvedev Tsitsipas will be good hopefully

rogerywalters

I dont think Norrie or Tommy paul beats Alcaraz on clay. Dissapointing hard court swing from Carlos so far , just wins over an auld cilic and 72 ranked McDonald. Id say glasso is on his own at the moment with his slightly out there theory about hards being his best surface. I think its good for his development not being number 1 this year. Being number 1 without even reaching a grand slam semi would have brought horrible pressure and attention at each of the slams. He goes into Us open with a bit of focus off him at the moment which will help him, hes already admitted to the pressure of the seeding getting to him.

Itssoeasy

Petra kvitova beats madison keys in three sets to reach the final in Cincinnati.