US Open Day 5: Friday, August 29

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ Lucie has won the 1st set against Cornet 6-3...so far so good.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Venus is just awful these days. :nono How she managed to lose that I'll never know. She made awful returns on those little powder puff serves, some of which were probably 50mph!

Yeah that second serve of Errani's I think at 5-5 in the tiebreak should have been crushed. But she had made so many errors that she was scared of throwing the return in the net and just put it back in play. She wasn't aggressive enough and when she tried to be she didn't execute. At least in the third set on big points. Tough day. She's 34 though. I think I'll give her a pass. She made the third round for the second slam in a row for the first time since 2010. So she's making progress I think. This will still move her up a spot or two in the rankings and hopefully she has a strong fall season.

True but the reality is she should actually be doing better at slams than other events 'cos of the day off in between. Frankly imo she should quit playing doubles while also playing singles. She may well retire next year or more likely eventhough she'll be 36, I guess at the Olympics but she could play doubles for years after retiring from singles so there's plenty of time left for that. But at this point in time it's probably not that clever to play both. I know doubles isn't very physically taxing as there's no running on baseline like in singles but at 34 it doesn't help either.

Well until this season she wasn't doing well in the non slam events. It's just been this year that's she's had a better year finally. But at the slams, everyone brings their A game. She's not seeded high enough to avoid players seeded at 13, so she's going to run into some Errani's.

If it weren't for the doubles, she probably would have won this match. But, she and Serena want to win things together and doubles isn't easy at 37 even if you're not playing singles. So I think she should definitely go for doubles too if she wants. It's not dumb. It's a choice. If it affects the singles or the doubles, then that's that. Hopefully they can win the doubles title now. But we'll see. The woman is competing at 34 with an auto immune disorder. I don't think we get to give her grief about anything.

 

[Si Si Simona]

Lucic into the 4th round of the US Open for the first time in her career at 32. It's only the second time she's been to the 4th round of a slam ever after the Wimbledon semifinal she made in 1999. Good for her. Not even remotely sad to see Halep go. Still not a fan of hers, even though I definitely respect her a great deal more these days. A truly wonderful player. But she really hasn't been great since Wimbledon. So while Lucic-Baroni pulling off the upset is surprising, Halep losing early is not surprising to me. But the main reason I'm not sad to see Halep go is because she has been so good this year and is a threat to Serena's #1 ranking. She probably won't be now unless Serena loses early here and doesn't defend her fall points. Of course, it's on Serena's racquet as always. But Halep could have closed the gap here. So, I'm glad that's not happening.

Simona is faking tennis since Doha. I dont care about the slams show off. She fakes it, she does not fight. If she was fighting she would have beaten cheatpova few times by now just because of the fight.
The girl got lost in the big lights of the "city"...

I think she needs to change her tactics A LOT playing Sharapova. They've been poor in the past. Sharapova is a poor mover so she needs to make her run a lot more than she wants to and use angles to take her off the court. Halep is also capable of hitting the ball hard when she wants to but last time she played Sharapova she was way too passive and didn't hit enough shots with enough power imo. If you play a one dimensional ball basher you need to bash the ball a lot to win too. But hit hard in the corners, make her run.

Imo you are missing the point. She got spoiled. She is not the snake she was in 2013. I said snake, got it?
She enjoys the good life now. If she wont do the mental switch she will not hold the top 5 for long. She needs to fight and grind. Instead, she has pleasure.
Its not about tactics and technique. She has what she has , she cant change at 23. Its about character. DOES SHE REALLY WANT IT?...

I may sound like an idiot but I know what really brought her to no.2.
It was her mentality, not her tennis.
She got addicted to the good life, but sports needs dedication and FIGHT.

 

[Front242]

Venus is just awful these days. :nono How she managed to lose that I'll never know. She made awful returns on those little powder puff serves, some of which were probably 50mph!

Yeah that second serve of Errani's I think at 5-5 in the tiebreak should have been crushed. But she had made so many errors that she was scared of throwing the return in the net and just put it back in play. She wasn't aggressive enough and when she tried to be she didn't execute. At least in the third set on big points. Tough day. She's 34 though. I think I'll give her a pass. She made the third round for the second slam in a row for the first time since 2010. So she's making progress I think. This will still move her up a spot or two in the rankings and hopefully she has a strong fall season.

True but the reality is she should actually be doing better at slams than other events 'cos of the day off in between. Frankly imo she should quit playing doubles while also playing singles. She may well retire next year or more likely eventhough she'll be 36, I guess at the Olympics but she could play doubles for years after retiring from singles so there's plenty of time left for that. But at this point in time it's probably not that clever to play both. I know doubles isn't very physically taxing as there's no running on baseline like in singles but at 34 it doesn't help either.

Well until this season she wasn't doing well in the non slam events. It's just been this year that's she's had a better year finally. But at the slams, everyone brings their A game. She's not seeded high enough to avoid players seeded at 13, so she's going to run into some Errani's.

If it weren't for the doubles, she probably would have won this match. But, she and Serena want to win things together and doubles isn't easy at 37 even if you're not playing singles. So I think she should definitely go for doubles too if she wants. It's not dumb. It's a choice. If it affects the singles or the doubles, then that's that. Hopefully they can win the doubles title now. But we'll see. The woman is competing at 34 with an auto immune disorder. I don't think we get to give her grief about anything.

I think too much is made of her disorder to be honest. The only thing that noticeably set her back was actually her back. When she couldn't serve properly for months. Point is though seeded low or not she shouldn't be losing to Errani. I mean, she won a set 6-0 and lost one 6-0. Not expecting her to double bagel her at 34 but Errani's serve is the worst on tour and even at 34 Venus should be able to punish the returns a lot better than she did there. No way she should lose a 6-0 set to someone with a serve that poor. A few more decent returns and she'd have won comfortably. Fingers crossed they do well in doubles.

 

[Fefe26]

serena better be on her toes tomorrow. she can't go out

 

[Si Si Simona]

Lucic into the 4th round of the US Open for the first time in her career at 32. It's only the second time she's been to the 4th round of a slam ever after the Wimbledon semifinal she made in 1999. Good for her. Not even remotely sad to see Halep go. Still not a fan of hers, even though I definitely respect her a great deal more these days. A truly wonderful player. But she really hasn't been great since Wimbledon. So while Lucic-Baroni pulling off the upset is surprising, Halep losing early is not surprising to me. But the main reason I'm not sad to see Halep go is because she has been so good this year and is a threat to Serena's #1 ranking. She probably won't be now unless Serena loses early here and doesn't defend her fall points. Of course, it's on Serena's racquet as always. But Halep could have closed the gap here. So, I'm glad that's not happening.

Simona is faking tennis since Doha. I dont care about the slams show off. She fakes it, she does not fight. If she was fighting she would have beaten cheatpova few times by now just because of the fight.
The girl got lost in the big lights of the "city"...

It sounds like you're angry with your girl. And you have no reason to be. She's still got some physical disadvantages and on the hard courts those are going to be exposed more. She has had some of her best success on hard courts, but a rough summer just hit her confidence I think. I don't think you can say she's faking it. And you especially can't say "she would have beaten cheatpova few time by now just because of the fight." Because if it was based on fight. No one on earth would beat Sharapova at anything. She's got more fight than everyone on tour except maybe Serena Williams and I think she's probably got more than Serena. She's the toughest mentally of any female player I've ever seen.

Halep had her chances against Maria in some matches, but Maria's fight is what won those matches. Halep still fought. Sharapova was just better. Mostly because she's got 6 inches on Halep and therefore has bigger shots. Don't be mad with your girl. She's great. I don't like her. But she's great. Maria is not cheatpova. And Halep just isn't riding high on confidence anymore. But also, you don't get to "not care" about the Halep's slam performances. Her French and Wimbledon performances expressly show that she's not "faking" it. Whatever that even means.

And you can run your mouth on Westerners not knowing what you're talking about all you want. Say we're robots. Doesn't make it true. I don't know what you're talking about but I think that's more your fault than mine.

1) Sorry to disappoint you but I am not angry at my girl and you will not succeed in painting me this way. If you even bothered reading my posts which you didnt, you could see that I will always admire her story, so how can I be angry at her? She got lost in success. It can happen to anyone. She stopped being a sports player. Its normal, she is human. I wish she will regroup and go back to what she was mentally. Thats all. The HUGE fighter she was in 2013.

2) The west media and the fans have SERIOUS issues. You are brainwashed by FAKE IDOLS day and night, in Tennis, other sports, Music, you name it. The Pam interview with Genie last night was so amazing in its vanity, meaningless, stupidity. Its going on for a long time, nothing new. Serving the mob.

 

[Si Si Simona]

@ tenisplayrla08
I just read again other parts of your reply and you simply have no clue who Simona Halep is. You just watch her on western tv. I repeat, you dont have a clue about her character and her temperament.

AND... I am saying again this: The Simona of 2013 is a bigger fighter than cheatpova.
You cant believe it because you havent watched it live when it happened. I did.
Simona didnt fight in 2014, she "played"... She had a fight in Doha because she was in that mood, then it went away.
You cant believe that, you cant accept that. Thats because you havent seen that yourself.

Thats why Simona story is so big. People dont understand. They think "he is just another mental case" (me).
Anyway I shouldnt bother. I am used to all this stuff. Others views, Simona moods, etc, the shallowness... its just another day.

 

[Si Si Simona]

@ tenisplayrla08
I just read again other parts of your reply and you simply have no clue who Simona Halep is. You just watch her on western tv. I repeat, you dont have a clue about her character and her temperament.

AND... I am saying again this: The Simona of 2013 is a bigger fighter than cheatpova.
You cant believe it because you havent watched it live when it happened. I did.
Simona didnt fight in 2014, she "played"... She had a fight in Doha because she was in that mood, then it went away.
You cant believe that, you cant accept that. Thats because you havent seen that yourself.

Thats why Simona story is so big. People dont understand. They think "he is just another mental case" (me).
Anyway I shouldnt bother. I am used to all this stuff. Others views, Simona moods, etc, the shallowness... its just another day.

I SAID ALL THIS STUFF BEFORE USO 14 STARTED ! ASK KIU
I didnt change a thing in my views from then to today. You should really try and read before you judge without having a clue about what you are talking. I said it all BEFORE this event started.

I said that the pink she wore in Cinci shows lack of fight, I was right. It showed her spirit.

 

[Calvy]

Simona will be fine, you're going ballistic when there is no reason to, players go through tough periods all the time, and Simona is just having a down period, she's human.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Lucie has match point.

Another tie breaker brewing?

 

[Si Si Simona]

Halep had her chances against Maria in some matches, but Maria's fight is what won those matches.

You are so wrong HER CHEATING by destroying the other player focus and playing with her nerves is what wins her matches. Without her cheating she would have lost many more matches.
She is a cheat. Sue me. Its my private opinion. I am entitled to have my opinion. Its a free world.

MASHA KNOWS.... (what she is doing)

 

[Si Si Simona]

Simona will be fine, you're going ballistic when there is no reason to, players go through tough periods all the time, and Simona is just having a down period, she's human.

There is a reason. I see it for months now. She has pleasure on court
Its sports. She lost the most important thing when she got to the top. The fighting spirit.
Her fight gave her everything and she betrayed it. See Errani tonight for reference.
How do you think Errani wins matches?........

 

[Si Si Simona]

Why do I bother? Its such a lost cause. I know it in advance and I still continue...
The stats people

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

1 set all between Safarova and Cornet into a deciding 3rd set.

 

[Calvy]

But, one match doesn't make a career, and one match does say that player has lost the fight.

I don't know if you have ever played competitive tennis, but, some days you just don't have the usual fight, especially with the traveling, training and endorsement obligations.

 

[Si Si Simona]

But, one match doesn't make a career, and one match does say that player has lost the fight.

I don't know if you have ever played competitive tennis, but, some days you just don't have the usual fight, especially with the traveling, training and endorsement obligations.

1) Simona had ALL THE FIGHT when she wanted to win matches while ranked 30. AT the top you get spoiled and complacent. Her fight has gone.

2) What "one match"? She doesnt fight since Doha March 14! Have you seen how Aga beat her in IW? She lost because Aga had fight and she was having pleasure. Its going on for many months. Not one match.
She would have beaten cheatpova if she had fight in her.

 

[Si Si Simona]

Calvy, you just dont know her enough. her character. I am watching her for 3 years.
At least you are fair and try to be positive.

 

[Si Si Simona]

Comn Lucie, the beautiful swan she reminds me of a gentle swan swimming when I see her play

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Lucie is up a break in the 3rd set
Lucie's main problem is her confidence in closing out matches.

 

[Si Si Simona]

I am in a fighting mood since that sugar bulling match
I just hope that Simona will start to get in that mood too. I hope Simona understands whats the real problem. Its not tennis, its "having pleasure" on court... You know what I mean. I hope Simo takes it on board and starts kicking @rse. She was great at that in 2013. She betrayed that in 2014.

Thats to me her real story. Her tennis style can not change just like that because she wants to. She needs to fight and be "normal" again. No more pink and pleasure and strawberries on court. Its sports ffs!

I SAW IT COMING. AS POSTED 4 DAYS BEFORE THE USO HAS STARTED.
(see the date on the right, Its 21 August)

And people accuse me of being moody or angry at my player... I havent changed my mind one bit.
Its not a mood thing, its opinion. I am saying EXACTLY the same things in my previous posts from today.
No mood at all after a lose, Its a stable, unchanged opinion.