US OPEN, Flushing Meadows, NY, USA, GRAND SLAM (Men)

[Moxie]

Nadal talked about the new roof and the noise level in his presser. He also said why he likes the New York crowds so much. You can just watch the first few minutes to get all of that. (Had to give the props to my people. :heart: )
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/video/2016-09-01/3e2cf1c-00ab096314a.html

 

[Moxie]

Joao Sousa is playing Feliciano Lopez now, with Chardy and Dimitrov in that little section of the draw. Don't know if anyone else noticed, but a high "handsome" quotient in there.

 

[Moxie]

the mighty nish fends off young gun Karen krystalmaze.

kk good serve and ground strokes..wager he'll be zooming up the rank charts pretty soon.

Brad Gilbert was talking up that young Russian a lot. Says he's "Safinesque." I'll keep an eye on him.

 

[teddytennisfan]

The sport needs it too. There's going to be a huge vacuum when Nadal and Federer hang up their sticks. Djoker and Murray will still be around for a bit, but then we kind of hop over the intermediate generation and hope the young guns fill the void. It's got to be said that the 23-28 age group is pretty uninspiring and haven't stepped up to the plate. These kids need to take the bull by the horns.

quite true about the mid twenties -- we're constantly looking for someone to break that 'big four' in a consistent way - at least by the time they're 25-26 - reasonable time to ''mature".

i don't believe in this current saying that just because the federers nadals are playing ''so well in their late 20's to 30's" and because ''tennis now requires more time" -- that the ones who ARE in their midtwenties should NOT HAVE ALREADY made a real dent -

JUST LIKE roger and nadal DID!!

it's like coming with an excuse .
what roger is doing phenomenally in his 30's is not an excuse for those that are in their midtwenties to already have challenged seriously. but

of them - the most ''talented" for many years is dimitrov -- and has gotten nowhere NEAR what a mature mid20 athlete ought to have been doing. that's a lot of time already to 'grow up'

and the days ''when sampras and chang won in their teens is past" ISN'T an excuse either .

the tennis career may be EXTENDED to beyond 30 - and it MAY take more time ''nowadays against matured veterans in their late 20's like nadal, etc)

but that doesn't address whether or not the MATURE 25-26 year old which would have been LATE in 1990 - is EVEN MAKING A REAL consistent impression against his peers merely in their late 20's.

so - you're absolutely correct. i never even realized that until you pointed it out.

 

[teddytennisfan]

I really, really, really hate Nadal's odd wide positioning on the ad court. He serves so much better to the ad side since he can use his slider out wide and occasionally go up the T as a mix-up, but that position he now employs takes away all of that, and all he can do is body serve which makes him so predictable and gives him even fewer cheap points.

He's moving well but I'm not feeling the rally forehand at all. The draw has opened up for him but I can't see him beating the big guns playing like this. When he won the US Open in 2010 and 2013, two things really stood out: His serve was clicking in both years, and the surface was eating up his cross court forehand. This doesn't seem to be the case this year.

is that the reason you asked yesterday what he served like from that side?

(side note: I DO NOT KNOW what that means -- after all these decades of watching tennis...WHICH is the ad side and what do you even CALL the other side? i NEVER learned what those are, so please educate me , anyone).

but back to your comment -- i always also thought something 'odd" about one of his serves..but i just didn't know how to identify it like al of you REAL TENNIS players.

but you are SO right - his 2010 was perhaps his greatest single performance - purely as a tennis player - EVERYTHING was there. BIG, BIG, BIG. that was SO shocking and i too hae since always kept hoping to see it again. when he played that finals - my god - he

really gave this image in the ''mind's eye" like he was one foot TALLER -- HUGE MAN on court with the way his serving and shots just exploded ...it really played on your mind..i wish he'd bring that again.

 

[teddytennisfan]

I really, really, really hate Nadal's odd wide positioning on the ad court. He serves so much better to the ad side since he can use his slider out wide and occasionally go up the T as a mix-up, but that position he now employs takes away all of that, and all he can do is body serve which makes him so predictable and gives him even fewer cheap points.

He's moving well but I'm not feeling the rally forehand at all. The draw has opened up for him but I can't see him beating the big guns playing like this. When he won the US Open in 2010 and 2013, two things really stood out: His serve was clicking in both years, and the surface was eating up his cross court forehand. This doesn't seem to be the case this year.

i think that we are all keeping in mind that RAFA has had a VERY difficult almost 2 years now - and issues with the wrist recently - BIG chunk of months not playing - lost confidence that needs to be recovered more fully - even burn-out from years of the whole business...it's just a lot -

but still - just from the point of just wanting to see from him the best that we'd seen him do and know he's got the game - you are right that it just needs a little bit more of the ''old weight' of his shotmaking.

just a little bit more ...and then add that nice serve he is SO capable of - and he could be really right back among the very top with his great rivals on a consistent basis for a while again.

COME ON RAFA!!

i do recall that in that same perid when he displayed that amazing serve of his - which started in that year's wimbledon - and THEN REALLY climaxed in that USO that stunned everybody --

he took lessons from the teacher of FELICIANO LOPEZ/ uncle toni even mentioned it - that they did it sometime before wimbledon - and that must have been the result.

 

[Carol]

Rafa yesterday made very good shots, in many occasions deep and close to the lines and played more aggressive than in his pervious match and nothing to do with how he played in Rio and less that semifinal when he gave signs of to be too tired. His worse shot? the first serve

 

[Moxie]

Young Jared Donaldson is up a set and a break on Troicki, and Sousa beat Lopez in 4.

 

[teddytennisfan]

Rafa yesterday made very good shots, in many occasions deep and close to the lines and played more aggressive than in his pervious match and nothing to do with how he played in Rio and less that semifinal when he gave signs of to be too tired. His worse shot? the first serve

i agree. on the whole it was a VERY HEALTHY performance -- first and foremost.

and true about the serve. just a good thing tha this second is very reliable .

so let'/s hope that it is also a matter of him ''inching" his way into TOP form.

there;s always that wrist thing still and maybe he is somewhat careful still. BUT i do like that he's seemingly very happy about his results and performance. tha'ts so important because no one can ever know what he feels as he actually hits shots.

 

[Moxie]

Cliff Drysdale thinks this could be the match of the tournament, so far, Johnson and Delpo. And I think the crowd could be fairly evenly divided between the American and the sentimental choice, Del Potro. Should be some heavy hitting, and it could go long. Note that they opened the roof again, so they're not as doctrinaire as Wimbledon about keeping it closed, once they've closed it. After the rain, it's fairly cool in NY now.

 

[Carol]

My goodness, the Mac brothers don't stop to talk, blah blah blah

 

[Carol]

I don't hear tonight so much loud noise like yesterday, it was a little too much

 

[Moxie]

Donaldson, (19-20?) is serving for the match over Troicki, to beat him in straights. EDIT: And Donaldson does it! Coached by Taylor Dent, btw.

 

[teddytennisfan]

Nadal talked about the new roof and the noise level in his presser. He also said why he likes the New York crowds so much. You can just watch the first few minutes to get all of that. (Had to give the props to my people. :heart: )
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/video/2016-09-01/3e2cf1c-00ab096314a.html

MOXIE -- the BANANA MAN from argentina shifted his color scheme...what was up is now down

like banana peel that went black rotten, lol.

 

[teddytennisfan]

Young Jared Donaldson is up a set and a break on Troicki, and Sousa beat Lopez in 4.

sousa is a fierce heart too. i also like him.

 

[Moxie]

I have to say, the nighttime kit is rather easier on the eyes.

 

[teddytennisfan]

I have to say, the nighttime kit is rather easier on the eyes.

haha. true , that. black with a little ''accent color" is ALWAYS amazing.

to me -- it IS the best color!!

 

[teddytennisfan]

Cliff Drysdale thinks this could be the match of the tournament, so far, Johnson and Delpo. And I think the crowd could be fairly evenly divided between the American and the sentimental choice, Del Potro. Should be some heavy hitting, and it could go long. Note that they opened the roof again, so they're not as doctrinaire as Wimbledon about keeping it closed, once they've closed it. After the rain, it's fairly cool in NY now.

they just use their own judgment -- whether to open or not again. and i think that's a GOOD way of approaching it, a bit more flexibility under proper assessment of the condition. if weatherman says -- rains are going away -- and for good - then go ahead and open them again -- for goodness sake!

 

[Moxie]

haha. true , that. black with a little ''accent color" is ALWAYS amazing.

to me -- it IS the best color!!

You and I both know, as do Rafa and Serena: it's New York. Wear black at night. Always elegant, and more than a little intimidating.

 

[teddytennisfan]

You and I both know, as do Rafa and Serena: it's New York. Wear black at night. Always elegant, and more than a little intimidating.

!!
yup!!!

but really - black is beautiful.