US OPEN THREAD

[nuraman00]

Chris Evert is saying FED needs to be more of a grinder, to run down more balls, and not be so offensive minded. She's saying he needs to hit more neutral balls and rally balls. Interesting take.

She also say you can't try out a new racket 3 weeks before a major, you have to do it in the offseason.

I'm sure some would say he needs to shorten points even more, although I think he does try to shorten them and they lad to errors.

I will say that I liked the way FED played during the 2011 FO tourney, and I thought he displayed more of a grinding style.

I had wanted to see him come to the net more, but the results haven't really justified that this year, he doesn't seem as good there.

Raonic-Gasquet is now on ESPN 2.

 

[cezero]

Even though I had predicted a Tipsarevic-Nadal SF, I still would have liked to see it over a Ferrer-Nadal SF, just because I've seen plenty of those matchups, some good, some not, but never seen Tipsarevic-Nadal. Would have liked to see what Tipsarevic could have done, given the stakes.

I don't think there would be much of a difference in the way Tipsy plays Nadal compared to Ferrer. They'd both try to hit to his backhand as much as possible, and fail miserably because they don't have enough power to hit anywhere on the court to bother Nadal much.

I'd rather have seen Tipsy get through just because Spaniards tend to just bow down to Nadal automatically. Nadal would still be the heavy favorite, but it becomes that much easier against a Spaniard, IMO.

 

[bksballer89]

break point

 

[cezero]

Chris Evert is saying FED needs to be more of a grinder, to run down more balls, and not be so offensive minded. She's saying he needs to hit more neutral balls and rally balls. Interesting take.

He'd lose matches faster that way. Evert is out of touch with reality most of the time. Great player, but I don't think she even really follows tennis anymore. It's a good paying gig for her to do majors a few weeks a year on ESPN.

Federer is slower to his forehand side now. Trying to grind out points by hitting to the mid court against anybody in the top 10 would be a surefire way for him to lose in straights every match.

 

[nuraman00]

I don't think there would be much of a difference in the way Tipsy plays Nadal compared to Ferrer. They'd both try to hit to his backhand as much as possible, and fail miserably because they don't have enough power to hit anywhere on the court to bother Nadal much.

I'd rather have seen Tipsy get through just because Spaniards tend to just bow down to Nadal automatically. Nadal would still be the heavy favorite, but it becomes that much easier against a Spaniard, IMO.

Overall I agree, I just think Tipsarevic is a little better with winners from both sides, while Ferrer can only hit them from his forehand. I just wanted to see that aspect of it.

 

[nuraman00]

I would say something he can fix, without changing tactics, is to get his 1st serve in more.

I've found Martina's commentary on Tennis Channel a little more insightful than Evert's, but I like ESPN's crew, with the play-by-play, better overall. Some of the play-by-play on tennis channel is a little boring for me. Their studio interviews are pretty good though.

I'd still rather hear Evert's perspective than not hear it, just because she's better than whoever's spot she replaced before. Or, I'd still rather just hear another take.

 

[nuraman00]

4-4 all.

 

[raptorlife4]

Great match

 

[bksballer89]

5-5

 

[bksballer89]

Triple Break for Gasquet

 

[bksballer89]

There is the break

 

[raptorlife4]

Raonic dead tired

 

[nuraman00]

Gasquet up a break 6-5 in the 5th.

 

[nuraman00]

I'll root for Gasquet over Ferrer.

 

[bksballer89]

same here

 

[cezero]

I'll root for Gasquet over Ferrer.

Same here. Gasquet's game is beautiful. Until the past year or so, he wasn't committed to fitness, though. Like most French players, all he cared about was looking flashy, not grinding out games to win big matches. All of that changed recently, as you can see by his physique. He was such a phenom, and it took him until 26 to finally figure out he had to work harder off the court.

Glad to see it paying off. Would love to see him do well.

 

[nuraman00]

Wow, I can't believe Gasquet is only 26. That's still pretty young.

I could never fully embrace him, because he didn't grind out games or win big matches. Too many blowout sets when he did play. Same with Monfils, to an extent.

If what you're saying is true about his physique, and he can convince me with a win over Ferrer, I'll seek him out more.

Also, he gets complimented a lot about his backhand, but is the rest of his game really on par? Forehand and serve, for example. It just seems like any discussion about Gasquet begins with his backhand, and never moves on from there.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on Gasquet, I only watch him if he's playing another high profile player, so only 1-2 times a year.

Whereas if it were someone like Tommy Haas, for example, I'd watch him play a moderately known player, like Karlovic or Youzhny.

 

[cezero]

Gasquet has woefully underperformed his entire career, so I don't blame you. I stopped watching him a few years back when it seemed he would never live up to his potential.

I'm just glad that he finally decided to commit to playing harder. His backhand is extraordinary. One hander, and he can do just about anything with it against most players. Rafa, of course, is a terrible matchup for him since Gasquet uses one hand on the backhand side.

But Gasquet also has a decent serve, and his forehand can be on sometimes, as it was when he beat Fed on grass a few years back.

Beating ferrer might be a little much for him, but Gasquet should put out a good performance if he's not too tired.

 

[bksballer89]

What a choke job by Hewitt today

 

[bksballer89]

Istomin takes the first in a tiebreak