US Open Tennis Championships

[Softball Bat]

When they lay the material down for the court, they can choose to make the court play slower by adding more sand (or a similar substance) to the mix.

The court will feel "gritty" rather than smooth -- and it will play slow.

If a court feels pretty smooth (less sand in the mix), it will play faster.

[Screw_Michigan]

When they lay the material down for the court, they can choose to make the court play slower by adding more sand (or a similar substance) to the mix.

The court will feel "gritty" rather than smooth -- and it will play slow.

If a court feels pretty smooth (less sand in the mix), it will play faster.

Incredible. Amazing what they come up with.

I've been reading this racquet industry magazine and it's a fascinating look into the business of tennis. I bet it writes about this kind of stuff.

Free to read.

http://www.tennisindustrymag.com/issues ... /index.php

[Biggie]

This Shelton/Tiafoe QF may be epic.

[Softball Bat]

The 3rd set tiebreaker is looking pivotal.

[L45B]

Glad I was wrong in my prediction.

Shelton is a real talent. And has an arrogance about him that the other American men’s players lack and is a good thing.

I hope he keeps swinging for the lines against Djoker, could be really interesting if he can hold it together.

I went to the Fritz v Djoker match earlier and Fritz just didn’t get into the match until it was too late. And made way too many unforced errors. Djoker didn’t even play his best but it didn’t matter.

Would love to see Shelton just go right at him, pave the way young man!

[Softball Bat]

Glad I was wrong in my prediction.

Ditto.

Is this going to be like 1990, where a gifted American youngster with big firepower (Sampras) unexpectedly rolls through the draw, all the way to the title?

Well, beating Tiafoe is one thing, but beating Djokovic in the semifinals of a major? On this slow hard court?

It is hard for me to picture it happening.


Shelton has the game to go "over the top" and overpower Djoker at some moments, that is for sure.

If he can keep Djoker off balance, keep him from getting fully into a rhythm, and get the crowd going, he might have a shot at it.

The crowd will definitely be on his side.

NoVax is not really fully embraced by the NY crowd.
His vaccine stance no doubt turns off a lot of the crowd.
Very few players did not take the vaccine, and NoVax is of course the most high profile case.

And people might forget that earlier in his career, NoVax had some spats with the NY crowd.
In particular, he had some run-ins with Andy Roddick (and other players) that didn't endear him to the crowd.

To be honest, NoVax was not real well liked earlier in his career.
Rafa and Roger were both fairly cold toward him.
They (and others players) thought he was faking injuries, and generally being a self-absorbed a-hole.

Most of that is water under the bridge now, but if Shelton gets an edge, and crowd gets revved up, Djokovic could face some stress.

But we'll see...

[Diego in Seattle]

Apparently someone from .net was at the US Open...

[smackaholic]

And how about American black folks taking over?

Geeze, wasn't the NBA enough?

Yeah, I know, Serena has pwned girls tennis for a generation, but now the brothas are doing the same, although calling Shelton balck is a bit of a stretch. Couple days at the beach and I'm darker than him.

Anyhoo, good for them. I will be pulling for them over any smelly Euro trash with the exception of No Vax. Dude is my hero for wiping his dick on the covidian's curtains.

[L45B]

Is this going to be like 1990, where a gifted American youngster with big firepower (Sampras) unexpectedly rolls through the draw, all the way to the title?

Great call, Bat! This is exactly what a lot of American tennis fans (old enough to have seen Sampras at age 19) were thinking last night watching Shelton’s performance.

Kid has firepower and guts. He definitely needs to listen to his dad more! Can’t see him keeping it all together to take down Djoker but oh man would that be sweet if he did.

Re: the NYC crowd, you’re definitely correct. The crowd yesterday was largely in favor of Fritz and at one point someone shouted during a point (that Djokovic lost) and he went completely apeshit pointing out at the crowd.

He’s always respectful with his words after the match but certainly has questionable behavior on the court during the match.

[Screw_Michigan]

NYT had a great story about the advantage of playing with new balls and how players adjust their strategies accordingly

https://archive.ph/GbttT

[Softball Bat]

Kid has firepower and guts.

One particular shot in the 3rd set tiebreaker was a microcosm of this.

Tiafoe is serving at set point in the pivotal 3rd set tiebreaker.
He misses the first serve, and then delivers the 2nd serve -- and Shelton chooses to UNLOAD on a very risky forehand down the line, and it is a clean winner.
No fear.
He goes on to claim the tiebreaker, and the match.

You have to be bold enough in the big moments.
Shelton definitely came through last night.

[Screw_Michigan]

I watched that match last night. Fell asleep in the final set, but Tiafoe's serve seemed to suck last night.

[Softball Bat]

But as far as Shelton's firepower, check out the 3 forehands he hits...

Speaking of big forehands...

[smackaholic]

Getting back to the S&V discussion. It would seem to me that if you've got a 149mph serve in your arsenal, your opponent will be damn lucky to simply put the return in play, so wouldn;t it make sense to take advantage of this and come to the net to put him away? I mean angles do still mean something.

I wonder if there would be any interest in having tournaments with wood only racquets which would put S&V back into play. Personally, I find S&V much more entertaining to watch than baseline bombers.

[L45B]

Personally, I find S&V much more entertaining to watch than baseline bombers.

You’re not alone here smackaholic, racquet technology even in the last 15-20 years has further tilted the advantage to the common baseliner.

The lack of variety in style definitely hurts the game. When a guy like Chris Eubanks comes along and plays a few S&V points (per match) at Wimbledon, everyone is inspired (including me, like a glimmer of hope). But frankly, I miss the days of watching a Becker or Edberg or Rafter serve and volleying pretty much every point.

[Softball Bat]

The cat is out of the bag, and wood racquets are not coming back.
But I agree, the game was more interesting when there was more variety of play.
More guile and less mash.

Getting back to the S&V discussion. It would seem to me that if you've got a 149mph serve in your arsenal, your opponent will be damn lucky to simply put the return in play, so wouldn;t it make sense to take advantage of this and come to the net to put him away?

The closer you get to the net (unless you are too close), the more effective you will be as a volleyer.

Hence, effective serve & volley players know that they can gain an advantage by hitting the serve with slightly less pace, because while the ball they hit is traveling, they can be moving closer IN toward the net.

So many serve & volley players would hit a "kick" serve, or a slice of some sort, rather than a BOMB, because with a BOMB, they would not be able to advance as close to the net.
However, with a BOMB serve, you might ace the opponent, or get a wounded duck return that you can easily pounce on.

Patrick Rafter was a great serve & volley player, and he hit mostly slice or kick serves.
McEnore was not really a power server, but he is one of the greatest serve & volley players ever.
Sampras and Becker hit more BOMBS, and they were great.

There are different ways to skin a cat.

[Screw_Michigan]

Both Gauff and Muchova are running some serious serve and volley late in the 2nd set. Fun to watch.

[Softball Bat]

I was disappointed to see Keys lose.

I am not a f@n of Sabalenka and her extreme screaming, grunting, barnyard animal ways.

She thought she had won the match when she reached 7 points in the 3rd set tiebreaker.
lol


Btw, I am not a f@n of the "super" tiebreaker in the deciding set.

Just play the regular tiebreaker, clowns.

[Screw_Michigan]

Bummer for Keys. She was playing so well and then lost the second set, a close one. I fall asleep and wake up in the tiebreaker to see she's about to lose. That sucks.

[Softball Bat]

Medvedev is on the verge of pulling off the *UPSET* in the semifinals.

He is up 2 sets to 1 and a break in the 4th over Alcaraz.



Developing...

[Softball Bat]

Medvedev wins it and will face Djoker in the final.

Shelton bowed out to NoVax in straight sets.
Ben has a bright future.
He is a bit like a wild colt.
Still needs to tighten up his game.

[L45B]

Shelton stepped his game up in the 3rd set (had a set point) but it was too late.

If my memory serves correct, Jenson Brooksby has played Novak the toughest in grand slams of all the American players, took a set off of him in the Open a few years back. I like Jenson a lot, he’s got some off the court issues to resolve (hopefully soon).

USA needs guys with a killer instinct— I don’t see it with Tiafoe, Fritz and Paul. Good players but not top five potential. Shelton has a big game, and has an attitude. Just needs to tighten up his unforced errors, as you said Bat.

[Screw_Michigan]

Props to Coco Gauff for winning the women's tournament in spectacular fashion. Dropped the first set but won the second set before totally dominating the third set and making Sabalenka melt down. Gauff is great.

[L45B]

Props to Coco Gauff for winning the women's tournament in spectacular fashion. Dropped the first set but won the second set before totally dominating the third set and making Sabalenka melt down. Gauff is great.

Wurd Screwey. Gauf played awesomely. That was like the Ali-Foreman version of a tennis match. She’s ahead of her years maturity wise. Exciting time for USA women’s tennis.

[Screw_Michigan]

Must be really hard to win in tennis when it's yourself versus an opponent with 25,000 people cheering for them and against you.

[Softball Bat]

Props to Coco Gauff for winning the women's tournament in spectacular fashion.

Ditto!

Not a fan of Sabalenka's howling at all.

[L45B]

Props to Coco Gauff for winning the women's tournament in spectacular fashion.

Ditto!

Not a fan of Sabalenka's howling at all.

Rack! Her noisemaking was so intolerable that even Monica Seles wouldn’t come out of her luxury box suite.

[Screw_Michigan]

Novax putting on a serve and volley clinic in this third set. His serve has Medvedev diving to return, which pops over the net and gives Novax an easy shot to volley for a winner.

[Softball Bat]

Djoker is not a natural serve & volleyer, and amazingly, he has one of the worst overheads on tour.

But he is very smart and he picks his spots to use the serve & volley as a change of pace.


Props to NoVax for claiming his 24th major, further bolstering his case for being the GOAT.

[L45B]

Medvedev had no answer for Novak’s out-wide serve on the deuce side (to Daniil’s forehand).

I’m certain Goran the (Croatian) mastermind showed him this tactic, as he used to do the same thing (yet on the ad side, given he was a lefty).

Novak came in on that serve multiple times and parked himself to cover the down-the-line pass. Medvedev felt the pressure and never came close to having an answer (hit his returns wayyy out many times).

[Screw_Michigan]

Medvedev had no answer for Novak’s out-wide serve on the deuce side (to Daniil’s forehand).

Yes, that is exactly what inspired me to post. It was amazing how far wide Novax was sending Medvedev.