Nadal, Federer, Murray: A Lot on the Line at the 2010 US Open

Nadal certaily got the dream draw…one could hardly have picked an easier one. Incredible really,not a single troubling player in upper part of his quarter. And from seeds 5-8 he got the only useless one.

Even Murray is better for him than Djokovic, who readily eats up his game on a fast hardcourt. I doubt Nalbandian can make the quarters, or make them withouth beeing battered. Even if he does, he still has to win every point rather than blast Nadal of the court with his mighty (lack of) serve.

If he had the monday start one could say it’s a perfect dream draw. Hopefully Nadal has enough pull to make sure the crazy yanks don’t put him on wensday start, that would be a reall slap in the face.

PS By giving Nadal a better chance than Murray and Federer, you’re saying than in a h2h match here he’d be the favorite in both?

Must disagree on Fish big time. The guy bennefited from a dead Murray and a complete Roddick colapse, and now he’s a dark horse. He was poor against Fed (only the second set he played well, but lost it). Really, Fish should never have been mentioned in a slam context, you just soiled the great game :)

August 30th, 2010 at 7:54 am

think this one is very critical for nadal. murray and djokovic are struggling, fed has declined, roddick has mono, delpotro is injured.

i don’t think he will get another opportunity like this …..

August 30th, 2010 at 8:50 am

Sonic,

it’s interesting how doesn’t matter what draw nadal gets according to you and some others its always an easy draw, so, since you are into analysis, why don’t you analyze roger’s draw for us.

if nadal’s draw is a dream, i’m dying to know what you would call roger’s draw? a draw for a high school tennis player. who is his first round opponent anyhow? oooh, does roger’s draw suppose to be tough because of a possible quarters match with soderling, don’t make me laugh!

would you rather him have a potential quarters match with nalbandian. would that be easier?

if the draws were reversed and roger had nadal’s draw you would still be whining about roger having a potentially tough match against nalbandian. guess what? we have heard it all before.

i do get the humor in your comments, but what you are saying is nothing more than a tape recording of what you people say every time a draw comes out!

August 30th, 2010 at 9:04 am

Dan, first off, the fact that you misspelled Berdych’s first name (it is ‘Tomas’ without a ‘H’ !!) is…rather appalling… So change it now :)

Then in the Nadal brief, you went on too much about Federer and his records. People want to read about Nadal in that column, and Nadal only!

Roddick will not win. He might reach the SF’s, but get no further. And even if he did win, he wouldn’t quit the game. He’ll be around for another 3+ years regardless of his success, which I think will be consistent, but not spectacular.

Fish has no chance. A 4th round showing vs Djokovic, and he should be satisfied.

But apart from all that, not a bad post Dan. Still, I’m a Sean fan myself x

August 30th, 2010 at 9:20 am

Yeah, Nadal definitely has a tough draw. It probably doesn’t matter because he never loses to rank-and-file players, but anyone who thinks he got an easy draw shouldn’t be posting their thoughts about tennis.

Just the fact that he got Nalby in his section makes it a tough draw.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:30 am

“Just the fact that he[Nadal] got Nalby in his section makes it a tough draw.”

No, it doesn’t. You never know with draws, sometimes an easy looking one turns out to be tough, and vica-versa. The case of Nalbandian nicely illustrates this.

If – IF – Nalbandian is on top of his form, then of course that’s a tough draw for Nadal. But whereas we generally know more or less what to expect from Nadal, the whole point about Nalbandian is (1) you can’t remotely be sure (2)on average, he is far more likely to be a disappointment than otherwise.

Not to mention the obvious fact that whereas Nadal will certainly be there, waiting for Verdasco/Gulbis/Nalbandian, we have not the slightest idea whether Nalby will or not.

One important point, though: Nadal at the moment is so dominant, it is difficult to envisage a truly hard draw for him; the same thing used to be true of Federer, when everyone said he had cupcake draws. If you weren’t a Federer fan and you’re not now a Nadal fan, you tend to scratch your head looking for what might be a nightmare draw….Kind of hard….

August 30th, 2010 at 10:01 am

a guy who hasn’t won a hardcourt title in 19months is dominant? very foolish statement …..

August 30th, 2010 at 10:14 am

nadal has hardly been dominant outside clay. maybe 2008 grass, but winning 9-7 in the fifth is dominant?

he is an absolute non-factor after wimbledon …. been the story since 2005. dude has done squat at us open and masters cup. sorry, he is good but far from dominating ……

August 30th, 2010 at 10:28 am

the spaniards winning on any surface to nadal has happened but if you look at h2h’s…..it’s been a long time. ( okay, lopez in a small tourny on grass before wimby this year is the exception but look who won wimbles. not much of an effort on nadal’s part, i’d bet at that warm up tourny )

ferrer and verdasco against nadal? c’mon. ferrer is not a threat to rafa.

the one who got the closest was verdasco at AO 09 and nando has been absolutely terrible against rafa since. talk about the intimidation factor! poor nando admitted it outright himself right before madrid.

even last us open nando was impotent against nadal ( when nadal had an abdominal tear )

ferrer v rafa- pah….

nalbandian, if he gets that far will be gassed. nadal’s fitness prevails by that point even if nalbandian produces some great tennis in earlier rounds.

gulbis? sadly for me, i have to wonder about his fitness too. as a top 30 player now, he is really still under construction. i think the injury at FO set him back for the summer. he actually did play inspired tennis in rome on the clay.

if one looks at nadal’s draw and really gives it thought, his first real challenge is murray.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:34 am

or maybe that was the other fernando (gonzalez last us open ) i don’t remember exactly, i guess i just know verdasco is a non-factor against nadal since AO 09.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:37 am

contador – do you even realize you know nothing about tennis? lol….

August 30th, 2010 at 10:43 am

contador : rafa always has toughest draws, worst scheduling and so on….

if you argue against that you are either a troll or you don’t know tennis.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:47 am

grendel,

i totally disagree your analysis of nadal’s draw. nadal has some of the toughest hardcourt competition there is in his half of the draw. i don’t know where you guys get the notion that a his draw is easy because he has won some tournament this year and is the #1 player. this hardcourt remember! nadal is smart to respect what these players are able to do on any given day especially on this surface. hardcourt suits these guys (gulbis, nalbandian, verdasco, etc.) games. add the fact that most guys play nadal tougher than they do any of the top four. you rarely see any player retire or give nadal a walkover, but you certainly can’t say that in roger’s case.

my point is these guys come to play nadal, i don’t care who the player is. no matter how well nadal’s been playing this is not a given by no means. so, if your analysis is based “if” nalbandian is not playing well or “if” gublis or verdasco is struggling, then i’m afraid you are not being realistic. truth is, how do you or anymore know how the opponent is going to play until he actually plays the match. don’t let h2h deceive you. there are a lot a players who want to go far in this tournament and they are not to be underestimated and nadal knows that better than anyone.

regardless of how you analyze it, nadal is in for a tough time. you may call it easy based on whatever, but you are way off with that one. i don’t know where you have been, but these guys bring it or they at least try to bring it when they play rafa. in my opinion, most guys would much rather beat him than roger. that too can serve as incentive! rafa will have to be in top gear to get through these guys. it won’t be a walk in the park like you think. in any case, i don’t think your analysis is logical, but then, it’s just your opinion.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:49 am

super man it’s true

go look up ferrer v nadal ( it;s a joke )

and oh yeah, it was another spaniard last us open who played abysmal v nadal ( and not disputing nadal WAS compromised by rust and an abdominal tear

“verdasco if afraid” would actually be a good moniker.

nalbandian is doubtfully in shape to go the distance. i liked him at legg mason but since then he has struggled.

gulbis is not up to the task as he almost was on clay.

the question is: where have those been who think nadal has a difficult draw until facing murray or perhaps berdych.

i think murray will take care of berdych, however.

best of 3 format i might say nalbandian and gulbis could take a set. and if nalbandian was fresh in a best of 3, a decent chance to beat nadal.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:00 am

superman,

there may be a lot things that you say nadal hasn’t accomplished, but i know one thing he has accomplished and that is getting under your skin. i wonder why? he certainly occupies a lot of your time for a player who hasn’t done “squat.”

August 30th, 2010 at 11:03 am

pass on the kool-aid. you have to love rafa fans’ logic….. beating a guy with 0finals is a bigger incentive than beating a 5time champ.

thats like saying beating soderling at fo, is bigger than beating rafa…. lmfao….

August 30th, 2010 at 11:06 am

and you managed to get into rafa’s butt, mem…. stfu….. i would rather put morons like you on ignore….

contador :

i was just making fun of what funches said, not your post. i don’t think rafa can have easy draw outside clay. look at his wimbledon draw….. how could he make heavy weather of that?

August 30th, 2010 at 11:15 am

Can’t even read this site anymore. All your comments make me sick. Super man, shut up!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:19 am

superman,

no need for name-calling, you don’t have prove anything to me, i’m sure you are as smart and tough as you sound!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:20 am

Super man, get to work. It’s not lunch break yet. You talk shit like you have nothing else to do.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:22 am

Bottom line is Fed & Rafa should have clear sailing to the Qtrs. They SHOULD beat all the players in front of them till then. If either one of them loses before then it will be called an major upset…..

All this stuff about starting times and draws being tougher or weaker is fodder talk/trash talk and either you jump in and play or don’t, your choice. This stuff goes on EVERY GS.

Remember, it’s the ATP who holds the keys to the rules/regs, write to them if you’re spooked.

And keep in mind I don’t here the players protesting “It’s not fair so I won’t play”

Give it a rest and enjoy the USO.

We will all forget about it after the tourney is over. Oh wait,,,,the excuses…….o well :)

August 30th, 2010 at 11:34 am

super man-

my argument was about the luck of nadal’s draw to get the spaniards he did. ( almagro was the one who assisted him last year)

and the others- if one has been following them recently- nalbandian in particular, you have to really love rafa’s chances against him in 3 sets atm, if not, 4 or 5.

going into the asian swing that could change. nalbandian could excell.

not saying rafa is the best at us open at all. when ferrer did beat nadal on hc, it was at a masters cup in 2007, not exactly rafa’s favorite time of the season.

gulbis- in my dreams he beats rafa but he’s not up for it atm on many levels…

murray can beat nadal at us open. berdych i question. roddick with no mini mono could beat nadal at us open, delpo of course could, if he was here. and would love to see if federer can conquer his inner demons and beat nadal.

much depends on how healthy any one of them is by the time they get to the quarter, semi and final, as well.

will nadal’s knee hold up? that is something of more concern than his early round opponents, imo. same goes for federer and how his body holds up. it’s true for any player – what kind of form and fitness are they in.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:35 am

I agree with Grendel. Nadal is competing at such a high level it’s hard to make a truly hard draw for the guybbthats not the draw’s fault, it’s a huge credit to Nadal to be at such a high level.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:39 am

if nadal doesn’t win in NY it won’t be because his knees but his playing style on a fast hardcourt.. he tries harder to fabricate winners so he errors more often. it’s interesting to see that he has really trouble with the court speed.

someone knows why they slowed down the indoor courts so drastically as well( federer mentioned something about them being so slow nowadays)

August 30th, 2010 at 11:51 am

Ben,

i’m confused! you say “it’s a huge credit to Nadal to be at such a high level.”

seems like just yesterday that you guys were discussing how poor nadal’s play was in toronto and cincy. putting it mildly, getting beat in the semis and quarters back-to-back was pretty gloomy in the eyes of many. and now all of sudden he is playing at a high level and he hasn’t even played his first match yet. how did you arrive at that one? are you saying that his level is so high that he’s the one to beat. i thought murray was the one to beat after he won toronto and then roger after he won cincy. you conclude that it’s hard to make a tough draw for rafa. that’s funny!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:55 am

It’s a major. Nadal might not be the favorite but he is going to be extremely hard to take out. Basically I expect him to win the event until he loses. I know that sounds weird but I don’t expect him to ever fold.

August 30th, 2010 at 12:00 pm

cilc not playing gr8 against marashenko, am I gonna fall at the first fence of challenger :(

August 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Rafa is seeded #1, currently holds the #1 ranking in the world….yes, he is the one to beat. Everyone has their opinion as to predicting but facts are facts…that is also why he has a favorable draw.

August 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

margot,

Well if that is the case I will be going down with you :(

August 30th, 2010 at 12:05 pm

skeezer,

goes to show how much you actually know about tennis. i’m not surprised coming from you. this may come as a shock to you, but a player can be a #1 player and still not be the one to beat on a particular surface. case in point, roger was the #1 seed and held the #1 ranking and had favorable draws for years and years and yet he wasn’t expected to be the one to beat on the red clay of roland garros. next time, think before you type; i’m sure you don’t want everybody to know that you don’t know what you pretend to know!

August 30th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

You are too funny mem,

Why don’t you go tell the ATP so they can LOWER HIS RANKING AND SEEDING FOR the USO…..LMAO

August 30th, 2010 at 12:25 pm

to Superman (who is rude) and to Mem (who is courteous) I don’t have much to add to what Ben says. I don’t myself think that much can be deduced from Toronto and Cinci, and virtually nothing at all from the early part of the year. But let’s take Cinci, all the same. Baghdatis – a player who can take anyone at all on his day – just beat Nadal. He was very hot, but even so, the result was in doubt right to the end, and Nadal certainly looked the more menacing – I thought Baghdatis showed great spirit. However, he was gassed for the Federer match, who then went on to score a somehwat unconvincing victory against Fish.

Baghdatis was the hottest player in that tourney (imo), and Nadal very very nearly beat him. But you know, you know without a shadow of doubt, that Nadal will be a different player in New York. Apart from anything else, word is that he is looking formidable in practise, and that in the game Monte Carlo reported on, Nadal was taking Nalbandian to the cleaners (I think it was Rusedski who reported that, on Sky).

This is a slam, moreover, the slam Nadal wants above all. I reckon it’s fair to call him dominant regardless of the fact that this is his weakest surface. If anyone does beat him, and of course it’s not impossible, that will be some match.

August 30th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

For Nole fans a good performance with the Bryans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqfV_CqXUJM

August 30th, 2010 at 1:39 pm

That’s pretty sick. Thanks for the link, sar. They seem like a really cool group of guys.

August 30th, 2010 at 1:48 pm

skeezer: phew :)

August 30th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Hurricane Earl could wreak havoc with the schedule Fri/Sat depending upon it’s path and how quickly it is moving.

http://www.weather.com/

August 30th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

NELTA: What, what what?? That’s what happened 2008!! Forecast I looked at made no mention..
madmax: r u staying up 4 Fed? Must be about midnight our time.

August 30th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

margot: I warned you re the NYC weather. You need to listen to me, and not get too excited about the weather forecasters, they’re never right.

I feel badly for my son as he will be travelling from Florida to the USO, so I’m hoping the weather does a 360 degree turnaround. OY

August 30th, 2010 at 2:39 pm

sar, thanks for the link; I saw some of Kid’s Day yesterday, but there were a few too many pop stars and not enough tennis! I saw Nole’s whole shtick with the Bryans and he “rapped” more than in that particular clip, which shows the end of the song. I think both Murray and Djoko did cameos on the Bryans’ CD that they recorded. They are very talented musicians!

NELTA, hurricane Earl better stay the heck away!!

margot, losing points because I picked Korloev and Phau and both lost. Sigh. Think I am on track for the rest so far.

Interesting how Kim came back from 0-4 down in the second set to take the match /set 7-5 after a bagel in the first. Kim is a little like Murray that way – she goes on holiday for a set sometimes! ; )

August 30th, 2010 at 2:39 pm

baghdadis was not the player of the tournament in cincy, it was fish but ofcourse that would ruin your fairyland story of nada being a dominant hardcourt champ. so please your self.

rafa might sneak a USopen, but he is far from dominant on hardcourts – i would say even safin, hewitt and roddick were more dominant than the stuff nadal has shown on hardcourts thus far.

August 30th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

yes ben, it’s a major, but rafa has a history of royal spankings in hardcourt majors. delpo squashed him like a bug last year. if an attacking player hits his zone, the hardcourts are not rafa’s friends. think gonzalez , tsongas , youzhny, blake. hard to call such a player dominant.

infact it’s bush/mem/ela league.

August 30th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

contador, not sure if you’ve seen this, but the ATP have a feature on Gulbis in their “Deuce” magazine.

Looks like Roddick is having no problem with Stephane Robert, who is 30 years old and ranked at 78, but whom I’ve not heard of too much before. Both Soda and Monfils are into 4th sets…

August 30th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

djoko rapped good. now take that energy to the tennis court, you dumba$$. please don’t do another safin. look at a-rod. he is super entertaining off the court and gets every bit out of himself on court!

say sorry to a-rod and nyc, and get that crap out of your head.

August 30th, 2010 at 3:10 pm

tennis gods are being good to roger federer( soderling match)

August 30th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

Yes, Soda is in a 5th set now (I am surprised but maybe he is better on slower surfaces!), and so is Monfils, who is in Roddick’s section. Monfils is not only in a 5th set but he is also down a break so it’s not looking good for him a.t.m. He could still come back though. Kendrick is not an easy first rounder.

Also Safina just lost to Hantuchova, not an easy first rounder, but still…

August 30th, 2010 at 3:43 pm

jane , how is andy playing i can only see the soda´s match

August 30th, 2010 at 3:49 pm

He is playing very well and looks to be fit & healthy. I see Soda got the break but he’s got to cut down on UEs if he pulls this match out.
Monfils also got the break back but they’re on serve so it could go either way in that one. Also, Rochus took the first set from Tipsy. I believe the winner is Roddick’s next round opponent, not sure?

August 30th, 2010 at 4:04 pm

C’mon Sod! Ya goin to kill my bracket! :(

August 30th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

fedeRER Says:

tennis gods are being good to roger federer( soderling match)

—————————————–

this is going to drive some people up the wall. i am not taking any names. skeezer, you want to? lol….

August 30th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Wow, Kendrick kind of gave it away at the end there…but Monfils wins a battle with a nice passing shot and an “Allez!”

Let’s see if Soda can serve it out.

2 exciting first round matches going to the wire…

August 30th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

LOL, I love the subtlety that Robert is 30 years old and ranked No. 78 vs. Roddick who is 28 years old today. What’s the point?? That Roddick’s got it easy? Robert is two (2) years older than Roddick. This is Robert’s first GS.

Fed’s playing Dabul who is 26 and he’s ranked at No. 96, will there be an innunedo made on this match-up, or the focus is only on Roddick? OY

August 30th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

SG,

Nah I am been happily reading on the sidelines :)

August 30th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

Soda pulls through with some heavy hitting; he’s just going to have to cut back on errors and also the double faults. Johnny Mac was just saying how tough Soda’s and Monfils’ first round opponents were though, so it’s understandable to see them in battles. Both of their opponents were great servers and did well from the baseline to stay with the higher ranked guys.

August 30th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

Wow if knew Kendrick got in a qualie spot might have picked him over Monfils, a good player who has never broken through….

August 30th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

jane: me too re K and P:( K retired, but like you rest OK..so..far..
von: yes, u r so right re weather…:( will not take notice of forecasters any more…

August 30th, 2010 at 4:21 pm

Von, my point was that it’s weird I haven’t heard of Robert much given that he’s been around for a while (i.e., is 30) and is ranked in the top 100. You’ve misinterpreted my post in a negative way.

August 30th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

btw, this isn’t Roberts first grand slam from what I saw at the ATP:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Ro/S/Stephane-Robert.aspx?t=pa

August 30th, 2010 at 4:27 pm

Jane,

Not too chime in but Kemdrick comes from California, and has played Seibel tourney in San Jose most every year and played tough. He played someone good at Wimby one year . I am on the road but maybe you or someone can google him and find out more. Mystery is to me why hasn’t he worked is way up the rankings?

August 30th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

Kendrick, ugh!

August 30th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Skeez,

Kendrick had a tough 5-set loss to Nadal at Wimby 3 or 4 years ago.

August 30th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

Wiki RK, believe he played in 5-6 GS

August 30th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

Tx NELTA

August 30th, 2010 at 4:34 pm

Hi Skeeze, yes, I have often wondered this about Kendrick too. He always gets stuck in these tough first rounders at the slams, I guess due to his ranking (?), and thus he can’t break through.

August 30th, 2010 at 4:38 pm

problem with Fed’s draw is that he’s not bothered by many players on this surface. So you can’t really say hard draw for him in any case. But yes, Fed has definately had some cakewalks in his career. At this moment no one outside top10 is a threat to him in NY. So for roth round opponents, useless Verdasco is much prefrebale than wild Soderling.

But lets look at Nadal’s draw:

Seeds 5-8
5. Robin Soderling – has a chance to beat Nada
6. Nikolay Davydenko – has a chance to crush Nadal
7. Tomas Berdych – has a chance to crush Nadal
8. Fernando Verdasco – has no chance to beat Nadal and ends up in his quarter.

Seeds 9-12
9. Andy Roddick – has a fair chance to beat Nadal
10. David Ferrer – LOL. he ends up in Rafa’s quarter
11. Marin Cilic – has a chance to beat Nadal
12. Mikhail Youzhny – beaten im in the past, so there might be some chance

seeds 13-16
13. Jurgen Melzer – no chance to beat Nadal
14. Nicolas Almagro – no chance to beat Nadal, but can make him run and spend time on court
15. Ivan Ljubicic – always uselless at slams, injured and old, no chance to beat to Nadal, can take a set but can’t tire Nadal, will drop dead if he has to play 4th set – ends up in Rafa’s quarter
16. Marcos Bagdhatis – has a chance to beat Nadal

Seeds 17-20
17. Gael Monfils
18. John Isner
19. Mardy Fish
20. Samuel Querrey – All 4 can beat Nadal here, none land in his quarter. Well, maybe Querrey can’t.

Nalbandian early would be a bad draw, but Nalbandian in possible QF is not a bad draw. It is, infact, a great freaking draw as far as quarters go since his serve is so attackable and he’s been away for ages…should fat Dave he make it that far, of course.

He’s got Murray instead of Djokovic as well.

How about palyers that have 2handed bh’s and a decent serve, maybe have troubled him in the past so should have some belief, but are unseeded. Any of them for Nadal in early rounds? Tursunov, Bennetau, De Bakker, Ginperi…nope.

So which part on Nadal’s draw is bad? I said dream draw, because from the possible choices, he got almost the best draw imaginable. Take out Nalbandian if would the best possible. That’s a fact.

And i’m still waiting for Ben to confirm he thinks Nadal is the favorite in both possible Murray and Federer match since he thinks Rafa is the first favorite.

August 30th, 2010 at 4:49 pm

superman,

you feel better now that you have released some of that pin-up hostility you feel toward nadal. isn’t rafa such a beautiful warrior prince and fearless too. i can see how that would make you cringe. don’t feel bad, you’re not the only one who despises nadal for not being stupid enough to kiss up to roger and let him win everything, my guess it that’s really the root of all your anger. hang in there, you’ll be alright!

August 30th, 2010 at 5:05 pm

“…say sorry to a-rod and nyc, and get that crap out of your head.”

LOL.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:11 pm

In Cinci, imo, Baghdatis played the hottest tennis in his matches with Berdych and Nadal. He wasn’t as successful as Fish, of course. That’s to make a different point.

” delpo squashed him like a bug last year. if an attacking player hits his zone, the hardcourts are not rafa’s friends. think gonzalez , tsongas , youzhny, blake. hard to call such a player dominant”. I want to take nothing away from delPo, whom I really like and who is the one player, if only he were match fit,whom I would actually back to beat Nadal in New York. He may well have beaten Nadal anyway last year, but it is just silly, and misleading, to use words like “squashed him like a bug” when we know that Nadal was suffering from an abdominal tear – and for anyone sceptical, someone on this site posted a Youtube video emphatically confirming this. As for the other players mentionned, one grows weary of pointing out, as indeed have plenty of others, that those defeats were in the past – Nadal has since got the number of all of them. I wish it were otherwise, but then I’m not the one living in fairyland.

“i would say even safin, hewitt and roddick were more dominant than the stuff nadal has shown on hardcourts thus far.” Safin, of course, was for a while a very great player, and at his best would most certainly have dominated Nadal on hard court. So what, what does that have to do with anything? The references to Hewitt and Roddick are more interesting. In their time, both these players have shown the ability to be dominating on hard court. You wouldn’t really talk about Nadal as dominating on hard court, that doesn’t sound right at all. It’s Nadal himself who is so dominating; his tremendous skills and unmatched (tenniswise) mind make up for any perceived deficiencies in his hardcourt game. Who would you say has the weakest hardcourt game out of Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic – certainly Nadal. But it’s not SO far behind that his extraordinary mind cannot, in the end make the crucial difference. The man is a natural dominator, even in areas where he is least at ease.

jane: I watched the Monfils/Kendrick show, and highly entertaining it was. There was the good, the bad, the appalling, the glorious – wonderful spectacle. Great first round match.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:24 pm

mem you sound like your in a p$ssing contest ( hard to do if your not a guy ) and only talk when it has the post “Rafa” in it.

Give it up and enjoy the USO…
.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:30 pm

There has been some interesting matches today (Mofils, Soderling, Safina going out; Kimmy having to come back in the 2nd, etc.), but no really surprises so far.

Roddick made quick work, which I expected. I hope Roger can join him tonight.

Those who want a little ‘break’ from the action – I found this little commercial. I must say they have made Roger look really handsome in this commercial (of course, I’m bias) lol!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NChuiwwpr6Q&feature=related

August 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm

sonic,

that’s your take! your analysis tells me that you lack insight! sorry you went to the trouble of outlining the history. like i said, nadal’s draw is tough, but it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. it is what it is! what we think won’t change the draw! whoever wins the title has to win seven matches against seven players who also want to win.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm

Oh, and for you “Federer fans” – here’s an extended version of the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBstS_wZGJ0&feature=related

August 30th, 2010 at 5:34 pm

@Sonic,

Your post was insightful. IMO when all said in done when challenging a Rafa or a Fed is this;
Who is really in ANY draw that has a good shot at beating either one of them at there best? This is why posters ( I have caught myself saying this also ) think that Fed or Rafa has a cakewalk or easy draw int the past or present. Murray, Nole, Roddick, etc? It is a short list. Just another way of looking at the discussion…..

August 30th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Fot,

That was cool, his acting is getting better :) tx

August 30th, 2010 at 5:41 pm

skeezer,

i didn’t know there was a law against me discussing rafa especially when someone else throws him out there. you are absolutely correct, the only player’s name i know is rafa nadal…..i’m so sorry if that makes you uncomfortable! don’t let me stop you from enjoying the open.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:43 pm

Peter Fleming, commenting on Dent/Falla, has just made an interesting remark vis-a-vis American tennis. He said tennis is a minor sport, behind the big 4 (obviously: American football, baseball, basketball – but what’s the 4th?), but even so, he’d heard 30 million Americans play tennis. That is a big figure in absolute terms, and it is also a surprisingly large percentage of the American adult population. Furthermore, Fleming says, they are adequately served by the number of indoor courts. Expect a renaissance in American tennis just when you’re not expecting it.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:43 pm

When did Roddick, Safin, or Hewitt ever “dominate” on hard courts? Sure they were better than most, but none of them were dominant. Sampras dominated his era, and Federer his. Those three were never dominant players. Now let’s throw in Djokovic and Murray and Nadal has just as many hard court slams as all 5 of these guys except Safin, who has 2, and Murray, who has none (so far).

Some of you guys act as if though Nadal is some sort of novice on hard courts, and it’s all based on just the last 2 events? Really? We’re basing Nadal’s hard court prowess on just 2 events? That’s just silly. What about the last 2 US Opens? What about all the Montreal and Indian Wells titles he won? What about the AO he won? What about the 2 Miami finals? Madrid? Paris final? Olympics!?!? Sure he can be blown away by a hard hitter, but so can Federer and Murray. Maybe he got a lucky draw, maybe not. You can analyze it however you want but the fact of the matter is that Nadal will be extremely difficult to beat for anyone.

As for how he stands as the favorite next to Federer and Murray. He’s more vulnerable than both of them on hard courts, so I think he’s more likely to be upset early. But against them, I say 40-60 against Murray and 60-40 against Federer.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:46 pm

Margot, not sure – my eyes are trying to stay open, but tiredness is overwhelming them! Plus, I always find these early rounds are not fun to watch.

I watched the soderling match. This is a no. 5 player, a brilliant player, soderling, being taken to 5 sets by a 214 ranked player. It shows that these guys cannot be underestimated.

Soderling looked ‘heavy’ on court today, and out of sorts from the start. His opponent broke him straight away. It took him a while to find his rhythm and once he did, he still had to fight for the privilege of the win.

Fed plays a ranked 96 player who has nothing to lose. Just hope fed stays on his guard, as always in the early rounds of a tournament. I know he practises his shots a lot, but I hope he wraps it up in 3 straight sets.

I think of Falla. I think he was seeded 65 at Wimbledon? Falla had nothing to lose. I know that Fed won’t make that mistake again. (I think Falla was underestimated).

Skeeze hope you are around to watch the match and give some positive feedback.

Margot, hope to base with you later. (I probably won’t sleep that well tonight!).

August 30th, 2010 at 5:49 pm

The Dent match is becomming a little ‘stale’. Seems like Stosur has a handle on her match; Victoria is going hot and cold in her 2nd set.

Come on 6:00 pm my time for Venus – then Roger!

August 30th, 2010 at 5:50 pm

Other ‘interesting notes’:
1. What has happened to Tursunov? He goes out first round to Melzer in 5 sets;

2. Old Juan Carlos won in 3 quick sets today, including a 6-0 in the 3rd!

3. Sorry to see that Gonzo had to retire. He just has not recovered from his injuries.

4. Gasquet sets up an interesting 2nd round match with Davydenko. That should be a good one if both bring their game.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:53 pm

who cares nadal is a dominator or slave. this guy goes months without a sniff at a hardcourt title and we are supposed to worship at his altar. sorry, that is just mem league.

and then comes the injury list.

the truth is right in front of you yet you will find excuses like injuries, or rafa will use his mind to dominate – where was that mind in 2009 uso, 2010 ao?

sorry nadal is far from dominating on hardcourts. that is a fact. please come out of egypt aka denial land.

August 30th, 2010 at 5:57 pm

“The Dent match is becomming a little ‘stale’. Agreed. Not caught alight somehow. Still basking in that enjoyable Monfils/Kendrick match. Kendrick looks like a pirate. And in his way, he is as unpredictable as Monfils. For anyone who watched, did Monfils hit the ball before or after it landed out? I couldn’t tell, and Kendrick was still raging about it to the umpire when they were all packing up to leave.

August 30th, 2010 at 6:00 pm

ben :

safin, hewitt rod even joker has better hard court results than rafa.

August 30th, 2010 at 6:05 pm

grendel, agreed on the Monfils/Kendrick match. Also Soda’s opponent was a talented chap who really hung with him until the end.

Did anyone see what happened to Gonzalez; I mean I know he retired, but I assume it was the same injury? Too bad for him as he went pretty deep here last year – QFs was it?

August 30th, 2010 at 6:12 pm

“…challenges shall be made without delay…….”

Hope that they enforce that one! Another weak rule enforced, they should have not time. Some players are getting away with

“Well, um..let me see, wait I will check out my entourage…no wait I want to get the umpires approval…..mmmm scratch that…can I get a drink of Gatorade first while I am still thinkin about it?

Dude, call it right away or the challenge is gone, lol

August 30th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

You know, I was careful to specify one injury – ONE, not making a parade of them – and to point out that there was conclusive video evidence for it. But I still made a little bet with myself that some sarcastic reference would be made to “injury” and that the word “excuses” would pop up (this despite the fact that I wanted delPo to beat Nadal and pointed out that I think he still could were he match fit). Well, I won my bet. I’m still trying to figure out how I am going to pay myself.

Again, I try to distinguish between a dominating player of a particular surface and a dominating player as such. Might as well not have bothered. As it happens, Nadal falls into both categories. He is a dominating claycourter as everyone knows, but he is not, imo, a dominating grasscourt player despite his 2 Wimbledons – there are quite a few you can imagine beating Nadal on grass, none on clay. But he is, in himself, a dominating player.

Everyone knows this, it is trivial to mock (dominatrix/slave – really, let’s have a bit of imagination). And everyone knows the mind is hugely important, Nadal himself rating it as his greatest weapon. Since when does that mean he has to win every important match? That’s not what anyone means by dominating, at least not in Sport.

In a way, it is almost because Nadal is at his most fallible on a fast hard court that you can see just how dominating he is in the world of tennis. Although Federer appears to be slight favourite, I bet most people have a sneaking feeling Nadal will pull it off. Very few, I think, will believe Federer can beat Nadal in the final should it come to that, even though the surface clearly suits Fed and doesn’t suit Nadal. Personally, the only player I can see beating Nadal is Murray. The question is: are his hard court skills sufficiently superior to outweigh Nadal’s unique mixture of tennis skills and fierce fighting spirit? It’s an intriguing question, for which none of us -fortunately – has an answer.

August 30th, 2010 at 6:34 pm

grendel & jane,

Just FYI I wasn’t referring to the Kendrick/Monfils match, I did not watch the ending….. just a general observation..

August 30th, 2010 at 6:41 pm

Career hard court records:
Wins Losses Titles
nadal: 208 68 9
safin: 217 140 10
djokovic: 178 54 13
hewitt: 325 116 19
roddick: 375 109 19

Safin ended his underachieving career with 1 more hc title than Nadal, but Nadal is far from retiring. Hewitt and Roddick are significantly older than Nadal. The only one here who can be said is actually better is Djokovic, since he has more titles and both are the same age. However, let’s take into account the fact that Nadal is not a natural hard court player and has numerous titles on both grass and clay, both big and small. Hard court is the best surface for the rest of these guys. Nadal’s best surface is clay and he has 29 titles there.

Again, no one is saying he’s going to dominate hard courts, and none of the other guys dominated them either. But that doesn’t mean he’s completely incapable of winning on the surface, even the biggest of titles. How many big titles do the other 4 guys have on their worst surfaces? The amount of disrespect you show Nadal is pitiful.

August 30th, 2010 at 6:43 pm

Ben, I’m shocked to note that Rafa and Djokovic have lost the same %age of hard court matches played (25%). Like you say, HCs are Djokovic’s best surface, and he’s one of the best players on HCs. I’m shocked!

August 30th, 2010 at 7:10 pm

You can see the whole video to Nole’s rap here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4UycuQoZrM
Hilarious!

Soderling looking good today… that’s all I can say. Oh… and Nole crushed Murray in a practice match 6-2. He was hitting super clean, I reckon he has chances to win USO. Let’s hope for it.

August 30th, 2010 at 7:12 pm

I agree. Stats can interpreted many different ways. IMO am most concerned with GS titles, and GS are played on 2 of the 4. Nole has a slam on HC, like Rafa, and that goes a long way.

That said, as Ben noted, Rafa is no slouch on HC, as his HC record matches indicate, there is no reason why he shouldn’t do well. I will not be on the naysayers ballot of opinion that he is not the favorite. IMO it will be a major upset if Rafa does not win of epic proportions, the #1 World ranked player and #1 USO seed.

Nole however is sitting in a sweet spot, low expectations but not a great draw. If he gets through, it will be a great run as he runs into quality players sooner than the rest……

August 30th, 2010 at 7:22 pm

“Nole however is sitting in a sweet spot,”. Yes, the Djoker really is the joker in the pack (I solemnly swear that the words came to me in all innocence before I spotted the dreadful pun – so dreadful I haven’t the heart to delete it)

Yes, Djokovic is intriguing. There is no doubt that if he were to finally get himself together he could pull off the whole thing. Maybe the difficult draw is a blessing in d, because if he gets to the semis, it may be that his tough battles will have given him the confidence to face Sod or Fed with realistic expectation of beating them. A confident Djokovic in the final would be a formidable proposition for either Murray or Nadal.

August 30th, 2010 at 7:37 pm

Those who say Rafa can’t win because he doesn’t play his best tennis on hard court simply does not know Nadal. He remarked a few months ago that a tennis surface by itself should not keep one from winning. He fully believes, as Grendel said, that he can find a way through whatever variables are available. He is a master, so if anyone can do it, it will be Nadal.

August 30th, 2010 at 7:40 pm

Safin out sad :(

Michael Woodard 12 yr old amazing voice….

August 30th, 2010 at 7:51 pm

If only he could hit the notes.

August 30th, 2010 at 7:55 pm

Anybody else predict Mathieu over Hewitt? That should help my bracket!

August 30th, 2010 at 7:55 pm

Ben – Thanks for those stats. Wasn’t Superman just telling Contador she didn’t know anything about tennis! This kind of flys in the face of his agenda.

August 30th, 2010 at 7:58 pm

So I turn on the TV hoping Venus has dispatched her opponent quickly and they are warming up. WTF? The schedule says 7PM.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:04 pm

TomA Who cares if he misspelled Vaclev Havel’s name? Nadal joining Sampras and Federer seems relevant right? Why not mention it?

August 30th, 2010 at 8:14 pm

Venus’ dress is rather wee but she seems to have forgone the skin toned “illusion” briefs this time. Her serve looks great. But Mary Joe says the second serve is actually a weakness.

stu – I picked Hewitt, so unless this goes to 5 sets looks like I will lose more points, alas. : /

August 30th, 2010 at 8:15 pm

Rafa is playing tomorrow night, not Wednesday.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:17 pm

Predicted high for tomorrow is 35 degrees – ouch! – by Thursday and Friday clouds and showers are forecast. Of course we don’t know if this will hold but that’s what it looks like.

I guess Murray (& presumably his section, including Berdych?) is the one that gets the latest start on Wednesday as I don’t see him on tomorrow.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:27 pm

jane – Rusedski said he thought a Wednesday start would suit Murray. I didn’t entirely follow his reasoning, I have to admit – something to do with rhythm and preparing for super Saturday. Bit befuddled – time for bed.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:35 pm

It will be hot tomorrow, but very low humidity so it shouldn’t be an issue for the players.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:36 pm

Venus lost 3 straight games. looks like we have a long wait for the fed.

rusty venus. beating herself at the moment

August 30th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

hewitt fighting to take the third set but got broken in the begining of the fourth, not looking good.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:49 pm

Kimmi, Venus is very up and down in this match; rusty, as you say. Hewitt is still trying to level it, but hmmm. Also I see Bellucci is still playing as well.

NELTA, the weather network website says 0% chance of rain but 30-40% humidity.

August 30th, 2010 at 8:56 pm

I watch part of ivanovic match., she seem to play well. impressed with her serve. she hit few aces and a lot of unreturnable.

Seem to be coming back slowly. she has a tough draw though. Next she plays the feisty chinese girl zheng jie.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:05 pm

venus seem to have injured her knee a little bit. we just started the tornament, long road ahead…

August 30th, 2010 at 9:09 pm

c’mon venus..two more games

August 30th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

Polo,

Lol :)

Jane,

tx for that I thought Rafa was playing Wed. So much talk about a wed start and during the day…

btw 30-40% humidity is nothin….over 50 is “wanna be startin somethin”

August 30th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

Fot – thanks for federer commercial clips. Love them.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

That will be tough for Ivanovic Kimmi. This match is making me sleepy. Almost over now, though so Fed will be on. I think I have seen his opponent before once or twice at slams; he’s a lefty but is only 5′ 7″ (that’s my height!).

August 30th, 2010 at 9:12 pm

Skeeze, yeah, I can just feel it when it’s there. I don’t even know what’s low, medium or high in terms of humidity? Oover 50 must be towards high. When I lived in Toronto the humidity could be brutal.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:16 pm

venus picking it up..almost..almost finishing. c’mon venus.

5’7″ hmmmm, looks like fed should not be worried about getting aced too much.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:18 pm

smile from venus. hope she can play well throughout. we need some great WTA matches.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:19 pm

Kimmi, Hewitt is still fighting; he broke back. Bellucci is through.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:20 pm

thanks jane. Bullucci is my guy. congrats to him.
Hewitt has a tough match. But I know he will never give up. Hope he wins, coz i pick him to win. C’mon rusty!!

August 30th, 2010 at 9:22 pm

hahaha hewitt wins the fourth set. Now finish him! great fighter he is..

August 30th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

Yes, come on Rusty, don’t be rusty.

The picture of Dabul at the ATP site under his profile almost looks like Baggy a little bit. I guess he was number 1 in juniors in 2002.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

No.1 in juniours. hmmm, I have never seen him play. c’mon fed.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:28 pm

dabul is lefty. hmmm!

August 30th, 2010 at 9:29 pm

Hewitt broken to start the 5th; if he wins he is sure doing it the hard way!! Fed looks fine in the navy; I don’t mind it.

August 30th, 2010 at 9:31 pm

grrrrr, c’mon hewitt!

August 30th, 2010 at 9:32 pm

Hewitt is down two breaks in the 5th so it’s looking quite bleak

August 30th, 2010 at 9:42 pm

yeah, I am afraid thats it for hewett. too bad after all that fight.

dabul is hitting the ball very well so far

August 30th, 2010 at 9:44 pm

Margot,

Fed is on Ashe! I can’t record the match!

Have never seen Dabul play. Know nothing about him. Apparently he hasnt had to play any qualifying events to play at the USOpen? So don’t know how he qualified? Presumably he got a wild card?

Anyway, good luck to the Fed and hope for a great match, but to keep it short Roger!

C’mon Federer!

August 30th, 2010 at 9:52 pm

Got to say,

Fed looks Grreeeatttttt in navy!

Great serve!

Ace speed 208 kmh

August 30th, 2010 at 9:56 pm

what happened to hewitt in that fifth set. he fights to get back and then loses 6-1. that is just not hewitt like.. maybe he is injured

August 30th, 2010 at 9:57 pm

Dabul started well, got a break point on fed serve and then its all downhill from there.

fed needs to maintain his concentration. so good so far

August 30th, 2010 at 10:04 pm

Yes, you’ve summarized it well Kimmi. Johnny Mac is funny; he can’t even sit still in that booth. He’s walking /standing around up there.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:20 pm

Don’t know anything about dabul, but from roger’s side, backhand is pretty strong, and errors are lower than we saw the last couple weeks. If he can keep this up with tougher opponents that would be great!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:23 pm

Boooring

August 30th, 2010 at 10:28 pm

Mirka is texting; that’s always a good sign that Roger is cruising. ;)

August 30th, 2010 at 10:29 pm

c’mon fed. dabul should not win this game. aaaarg, he wins it.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:31 pm

federer is going thru a bad patch here..c’mon concentrate

August 30th, 2010 at 10:33 pm

It’s cruising but fed should not be losing games where he’s up 0_40 and has three brk points!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:34 pm

now he has to win this game…c’mon fed

August 30th, 2010 at 10:37 pm

another 0-40 to duece..aaaarrrgggg

August 30th, 2010 at 10:38 pm

dabul is really fighting though

August 30th, 2010 at 10:39 pm

Hellooooooo!!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:40 pm

Lol, Cahill said Fed’s “tweener” woke up the crowd; I think so.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:42 pm

Tweeeeeeeener :)

August 30th, 2010 at 10:43 pm

lots another game 0-40. just not good federer.

But at least he hit shot of the day

August 30th, 2010 at 10:44 pm

The only thing better than getting that shot woulda been getting that game and set! But whatever he is a bad ass and that reaction after the shot was priceless! Such joy he brings!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:44 pm

Wow, that was even better than last year against Djoko in the semis. Pure Federer magic.
Ana even sonhe misses 5 set points. His BP convertions are still awfull.

August 30th, 2010 at 10:44 pm

he knew he wouldn’t lose that set..so

but definetly needs to brush up break point convertions

August 30th, 2010 at 10:48 pm

@kimberly,

How can you say boring with that between the legs shot winner from Fed, again! Proving it is not a fluke and lucky ducky?

Who can’t deny that Fed is also the GOAT shotmaker? Shaaaamoooon! Hee hee! Ya know it!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:54 pm

Look, has Roger’s bp conversion been troubling him this year? Absolutely. Is it a bad sign if he misses 100 bp chances against Dabul? No.

Roger has never been the kind of guy who thinks he should play BPs differently from other points. He just lets any point play itself out, and considering that most bps he missed aren’t crucial, who cares?

August 30th, 2010 at 10:56 pm

Surely Kimberly said it before the tweener!
Skeezer, you’re a big mj fan, huh?!
BREAK POINT CONVERSIONS, ROGIE!

August 30th, 2010 at 10:57 pm

he got this break point. great!!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:02 pm

dabul will win a set . c’mon make a match.

federer looks better than i expected in all navy. the navy is almost black, is why…..imo

wow, soderling nearly lost to a qualifier!! that would have killed my brackets!!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:02 pm

dari,

Surely she had too. She is cool :)

MJ? Absolutely, GOAT, King of Pop, RIP :)

August 30th, 2010 at 11:04 pm

Anna Wintour – she’s funny; “I wear Prada sport on the court”. : )

August 30th, 2010 at 11:04 pm

contador – no way. dabul is not allowed to win a set. fed is let him in this match longer than necessary already!

jane – is that what she said..well!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:07 pm

and he breaks again. good rog!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:09 pm

contador,

“federer looks better than i expected in all navy. the navy is almost black, is why…..imo”

Ditto.

On another note, great to see him play early against a lefty and hit some returns down the line to the BH ( difficult shot for a righty against a lefty )among other things. Backhand has had some sweet moments. It’s all good, good start :)

August 30th, 2010 at 11:10 pm

what! c’mon fed, serve it out

August 30th, 2010 at 11:11 pm

Yes, that’s what she said Kimmi; it’s kind of ironic since “The Devil Wears Prada” was loosely based on her. Ha! But I think Anna has a pretty good sense of humour about how she is perceived.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:11 pm

Always beautiful to watch the fed. one match at a time maestro!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

i was joking, Kimmi bad joke.

anna wintour was not exactly enthused about federer’s kit. she hedged….”it was dark in the restaurant”

she would have in drop the nike and wear prada. hehe

poor dabul.

kimberly- does this link work? let me know, ok?

http://www.tourneytopia.com/RacquetBracketUsOpenWTA/Contador/default.aspx

August 30th, 2010 at 11:17 pm

annacone better sort him out with that breakpoint conversion

August 30th, 2010 at 11:17 pm

Said the boring comment before the tweener!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:19 pm

I knew you were “yoking” contador, no worries.
Yay, federer!

sad for hewitt though.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:19 pm

Ends it with and ace

August 30th, 2010 at 11:19 pm

Can’t hurt that Fed got to play a lefty early on, try out some more aggressive returns, etc.

contador, I read somewhere that Anna wasn’t so sure about the “baby pink”; in fact I think Fed said that in one of his interviews.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:23 pm

i left some messages for tennisx bracket ppl on tournytopia

i have no idea who you are for sure, except jane and kimberly

: ) check it out. : /

but that would have been awful if dabul took a set….ack

August 30th, 2010 at 11:25 pm

haha-

but i wonder how she would be dressing and accessorizing her federer doll.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:27 pm

The draws look very different.lots of different options. This is going to be soooo much fun.

Grrrr gonzo and hewitt.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:31 pm

LOL, contador, I wouldn’t doubt that she has one. BTW, are the messages under “comments” and if so, how the heck to I access them? I went there, but can’t seem to open…

August 30th, 2010 at 11:33 pm

can someone send a link to go the bracket for tennischannel..i lost it and dont know how to get there..

August 30th, 2010 at 11:35 pm

Here ya go Kimmi:

http://www.tourneytopia.com/RacquetBracketUsOpenATP/kimberli25/default.aspx

August 30th, 2010 at 11:38 pm

I found the comment section at tourneytopia: aptly named, “smack talk”.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

Btw I currwntly hve three brackets because I opened late entries to several people who joined the group but did not transfer picks from the main draw. Someone named karen, sardina and guy montecarlo. Sardina acepted the transfer and is listed and vw. If anyone else submitted to the main draw as the group admin I can allow them as a late entry. Still waiting and guy montecarlo and karen to accept transer. It took kaiser and I several hours to do this but when we saw people had joined the group but only submitted picks to main draw we had to figure out a way to let them in.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:46 pm

one thing that can be said about the draws, for the top 5, they are by and large always cupcake until the 3rd round, and sometimes to the fourth. qualifiers and people that don’t even make the cutoffs for 500 events.
this only changes when a past top player out with injuries etc comes up. or an upcoming player.

for example davy now has gasquet in the second round. murray drew tsonga first round few years back.

but point is it’s hard to find a good match for days, esp a televised match since all the top players with their cupcake draws are on the main courts.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:47 pm

yes, the messages are called “smack talk”

click on your name, open to your bracket and scroll all the way down to the bottom….uh where it shows how many you goofed.

still wondering if my wta pool link works for anyone : (

if not, i will cancel the pool. maybe it;s too late and the link is bad.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:47 pm

in many ways masters events are more interesting overall in terms of match quality. although slams are obviously better from the second week.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:48 pm

If you go the group standings there is also a clumn that shows how many comments on the page. I’m starting to get tourneytopia. By the australian ill be the champ of it. For the masters I will stick to user friensly atp.

August 30th, 2010 at 11:54 pm

I did miss signing up for the bracket challenge! :( I wouldn’t have picked Hewitt past round one, I am not a fan, and would have certainly had a soft spot for mathieu! Shoulda coulda!
Anyway, in the post match on court, roger had a sense of humor about the break point conversions,and blamed them on Paul! Ha!

August 30th, 2010 at 11:54 pm

I figured out the comments guys. I just send some comments back.

August 31st, 2010 at 12:00 am

The website is actually kind of cool. Once you r deeper in the tournament you can play what if scenarios and it will show who would win if certain players beat otherss in semis or final etc. That’s how I figured out I was losing wimby even though I was the only one who picked nadal to win. Hanescu hosed me on that one. I was set to pick up tons of points from him (remember seed numbers added to score starting third round to reward punters who pick upsets) and he blew a ton of match points and spit on the hallowed grounds of wimby on top of it.

August 31st, 2010 at 12:07 am

“…in many ways masters events are more interesting overall in terms of match quality.”

You must like “shoot out” tennis rather than 3 out of 5?

August 31st, 2010 at 12:09 am

2 out of 3 isn’t shoot out tennis.

August 31st, 2010 at 12:21 am

Ben, how come you don’t do draw challenges?

August 31st, 2010 at 12:33 am

Contador__trying to join your wta pool. Not succeeding. Will try again in the am. Huge drama as several people joined our group but only submitted picks from the main draw.I think I got most of them but it took hours. You may have to issue a late invitation, copy my picks from the main pool, and then send me a link to transfer.

August 31st, 2010 at 12:47 am

Anyone who wears a sleveless dress with those cringeworthy flabby sticks for arms should not be dishing out any fashion advice.

Ms Wintour also parades those puffed up lips that look like she was kissing hot plate.

Looking like that and acting a style guru, that requires some nerve. And plenty of stupidity from the sheeple that listen to her.

August 31st, 2010 at 12:52 am

bibi ” flabby sticks ” – ewwww – interesting oxymoron you’ve come up with there.

August 31st, 2010 at 1:00 am

Compared to 3 out of 5 it is. You played it? It’s a BIG difference.

August 31st, 2010 at 1:21 am

@Ben

Just to clarify, I am comparing it( 2 out of 3 ) to 3 out of 5 matches, GS titles, not own its own merit. I agree it’s not “shoot out” tennis if that is not compared to GS match play. You can take it from there if you disagree and please state your position…

August 31st, 2010 at 1:33 am

TT site is down, sorry for the inconvenience, Guess the Rafa body lovers have to post here for now. bummer. Just keep the “Fed is a smug bastard” under the radar.

August 31st, 2010 at 2:16 am

skeezer @ 2:16……lol

grendel : the facts don’t support your nadal is a dominating player on hard courts fantasy. i cannot say it anymore simply than that. keep psyching yourself that rafa is mentally dominant or physically dominant.

ben : the fact that hard courts are rafa’s worst surface and best surface for hewitt and co is irrelevant unless you have information that uso will shift to clay courts sometime soon. the point of contention was rafa being dominant on hardcourts. rod and hewitt have double rafa’s titles and safin is beyond numbers. i never said rafa sucked on hardcourt, i said he is not dominant. i respect rafa enough just not ready to lick his shoe laces like you and grendel and mem

August 31st, 2010 at 2:55 am

anna :

you are even more stupid than mem…. read carefully and use your brain.

funches said ” but anyone who thinks he got an easy draw shouldn’t be posting their thoughts about tennis. ”

contador said nadal had an easy draw and i was joking she did not know tennis.

i am sure contador can speak for herself. did you just come because mem called for back-up on tt or planet rafa?

August 31st, 2010 at 3:04 am

Nadal will lose in this tournament, and perhaps Roger will win, his game is perfect.

August 31st, 2010 at 4:26 am

Seriously, even Del Potro is playing. I really don’t think he is in Nadal’s league. Del Porto is being considered as a one hit wonder at the moment. Safin is also better than him, although he won his second slams 5 years later.

August 31st, 2010 at 5:29 am

best of 5 is more interesting only if the matches are interesting, otherwise it just makes a one sided destruction even more banal.

masters have a lower cut off so the first,second round matches are higher quality in general. like i said, slams are better in the second week. but watching top tenners destroy journeyman and nonames for the first few days isn’t as interesting as the early matchups you’ll get in a masters tourny.

August 31st, 2010 at 5:53 am

guy says:

“but point is it’s hard to find a good match for days, esp a televised match since all the top players with their cupcake draws are on the main courts”. If you’ve got Sky, you’re ok, since with the red button you’ve got choice of 3 or 4 matches, including some on outer courts. I used to rent Sky Sports for a month when I was on Virgin – why not try that? Doesn’t cost much.

Superman: Still playing the same tune? I thought we’d all moved on. Oh, well (sigh). Nobody ever said Nadal was dominant on hard courts as such, just that he was a dominant tennis player. He has the aura, like Federer used to, and that is worth a huge number of points. Ask Federer. Plus he has an entirely justified reputation as the greatest competitor in the history of the sport (not greatest player, note: I have to add this – apparently).

I also pointed out that of the top 4, Nadal definitely has the weakest hard court game. But not by much, and his other extraordinary assets more than compensate. My own feeling about Murray/Nadal is that Nadal just shades it. But no surprise if I prove wrong.

August 31st, 2010 at 5:57 am

Grendel, regarding Nadal’s “aura”. I think Murray believes he can beat Rafa on a hard court. On any given occasion, he may of course not do so, but surely that belief is worth, if not “a huge number of points”, then quite a few?
To go off at a tangent – am I right in recalling that you mentioned once a rather rude nickname for Murray in your country, based on his supposed toothiness? That is just a face he pulls while playing. I often wonder why nobody comments on the extraordinary face Roddick pulls during play. Either he’s a glassblower moonlighting as a tennis player, or he’s doing an impression of Dizzy Gillespie!

August 31st, 2010 at 8:21 am

Colin – I think you’re right about Murray. Yes, “huge number of points” was rather over egging the pudding. I should have said a few points at decisive moments. My instinct, though, is that Nadal’s will to win will be too strong on this occasion, particularly since – whatever Nadal may say – this year looks like being his best opportunity for winning New York. Of course, one’s instinct has no value in this sort of situation, and I stand to be corrected. We’ll see.

I know what you mean about Roddick – Dizzie Gillepsie captures it nicely. As for Murray, I am English – are you Scottish? I’ve never had a rude nickname for Murray but, now that you mention it, I suppose Dracula comes to mind. There is no doubt that Murray provokes a lot of largely irrational dislike – and, whatever the alleged reason are, I put it down to the teeth.

August 31st, 2010 at 8:45 am

Sorry Grendel, I think I’m mixing you up with someone from the Netherlands. I believe the nickname was some kind of animal with prominent rodent teeth. As you’re English, I don’t have to tell you that the most violent and unfair opinions of Andy are expressed on British forums, like the BBC one. He’s better appreciated abroad, as indeed was Henman. Sad, isn’t it? I reckon it’s a legacy of our imperial past. We used to be top dogs, and we resent it now we aren’t. So when someone seems as if they might give us something to crow about, we pile expectations on them, and castigate them when they don’t deliver.
I’m English too; what made you choose that username? Are you in fact a mythical monster?

August 31st, 2010 at 9:12 am

“Are you in fact a mythical monster?”

Certainly not. I am gravely offended. None of this wishy washy mythical stuff.

I am an actual monster.

August 31st, 2010 at 9:20 am

@GUY

GS is just a different animal than MS. 128 draw vs 64, so yeah, the seeds will play quality opponents early. But many times they have a 1rst rd bye, also.

The other down side is you could win one match and your in the qtrs? phooey. GS can be boring I guess in the begining ( but the Sod?Monfils match? )as some of the players you can match up with are journeymen, but you still have to play and there ARE upsets. Hewitt bounced out of the 1rst round for instance.
3 out 5 sets is the ultimate test for a tennis player.

August 31st, 2010 at 9:48 am

I don’t know if this is the place to post this, but has anyone noticed that this is the US TENNIS OPEN ? ? ? ? Then why on the Arthur Ashe Court, on both ends of the net, there are logo signs of Mercedes Benz? First of all, it must be very distracting to the players, let alone those of us who are trying the match. Second of all, this is the US Tennis Open, NOT the German Open. It is such a shame that the organizers cannot find US sponsors who would love to have their logo’s on that net. . .But then again God Bless the Almighty Dollar and who can shell out the most $$$ instead of promoting the Good Old USA ! ! !

September 1st, 2010 at 9:16 pm

why is roddcik touching himself all the time? i find quite inappropriate!

September 1st, 2010 at 9:56 pm

My money is on Nadal.

September 5th, 2010 at 4:24 am