USO Day 4

Watching Fed Sela on Eurosport. They are so pro Fed there those 2 commentators (not sure who they are). "Saying that's the way and speed tennis should be played at" after a 26mn 1st set!

They were also complaining at the extra time at change of ends ordered by CBS. The referees there have to extend the time to allow more TV advertising. The players don;t tend to respect it and leave their chairs before time is called.

The USO is the worst slam for me.

Fed cruising

im watching on espn and the commentators (Malivai Washington and some other guy) and they are drooling over Fed; everything from his personality, his kids, his RF logo and even the way he gives the balls back to the ball boys.

Tenez wrote:Watching Fed Sela on Eurosport. They are so pro Fed there those 2 commentators (not sure who they are). "Saying that's the way and speed tennis should be played at" after a 26mn 1st set!

They were also complaining at the extra time at change of ends ordered by CBS. The referees there have to extend the time to allow more TV advertising. The players don;t tend to respect it and leave their chairs before time is called.

The USO is the worst slam for me.

I generally like the US Open. However, the Super Saturday Fiasco kills is one of the things that really annoy me and takes advantage of tennis professionals. The other slams are fairer in allowing a two days' rest between Grand Slam semifinals and finals. That the US is different does not surprise me. TV Ratings are king in a country where the Ratings Industry borders on the obscene. The sad reality is that this is not going to change as the TV viewing public and the spectators who turn up to view Super Saturday matches support the media authorities in this practice. The only thing that may discontinue it is a strong and concerted stance on the part of ATP players.

Berdych on fire today, should be a nice 4th rounder with him and Monfifi me thinks

Federer is certainly dispatching Sela with ease. Sela has played some good shots. He hasn't had enough to trouble Federer. Looking at the way he is hitting the ball and the rumour of the courts speeding up, I think Federer surely is a favourite for the final.

Superb FH to seal the break and the match by Feds.

This is utter destruction at the moment. In that last game Federer was playing it almost as if it was just a knock up, finishing it with an insane winner down the line.

Bear in mind Sela is ranked No.93 in the world so Federer should be beating him comfortably.

And what ruins such a match is the dreadful analysis by Greg and Annabel!!

A good match by Fed, very easy win. I'll be looking to see how he does in the next match before I'm confident he'll cause an upset but if he wins that in a similar way as today, then maybe we might get a Fed upset....

Hmmmmmm Haas 2 sets up against Falla, but a break down in the 3rd.

luciusmann wrote:A good match by Fed, very easy win. I'll be looking to see how he does in the next match before I'm confident he'll cause an upset but if he wins that in a similar way as today, then maybe we might get a Fed upset....

Upset? Come on.. you're talking about the world number 3, Roger Federer no less, at the USO.

This is still the tournament where Fed plays his best tennis.

Fed lifting the trophy WOULD NOT be an upset. Maybe a couple of years down the line, but certainly not yet.

Yeah baby, Serena crunching her way into the lead.

She's gonna put all the pretenders in their place.

Baltacha; the perfect sacrificial lamb: hope she can make it to win two games.....

Tommy in great shape btw

Ops got it all wrang, it's Krajcek, not Baltacha

Wow, Serena just teeing off and hitting winners for fun.

4-0. I smell some baked stuff - Serena looks famished.

Serena has that amazing ability to raise her level at the crucial points. She could be trundling along, cruising, but the moment she smells danger, she just raises her level.

Just like now; facing break point, she hit a FH winner and then served 2 aces. Game over.

5-0.

6-0, 23 mins of total destruction.

Bear in mind Sela is ranked No.93 in the world so Federer should be beating him comfortably.

i'll remember that when your fav is playing against a similar ranking, then

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

Bear in mind Sela is ranked No.93 in the world so Federer should be beating him comfortably.

i'll remember that when your fav is playing against a similar ranking, then

Can't see how considering Fed is seen as GOAT by many whilst you don't rate Murray and so by rights you should be crediting Murray for every win he gets for winning when you don't expect him to.

kemet wrote:
I generally like the US Open. However, the Super Saturday Fiasco kills is one of the things that really annoy me and takes advantage of tennis professionals. The other slams are fairer in allowing a two days' rest between Grand Slam semifinals and finals. That the US is different does not surprise me. TV Ratings are king in a country where the Ratings Industry borders on the obscene. The sad reality is that this is not going to change as the TV viewing public and the spectators who turn up to view Super Saturday matches support the media authorities in this practice. The only thing that may discontinue it is a strong and concerted stance on the part of ATP players.

Yes but in my view, the ratings industry doesn't explain it all. It's the same business law for all the other slams but only in the US do the organisers drop their pants that low. The fact that a 2 weeks event supposed to reach its climax turns into a damp squib because the organisers could not negotiate a better deal can only make things worse. Ratings from real tennis fans can only go down. Which sensible sport fan woudl be interested in watching a 100m race with some lanes having hurdles put randomly? Already in the 80s players were complaining about it but now the game is so physical that it's simply absurd to give such an advantage to some players over others.

To me it's simply the organisers having negotiated badly. The US is a huge market and I am pretty sure other channels would be keen to take over. Aren't the ATP and ITF meant to make sure the sport remain somehow fairly competitive?

I'm not so sure Emancipator, he's been slamless for well over a year & a half and he has won the USO 5 previous times but don't forget, he could well have Tsonga for the quarters, Djokovic for the semis and Nadal for the final. That's one hell of a line up and with Djokovic playing brilliantly, we'll see, Fed has certainly picked up from his first round match, I'd like to see him build on it in the third round where he will have a sterner challenge.

Tsonga v Bubka.

Amazing fact: Bubka is the son of Pole Vaulting legend, Sergei Bubka - yep, you know, the guy who used to break the pole vaulting record every week.

emancipator wrote:Tsonga v Bubka.

Amazing fact: Bubka is the son of Pole Vaulting legend, Sergei Bubka - yep, you know, the guy who used to break the pole vaulting record every week.

Ah! I thought Sergei was actually the one breaking the pole vault records but then decided to try his chance at tennis.

It's cleary the balls that have slowed down the courts. Look how high they bounce. In the past they used to shoot through and stay low. Now players find harder to hit flat cause of the high bounce and therefore use more spin which slows the game down.

I believe the change of ball size was made last year and amplified this year.

Le Monf- JCF is a fun match.

Cilic destrying Tomic at the mo.

5-1

Nadal admitted himself the balls were heavier, and look at his serves when he uses them? gets plenty of free points again. Should be easily capable of making another final here.

Also if Ferrero-Monfils goes into a 5th, can easily go over 5 hours this mathc

Ferrero breaks in the 4rth set.

The Monfils/Ferrero match is a cracker. Ferrero looking the physically stronger at the moment and looks good to take the fourth set as he leads now 5-3.

Yep, i',m really enjoying this match.

Long match. 4 hrs already.

Monfils continues to be a headcase. What on earth was he doing with that BH volley.

Tomic getting hammered Tsonga sailing thru as expected...

Monfils coulda been a 400m runner; the guy covers so much with so much speed.

Ferrero takes the fourth set and after just over four hours we are going into a fifth and deciding set.

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

fifth set baby.

Go JC

BTW, did anyone see Blake's match winning return of serve in the first round?

Must be the hardest return of serve i've ever seen.

here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiHCjwd3LiQ

Ferrero breaks straight away to lead 1-0 in the fifth set.

6 winners 22 unforced from Tomic... what a catastrophe

Josiah Maiestas wrote:6 winners 22 unforced from Tomic... what a catastrophe

Poor Bally. Started well and just couldn't keep up with Kuznetsova when she clicked into gear.

Peter Fleming "Monfils hasn't got a clue how to shorten points" that man is brilliant on commentary.

Fabulous match sees Juan Carlos Ferrero beat No.7 seed Gael Monfils in five sets in 4 hours 48 minutes. Match of the tournament so far for me.

Tomic did a Federer there; won 3 games.

if you say so son

Karlovic is much more talented than people give him credit for. He has gota very noce touch, good BH sliced and flat and great volleys. Clearly in today's game where running is everything, he is not doing badly considering he is not built for running around.

He might lose his match v Gasquet over the distance but so far he is giving Gasquet a good run for his money.

Tenez wrote:It's cleary the balls that have slowed down the courts. Look how high they bounce. In the past they used to shoot through and stay low. Now players find harder to hit flat cause of the high bounce and therefore use more spin which slows the game down.

I believe the change of ball size was made last year and amplified this year.

I had the same thought during Monfils Ferrero match. It was embarrassing to watch Ferrero play clay court tennis AND WIN!!!!!

that aside, loveliest moment of this year's USO, Monfils' clap at the net, followed by a nice, genuine mutual hug. Federer could certainly learn a lesson or two from the humble French, to Gael, the bohemian among the tennis-robots

Federer could certainly learn a lesson or two from the humble French, to Gael, the bohemian among the tennis-robots .

Certainly not. I don't want Federer to learn anything from Monfils. Not even the split!

Federer is doing fine!