US Open Day 8 05/09

Good Morning Tennis Fans,

May the 4th round commence.

Tsonga v Fish
Tipsarevic v Ferrero
Djokovic v Dolgopolov
Federer v Monaco

Looking at that line up is quite something. Hard to see an upset on the cards. If I was to have a flutter on an upset it would be Ferrero over Tipsarevic. Looks like it will be business as usual for Federer and Djokovic.

Monaco has been playing great tennis so far, I remember in 07 or 08 he was supposed to be a future GS winner, still I have to go with Roger in 3 or 4.

Djokovic has been really ruthless so far, not 1 set has been close, but he hasn't played a guy with the variety of Dolgo, I said before the US that the best players will want to avoid the flashy Ukranian so i'll go with an almighty tussle, Djoko in 5

Tsonga has not been tested yet but that will change today, Fish has the 2nd best hardcourt form lately, and I expect him to edge it today, Fish in 4.

Janko is very comfortable on this type of court, he doesn't have big weapons but he's very solid and makes few errors, I think Ferrero may have met his match today. Janko in 4.

If Dolgopolov can take the first, who knows what could happen

I reckon Djoko in 3

Fish in 5

Federer in 3

Ferrero in 4

I'd love Dolgo to create an upset, but can't see it happening. Think he may nick a set though, so Nole in four.

Fish will beat Tsonga, Tsonga struggles with big servers and Fish is in excellent form. Fish in 3.

Federer in 3, Monaco doesn't have the weapons to hurt him.

Ferrero will prove too solid for Tipsy IMO, and come through in four sets

Hard to see an upset on the cards

Regarding the Fish - Tsonga match I can't figure out which result would cause the upset. Fish may be the higher ranking player, even though Tsonga is probably the better player. Highly uncertain outcome imo.

Good lineup of matches for sure. This is the first matchup that I think could provide Novak some problems as Dolgopolov can hurt him and is a good enough of athlete as well to put some pressure on Novak. If Novak serves well it will be a much easier match.

The best match though is Fish and Tsonga, two guys who attack the net much more than most players nowadays. I like Mardy in this one, he has the better backhand and Tsonga the better forehand. I take fish in 5 sets.

So people Half Term report so far? Do we expect the top 4 to be left standing come the semis?

pretty much I guess LK, but then they're so far ahead of the rest of the field that I expect that to happen every tournament and it's rarely been the case.

Djokovic: faces Dolgo today, could be a tough match for him but I think he'll come through. relatively easy quarter (Tipsy or JCF)

Nadal: Muller in R4, he's struggled with him before, but seems to be playing pretty well so far. Then has Ferrer or Roddick, Ferrer beat him at the AO when he was injured, but has had little joy other than that. Roddick doesn't have the game to beat Nadal.

Federer: should have few problems with Monaco, but Fish in the QFs (or indeed Tsonga) could be tough, Fish with the crowd right behind him, Tsonga in good form.

Murray: faces Young, how will the American cope with the pressure, could be interesting. Then will face Isner or Simon. He's usually pretty comfortable against Simon, and has a fine record against big servers.

Just looking at that, the toughest match for one of the big four could well be Fed's QF...

Roddick in the past has posed problems for Rafa with his big serve and big FH. Rafa doesn't deal well with big servers, although he usually edges them out. Sadly, Roddick is a shadow of the player he used to be. However, with Rafa losing serve so frequently, it could just take a single break to decide the sets in this matchup.

Dolgo is the kind of player that could pose problems for Djoko. He has a lot of variety and uses spins and slices. Djoko clearly loves pace and is very good at fighting fire with fire. I think if Dolgo can obtain a measure of consistency and befuddle Nole with junk balls and off pace shots, he could trouble him.

Fish - Tsonga will be SO B****Y EXCITING - I CAN'T WAIT.

Agree with everyone predicting MOTD to be Tsonga v Fish. Not sure what I think about the Fed/Pico match because although it should be Fed in 3 on paper, I just wonder how well RF will be moving today and whether the back is a problem - he has a tough quarter if he comes through whoever he faces. I am going to back Ferrero and hope v much that I haven't immediately jinxed him.

As for the Dolgopolov/Djokovic match - hopefully we will have a good idea afterwards about where Novak is in terms of his service firing on all cylinders, or whether he still has a few issues with shoulder. It should be an exciting encounter.

Odds on top four in semis? Well Rafa and Murray really should do it, though hope little Ferrer makes it through to take the match to Rafa. I am so tired today after watching Murray until early hours - going have to go and check draws because think I've just got my quarters mixed up! Hard as well not to see Djokovic making it. Fed - mmmmmmmmmm, I think he will come unstuck in the quarters, sadly.

Oh I was ok - back to the coffee and jaffa cakes!

Some long rallies in this one.

This is gonna be a loooooooong match.

Fish - Tsonga will be SO B****Y EXCITING - I CAN'T WAIT.

Only on paper, I think Fed-Monaco or Djoko-Dolgo will turn out to be the best match in terms of standard of play and drama

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

Fish - Tsonga will be SO B****Y EXCITING - I CAN'T WAIT.

Only on paper, I think Fed-Monaco or Djoko-Dolgo will turn out to be the best match in terms of standard of play and drama

Maybe, but I doubt it.

Tsonga is playing really well and so is Fish.

We know that Tsonga's gonna hit some crazy winners, which is always fun.

Fish can hang pretty well from the baseline now that he's no longer fat.

They both like to finish points at the net.

The crowd is gonna go crazy for Fish.

Hell yeah baby, this is gonna be exciting.

These 2 r gonna b dead on their feet by the time of 1 of em plays the Joker in da nex rd.

C'mon Ferrero. This has been an intriguing match.

Yeah, i'm supporting JCF too.

Tie-break

oh what a rally! 3-2 JCF in TB

I have lost the coverage!!! Grrrrrr

Great TB from JCF 7-3. 1 set each. This could be a five hour epic.

Tipsy breaks at 6-5, will serve for 3rd set.

Oh look Ana's rolling over for her idol what a mental midget.

Edit: She breaks back

Tipsy wins gotta love this guy though not in a h0m0 way..

Nole-Dolgo is up next

I'm gonna support Hingis against Screech

Dolgopolopolopolov breaks

great start from him, doesn't look overawed at all

shame about his next service game, no first serves and errors galore.

I knew Dolgo was talented but that talented?!??????????

I hope he gets as fit as the top 4 guys...he will then be unstoppable.

Oh man, I don't know which match to watch

Dolgo is fantastic to watch... He's like Santoro on speed!

Would be really interesting if he took the first set, but I doubt he will.

is it Dolgopolv or a 22 years old Federer re-born who's playing out there?!

Dolgo isnt a player who will disappear after going behind Danny, keeps plugging away and can wrap you round his finger at any time. Novak isnt comfrtable as you can tell by his ajde's

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:is it Dolgopolv or a 22 years old Federer re-born who's playing out there?!

More like Rios to me. Rios was Federer's favourite player.

That backhand slice is really frustrating Novak

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Dolgo isnt a player who will disappear after going behind Danny, keeps plugging away and can wrap you round his finger at any time. Novak isnt comfrtable as you can tell by his ajde's

Hope so, because this is great to watch!

Was it this year or last year that Murray knocked him out of one of the slams, but said that he put him off his rhythm so much that he never got it back for the rest of the fortnight.

Mini break, interesting...

Rios; for one year or so was simply unplayable. Shame he didnt win a slam, what a talent. But Dolgo remind me of young Fed in the way he moves, really reactive.

Beautiful variety from Dolgo,

Mixing it up, using angles and slices and suddenly ripping it.

Like I said before, this is exactly the way to play Novak; he doesn't like off pace stuff. Trying to hit him off the court with pace is never gonna work.

Gotta love his technique, keep going dolgo

emancipator wrote:Beautiful variety from Dolgo,

Mixing it up, using angles and slices and suddenly ripping it.

Like Fed did so often.

I think Dolgo's style isn't pretty to watch but he's brilliant at times. One moment he's like Santoro, the next like Giles Simon

now he's overdoing the slices use your forehand more dolgo

what a rally hahaha!

OMG what a rally!!!

Yep Dolgo is a genius

This is sensational !!!

Oh my God, what a point

This is the most insane tiebreak I have ever seen!

I don't usually agree with JM, but this match is by far the match of the tournament.

gallery play wrote:

emancipator wrote:Beautiful variety from Dolgo,

Mixing it up, using angles and slices and suddenly ripping it.

Like Fed did so often.

I think Dolgo's style isn't pretty to watch but he's brilliant at times. One moment he's like Santoro, the next like Giles Simon

Very apt description.

I don't usually agree with JM

epic lies

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

I don't usually agree with JM

epic lies

Dolgo was very unlucky this tiebreak. And where's the time warning this time ref?

gallery play wrote:Dolgo was very unlucky this tiebreak. And where's the time warning this time ref?

Where was it yesterday.....