US Open Day 10

First topic message reminder :

Matches of note:

Bartoli v Sharapova (Bartoli leads 4-0, 15-30)
Ivanovic v Serena

Roddick v Del Potro
Murray v Cilic (on Ashe)
Federer v Berdych
Wawrinka v Djokovic

www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html?promo=subnav

Fed looked really crushed in the presser - that loss hurts and he clearly feels he left something out on the Court - quite a low from the high of Cincinatti.

He's still great, but not the player he was. Fantastic though his summer has been, we should not forget how close he came (or should have come) to losing vs. Benneteau and Malisse at Wimbledon. He throws in too many performances that render him vulnerable. As a fan I am enjoying the good stuff and not sweating the bad stuff.

I'm sure he'll pick up at least title or two on the indoor-court run-in, but Djoko is now favourite for the ye #1 in my view - he could make it a bit more interesting by losing to Del Boy.

I can't say I never saw this coming, but I thought it was very unlikely. What an upset. From what's been said Berdych played amazing and Federer was below par. Suddenly, I am feeling nervous. Very nervous.

Oh, does this go down as "The Fog Effect"?

No, Cilic makes even Berdy appear to be a mental fortress. Cilic is a well known choker...as last night showed.
Fed had an off night, Berdy was 'on'...it happens. You just dont want to be playing a guy like Berdy when it happens.
Agree barry with your points, Federer has had a very good run...better than any of us expected, it had to come to an end at some point.

barrystar wrote:... Fantastic though his summer has been, we should not forget how close he came (or should have come) to losing vs. Benneteau and Malisse at Wimbledon. ...

I am not sure about the Malisse match as I didn't watch it but for the Benneteau match - a little more cool and energy / physical stamina from Benneteau would have seen Benny win that match. Similarly in his Del Potro quarter at RG - a little more physical stamina from Del Potro would have seen Del Potro win it.

I am just glad Berdych was his QF opponent and not his 4th rounder...the QF streak could have ended by now. Have to say, Berd is really good at reading the serve, he should forget about this match now and move on to his semi final. I enjoy good attacking tennis even if it means my players are losing.

NS, Delpo lost that RG12 match vs Fed due to knee injury.
Agree Fed has been in some tricky positions the past few months...and you have to figure an AWOL Nadal has been to his benefit too. The good run had to end at some point. But he proved me wrong, I did think he'd lose in a slam this year before quarters...whilst Roddick is retiring at a year younger Federer keeps on going. BUT...I wonder what for him now...whats the motivation moving forwards? It wouldnt surprise me to see a dip from him now...and then 2013 as his last season.

lydian wrote:NS, Delpo lost that RG12 match vs Fed due to knee injury.
Agree Fed has been in some tricky positions the past few months...and you have to figure an AWOL Nadal has been to his benefit too. The good run had to end at some point. But he proved me wrong, I did think he'd lose in a slam this year before quarters...whilst Roddick is retiring at a year younger Federer keeps on going. BUT...I wonder what for him now...whats the motivation moving forwards? It wouldnt surprise me to see a dip from him now...and then 2013 as his last season.

This is the first year since 2003 that Fed has not won 20 matches at slams - he's had two W/O's and the question is whether that has flattered him or made his w/l numbers look worse. I suspect the latter but wherever you look this looks like Fed managing his decline superbly - the margins between this having been a superb year so far and a relatively ordinary one are very tight.

Not sure about an AWOL Nadal - it's only really the Olympics that he might have made a difference at. He's never done well at Cincinnati and Fed hasn't made the QF.

lydian wrote:NS, Delpo lost that RG12 match vs Fed due to knee injury...

What gives me confidence about these threads is if I make a factual error, it is generally soon corrected. Cheers

lol...I know NS, the pedants are revolting hey?
Good points barry...which ever way you look at it he's had one hell of an Indian summer since USO11. But surely the phrase in GRRM's Game of Thrones, "Winter is Coming", will start to kick in at some point? Let's keep enjoying the ride whilst he's around as you never know when he may pull a sudden Roddick.

lydian wrote:lol...I know NS, the pedants are revolting hey? ...

I tend to build up my arguments - so if parts of it are based on false premises then they could collapse. So I am all for pedantry

lydian wrote:lol...I know NS, the pedants are revolting hey?
Good points barry...which ever way you look at it he's had one hell of an Indian summer since USO11. But surely the phrase in GRRM's Game of Thrones, "Winter is Coming", will start to kick in at some point? Let's keep enjoying the ride whilst he's around as you never know when he may pull a sudden Roddick.

Absolutely! This last year has been fantastic, but anno domini has to be catching up. Still think even if the biggest prizes elude him from now on, there are still some good moments to come.

As you say lydian - let's enjoy him while he is around.

I still think Federer will win the WTF. It suits his game perfectly. Indoor, hard court, massive crowd.

Watched both matches after falling asleep on the sofa during the 3rd set of the Murray match :

First impressions was that Cilic played an absolutely blinding first set. He was serving well and everything he was hitting was just finding the lines. 5-1 up in the 2nd and literally thought Andy was dead and gone. Cilic for some bizarre reason just lost it mentally. Serve went down, the FH started to spray all over the place. Murray kep himself in the points and Cilic coughed up the errors. Once Murray won that 2nd set, it was one way traffic.

Federer was it 3-1 in the first set on the Berdych serve 30-30 missing that FH volley seemed so pivotal in that first set. His FH went to sleep on the big points. Berdych played so well and the mental strength he showed to keep his composure and when in a winning position was able to see himself over the line. He played well and his BH was very impressive.

Bring on Saturday.

Oh and Greg you cockmunch!!

"You have to credit Andy Murray for paying respect to Andy Myerson"

Muppet!

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

he played with a level of power that Federer struggled to cope with

Delpo is more powerful than Berd and he copes fine with him, Fed just wasn't prepared to do a period of counter punching.

I'd say Berdych has more natural power, especially in his serve but Del Potro hits even flatter than Berd. I wouldn't necessarily say more powerfully though.