U.S. Open Series (and anything else)

[funches]

Just heard Darren Cahill say Roddick would have been the favorite to win the U.S. Open if it had been held in March and his personal pick as well.

That brings to mind two things. Cahill is either 1) a shameless shill, playing to the American audience, or 2) an idiot.

Option No. 1 is the probable winner, but don't discount option No. 2. He's a pretty smooth analyst unless you actually listen to what he's saying. He speaks well, but he alternates between being Captain Obvious and Captain Oblivious

Again, though, I have to give him credit for saying a few years ago that Isner was a future top 20 player. I would have bet the house he'd be wrong on that one, but he's turned into a legit top 20 guy.

Oh, and my wife and I just got home for the first time with our baby boy. He has about as much chance of winning the 2010 U.S. Open as Roddick.

[Forehand_lob]

First of all, congratulations on funches Jr.!

Cahill's statement does sound like shameless shilling, but Roddick did manage back to back finals in Indian Wells and Miami, winning one. Federer played poorly; Nadal did okay, but was still a gigantic question mark physically; Murray and Djokovic were mentally on the outs; Soderling was coming back from being injured; and del Potro was on the injured list. It was one of those weak periods where Roddick broke ahead of everyone. Of course, this means that everyone would have played a supposed April US Open like they played IW and Miami, which takes a big "suppose".

[louise]

Congratulations, funches and mrs. funches! How wonderful!

[louise]

Have you seen this guy play? He's the spitting image of Kafelnikov. (Denis Istomin, btw, is his name.)

[tennisontherocks]

Congrats, funches !!!

Saw the first set of Fish-Roddick. Fish is looking scary thin...Good win for him here...but I have a feeling that he will pick up another injury by the time US open rolls.

Also saw Hamburg matches and liked Golubev's game. I guess, I get thrilled to see anyone with 1h backhand these days (even though I myself have a 2 hander and gave up on 1 hbh after 6 months )

Roger trying out Annacone on trial basis? good move, only if, Roger is getting serious about coming to net more.

[funches]

Federer better learn how to hit a forehand volley if he wants to come to the net more.

He already knows how to transition from the baseline to the net better than almost anyone out there, but he makes too many errors on the forehand volley, hence his hesitance to to come in consistently after his early net-crashing days.

[Forehand_lob]

I decided to check out my local used bookstore, and I picked up two books that I will be offering as prizes for the US Open contest (provided shipping is not too bad). One of Agassi's Open. The other is Serena's On the (buffet) Line. I'm reading the latter now, and it is quite a piece of work. It's entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

[tennisontherocks]

omg...anyone saw Dementieva's new service motion???? watching Dementieva-sharapova match rt now....Maria appears to be back to her old action...and Elena takes over Bartoli for the most uncomfortable looking serve...but here is the funny part: Maria just lost serve after a double fault and no double faults so far for Elena...oh well, lets wait and watch...

[funches]

I have the match on, but I still haven't recovered from Blake's latest gag job.

After racing through the first set against a lethargic Lopez, he broke him easily to start the second set and appeared ready to cruise to his first semifinal in more than a year. Having lost a total of three points on serve in the first set, he promptly got broken at love. On the first point, he hit a winner on the outside of the sideline that was called out and ridiculously he didn't challenge, probably because he had been wrong badly on his only challenge of the first set.

At 5-all in the set, he had two break points at 15-40 and did not convert them. In the tiebreak, he was up 4-2 before dumping an awkward mishit return by Lopez in the bottom of the net. Another terrible error followed, and he ended up losing the set on a double fault that was at least five feet long.

Lopez had one break point in the third set, which of course he took.

Blake was by far the better player for the first two sets but found a way to lose another match, preventing him from climbing back into the top 100. It will be interesting if his blather about recapturing his love for the game will last more than one tournament.

[tennisontherocks]

Great win for Querrey. It's always a good sign when a young player is able to defend the title they win. yes, Murray was not at his best and Sam did go to distance in every match he played...but still wins like these will hopefully give him more confidence at bigger events.

Ferrero quietly wins his third title of the year..sadly, it has not lead to any big wins at the majors..

and Davenport comes back to win the doubles event at stanford..Mary Joe could use her in Fed cup finals for doubles. Lindsay never came across as someone who will stick around on the tennis scene when she was done...I guess she loves the game lot more than even she thought.

[Forehand_lob]

I agree that it was a good win for Querry, but Murray has fallen a long, long ways. I hope he'll be able to pick himself out of his funk by the time the US Open arrives.

[funches]

I don't know, Murray was spectacular in the first set against Lopez last week, hitting one dazzling passing shot after another. He's having concentration issues and the same problem he always had with the exception of two summers ago – the lack of a killer forehand and too much love for his defensive game. But I don't think he's far from getting back to his best stuff.

On the ATP web site, there's a poll asking us to pick the player whose improvement has impressed us the most this year. The options are Dolgopolov, Fish, Gulbis, Isner, Golubev and Melzer. I guess the literalists are dominating the survey because Gulbis, Golubev and Dolgopolov are far out in front, and they are the ones who've improved their ranking the most.

This should be a no-brainer. The answer is Fish, who is in last place. Gulbis shouldn't get credit for finally playing to his talent level. Dolgopolov and Golubev are significant factors nowhere. Melzer had a great Roland Garros but he's always been a bit of an underachiever, so his improvement is no shock. Isner has gotten a lot better, but his game is still boring.

Fish, on the other hand, has gotten in tremendous shape (who would have believed it) and is playing like a contender to get to the semis of the U.S. Open. Never in my wildest imagination (or if I ever was imagining anything about Fish, my imagination is pretty tame) did I see him having this late resurgence. I don't even recognize him on court, physically or with his shot-making.

Case closed. Good argument, funches.

[louise]

good argument, funches. gettin' much sleep lately?

[funches]

^^^^
Nope.

[Forehand_lob]

I am fairly certain that it was sweet thoughts from louise that boosted Simon to beat Roddick. And, fuck uncle kiki, Coco Vandeweghe beat Zvonareva.