Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XI

[Hadoop]

Additional comments regarding each of the points below:

Shapovalov over Fognini in straight sets: Rain delays, of which there were two long ones with a third threatening all afternoon, have some advantages. This match got kicked to a cosy backcourt and, despite weather interruptions and recurring nearby thunder, it was a dandy. Denis won the first set easily. In the second set, Fog sauntered off to a 4-love lead looking like a colossus, and then Denis just reeled him in and won 7-5 with Fabio playing a minor villain along the way. The thing is Denis won the match from the backcourt which against a player as accomplished as Fognini is no small accomplishment.

Shapo's such a beast when he's on. And unlike many players young and old he definitely seems to relish the spotlight. He's got a lot of points to defend the next several weeks and it certainly seems like he's up to the challenge.

Zverev over Klahn in straight sets: Sascha really does look like the deluxe edition--everything you could possibly want in a tennis player except the volley. Klahn kept it respectable, but the issue never really was in doubt.

He's game is definitely ready to go deep in a slam now; my only concerns are his occasional wobbles when closing matches out and his inability to sustain a laser-like focus during long matches - both of which gets him into trouble at majors.

Tsitsipas over Thiem in a third set tiebreaker: Tsitsipas, fairly new to hard courts, looked more comfortable than Thiem on them. As I said before, Stefano learns fast, and he has some pretty impressive weapons, not the least of which is his ability to place balls just about anywhere he wants them. Like a lot of the new guys, he needs to put on about fifteen pounds, but he may become one of the top threats in the game in the long run.

Really impressed with this guy. Has a mature game for a 19 year-old, possesses firepower on both wings and can hold his own in lengthy rallies as well. Definitely up there in terms of potential and a future rival of Zverev, Shapo et al.

Anderson over Donskoy in a third set tiebreaker: This match was played in a deep backcourt so I could virtually stand up next to the fence and watch them. Anderson served for the match, choked badly with a couple of double faults and lost his serve just like the old Kevin, but then blew Donskoy away 7-0 in the tiebreaker doing everything but beating him with a shoe in the process. The story here, standing like ten yards away from him, was how thorough and how deep Anderson's concentration was. He was like somewhere totally within himself. Oddly impressive to watch.

Not surprised to hear about Anderson's concentration given how many consecutive times he had to serve from behind in the 5th set against Isner at Wimby. He may not be an underdog in the way that guys like Ferrer, Goffin are, but he is definitely a talent maximizer.

Side note: for a city that prides itself on being the multicultural flagship for the world, there are sadly very few people of colour at this tournament. The crowd could be a Trump rally. The only darker skinned folks that one sees are in menial jobs or as volunteers. Tennis has a lot of work to do in this area, but it never quite seems to get around to doing it.

This is a loaded statement and I have two points that I want to make. First is that colour is somewhat synonymous with race but multiculturalism refers to culture/ethnicity, and my sense is that while there are fewer fans of East/South Asian ethnicities here than at sports like basketball and hockey (which is an anomaly), there are plenty of fans from other ethnic-minorities (particularly places in Eastern Europe). Second is that as a niche sport tennis fans tend to be folks who either themselves or have family members that have picked up a raquet before, and the thing is that despite the inroads the tour has made in places like China it is still not at all popular there at the grass-roots level (I know this because I was visiting family in Beijing last month)

 

[Hadoop]

Novak was way too passive against Polansky. Game is not up to par yet.

And he lost today so I assume it still isn't. That said his goal should be to peak at the USO, with the interim goal of winning Cincinnati which he has inexplicably never won.

 

[MsMeow]

Ugh. Thought Denis started at 7 so I took a nap and missed the first 5 games.

And Haase wins it pretty easily in straights.

 

[Tuggy]

Bad night for Denis. Seemed off all match.

 

[Hadoop]

Fun nightcap between Rafa and Stan right now.

 

[kihei]

Cilic over Schwartzman is easy straight sets: Maybe "easy" isn't quite the right word (I'm tired). There was no shortage of long rallies but Cilic just seemed to win 85% of them. Cilic is playing as well as anybody in this tournament not named Nadal.

Haase over Shapo in easy straight sets: "Easy" certainly does apply here. Denis looked great for the first three games and then it all began to go terribly wrong. Credit to Haase, he understood what was happening and just kept the pressure on with solid groundstrokes as Shapovalov became ever more despondent and tight. The second set was ugly.

Nadal over Wawrinka in straight "oh my god, did he make that shot?" sets: Stan looked great; Rafa looked great. And they took tennis to another level from anything that I have seen all week. Just non-stop incredibly competitive, highly imaginative, downright miraculous shot making from the both of them. Despite a fairly low first serve percentage, Nadal looked as good on hard courts as I have ever seen him in live action, pick any year that you want since he started coming to Toronto. And Stan almost matched him point for exciting point. The crowd was delighted and though there were a lot of shouts of "Rafa," the vast majority of the crowd was clearly supportive of both players. I think we all felt blessed to be witnesses to this level of play from both of them. An incredible experience.

As for the US Open, put your money on Rafa.

 

[MsMeow]

Cilic over Schwartzman is easy straight sets: Maybe "easy" isn't quite the right word (I'm tired). There was no shortage of long rallies but Cilic just seemed to win 85% of them. Cilic is playing as well as anybody in this tournament not named Nadal.

Haase over Shapo in easy straight sets: "Easy" certainly does apply here. Denis looked great for the first three games and then it all began to go terribly wrong. Credit to Haase, he understood what was happening and just kept the pressure on with solid groundstrokes as Shapovalov became ever more despondent and tight. The second set was ugly.

Nadal over Wawrinka in straight "oh my god, did he make that shot?" sets: Stan looked great; Rafa looked great. And they took tennis to another level from anything that I have seen all week. Just non-stop incredibly competitive, highly imaginative, downright miraculous shot making from the both of them. Despite a fairly low first serve percentage, Nadal looked as good on hard courts as I have ever seen him in live action, pick any year that you want since he started coming to Toronto. And Stan almost matched him point for exciting point. The crowd was delighted and though there were a lot of shouts of "Rafa," the vast majority of the crowd was clearly supportive of both players. I think we all felt blessed to be witnesses to this level of play from both of them. An incredible experience.

As for the US Open, put your money on Rafa.

We know your record with predictions, I think you just sunk Rafa!!

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Shapo still so inconsistent, when he's on he can beat everyone, but when he's off he can lose to anyone. Needs to find some level of consistency.

 

[Tuggy]

Anderson just beat down Dimitrov.

 

[Tuggy]

What a win for the young Greek over Zverev. He's gonna be a good one for a long time.

This also means Del Potro will move to a career high #3 on Monday.

 

[Hadoop]

Zverev looks like he's destined for greatness when he's focused and loose, but closing matches continues to be his biggest weakness at this stage of his career. That said a lot of the credit should go to Tsitsipas. In terms of already having a little bit of everything (the ability to hit winners, grind from the baseline, hit with different pace, spin, placement, hit a variety shots including drop shots and volleys, and improving mental toughness) he might be the most complete player among the Next Gen.

 

[Tuggy]

Sounds like Felix will play Vancouver next week.

 

[MsMeow]

Nadal is getting smoked by Cilic in the first but I still feel like Rafa will storm back and win the match

Cilic takes the first 6-2 but almost choked away that last game.

Nadal takes the second 6-4. Here we go.

Rafa wins

 

[kihei]

Khachanov over Haase in easy straight sets: I have a friend who insists on making a distinction between tennis players and athletes who play tennis. Khachanov is an athlete who plays tennis. His athleticism makes up for his sometimes clomping footwork and his somewhat limited lateral range and, even better, it has provided him with his two big assets--a big (120 t0 125 mph), though not mammoth (125 to 130+ mph), first serve and a glorious forehand with a caveman ("I hit you with club") backswing. After a few games to get warmed up, he shredded Haase with that stroke as the match increasingly became less and less of a contest.

Nadal in three very tough sets: Rafa came out of the gate looking like a shadow of the player he was last night against Stan, making all kinds of very basic errors. He made more unforced errors in the first three games than he did in the entire match last night. Meanwhile Cilic came out all guns blazing. His ground strokes were incredible and, tonight, he brought the heat along with the precision. In the first set, he absolutely dominated Nadal from the baseline, hitting winner after winner past a flatfooted Nadal. His inside-out forehand return of serve from the ad court clipped the corner of Rafa's baseline with shocking regularity. All of a sudden Rafa looked a step slower in the backcourt and very much the underdog. Clearly Nadal was at the beginning of a long, strenuous, uphill battle, one that was never fully secure until the end of the match. At which point, Cilic finally reverted to form by choking away his chance for an upset in his final service game and giving Nadal a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory. Rafa was lucky to win this one.

 

[Tuggy]

If only Cilic had a winner's mentality...he lacks that killer instinct.

 

[kihei]

If only Cilic had a winner's mentality...he lacks that killer instinct.

"Passionless" is the word that I would use to describe him; he had a couple of near lapses last night before the eventual fail. Nerves still dog him. But he looked more involved to me this week than in year's past, really working on his game. Interesting dark horse for the US Open.

 

[kihei]

Dzumhur, Thiem, Djokovic, Zverev--what an impressive collection of scalps on the way to the semis for Stefanos.

 

[kihei]

Just got here mid-second set. Anderson won the first set in a tie breaker, but now Tsitsipas has capitalized on an earlier break and held on for a 6-4 win. He looks the underdog out there, but looks can be deceiving. He has been utterly tenacious all week.

 

[kihei]

The crowd looks like they have clearly become completely smitten with Stefanos, especially but by no means exclusively the large Greek community in Toronto. I almost feel sorry for Anderson....well, as much as I can anyway.

 

[kihei]

Stefanos is employing a risky "bend but don't break" defense, piling up big leads in his service games and then losing them only to hold eventually when the games go to deuce. Anderson is just methodical and steady as he can be, playing very solid, smart tennis and relying on his strengths, serve and forehand.

 

[kihei]

Goes to a breaker, and Stefanos blows two match points, the first one on serve with a double fault, but comes back to take a well-played, super tense breaker 9-7. What a week for this guy!

 

[discostu]

Goes to a breaker, and Stefanos blows two match points, the first one on serve with a double fault, but comes back to take a well-played, super tense breaker 9-7. What a week for this guy!

It's been an incredible run for him. I was watching bits and pieces this afternoon. The lack of discipline on using his challenges was a bit funny, and a sign that he still has some more to learn.

It's great to see the NextGen generate some hype.

 

[Tuggy]

I didn't find either guy played particularly great but Tsitsipas was just a bit more clutch. Although I found he got lucky a few times on mis hits.

I'll Khachanov a punchers chance tonight but wouldn't bet against Nadal.

 

[Hadoop]

What a win by Tsitsipas! Definitely a fan, and it's gonna be hard to cheer against him in the future when he plays Shapo and FAA.

 

[kihei]

I didn't find either guy played particularly great but Tsitsipas was just a bit more clutch. Although I found he got lucky a few times on mis hits.

I'll Khachanov a punchers chance tonight but wouldn't bet against Nadal.

Don't think he has the lateral movement or backhand to keep up with Rafa, but we will see if ever the rain ends (yes, yet again).