2007 ATP Discussion Thread

On the contrary, Im glad Donald Yound is getting this opportunity.

Djokovic barely and I mean barely beat Stepanek today. That would have been one helluva an upset, shame it didn'y go down

 

I would have prefered that he play Gasquet. We would know where he really stands. If he played Gasquet at this stage in his career, with Gasquet at his best, he would end up losing the final point of the match. He is still young, and growing as a player.

Djokovic and Stepanek put on the best show of the tournament so far, surpassing Blake and Santoro. I think Novak really needed to come through a match like the that, and major kudos to Stepanek, he brought his A-game today.

 

I've always had the thought that no upsets meant better later rounds, and it seems to be that way. Granted, upsets are exciting for some of the time, but when it's your favorite ranked player that goes down, it's disappointing. I don't know about anyone else, but I like seeing the best play in the end, not some upstart.

 

I agree. I watch tennis nearly every week, and have been following it all my life. Just love the game, and love my favorites, because of what they bring to the game for me. I want to see the best lock horns in the major events. I like upsets, it makes this exciting, but to see all the top guys go out, does take something out of the event for me.

I remember what happened in Hamburg 2006. All guys were so exhausted from Rome, especially Federer and Nadal, that a lot of players did not play. It took the energy out of the event.

I think Cincy really suffered this year too, despite a Federer - Blake final.

 

Day Five

Henman played the last match in a competitive tournament, bowing out to the young Frenchman Tsonga in four sets. The second set was the last great set that he played, his agressive style at the net won him many cruical points. But eventually the power of Wilfred got the better of him. I know he is still going to play Davis Cup, but his last official tournamet was the US Open. I wish him luck.

The best match as previously stated was the Djokovic classic. That has to be one of the best matches ever played at the US Open. 4 hours 45 minutes of pulsating action, its shame one had to lose in the end. Djokovic should have a smile, because the biggest shock was Hewitt, going out to the Argentine Calleri in four sets.

Hewitt had been looking in great form coming in, and during his opening round match. But, after the first set, lost some of the sting in his movement, and Calleri took control of the rallies.

Nadal still looking to find good form, got past another Serb, Janko Tipsarvic, who beat Gonzalez in a thriller at Wimbledon back in July.

And Safin falling in straight sets to Wawrinka.

 

Oh, and the shrieker falls. Thank goodness. Now I can turn off the mute button.

 

If you will notice this is the ATp thread not WTA, . But yeah that match was a shock

 

If you will notice, women's tennis is (unfortunately ) discussed here once in a while.

 

Isner takes the first set away from Federer!

 

Federer takes Isner apart in the second, third and fourth sets! I think this was a good match for Isner, it allowed him to see all the weaknesses in his game, as Federer really exploited him after he figured out how to read Isner's serve.

Isner can certainly be top 20.

 

Day Six

Federer continues his march towards the title. I found this match to be quite intriguing, Isner was certainly causing problems in the first set. But, after Federer figured out the serving pattern, especially the down the middle on crucial points, it was one way traffic.

I was impressed for the first time with Roddick in quite some time. He looked sharp, his movement side to side was great, and he was clicking off both wings. This match should give him confidence for next round against Berdych, who beat Verdasco.

Lopez eliminated Young in a thriller, but what made me laugh was when Isner took the first set from Federer in the tie break, the eruption captured the attention of Lopez and Young, who were both wondering what just happened.

Davydenko remains solid, and on a showdown with Blake.

Haas versus Grosjean was fantastic, Haas looked like he was going to win it easy, but Grosjean pulled back two sets to level it. Tommy managing to cross the finishing line eventually.

And Lee continuing with the best form he has had in a while, beating Canas, and now Murray in succession.

The top half of the draw looks like this

Federer v Lopez
Roddick v Berdych
Blake v Haas
Davydenko v Lee

 

Gulbis of Latvia puts a beating on Robredo

 

Day Seven

And Djokovic and Nadal looks like it will happen. Both looking solid in their repsective matches. Novak has got to be relieved with his performance against Del Potro, hitting his shots and dictating well.

I was a bit shocked by Ferrer coming through against Nalbandian. Nalbandian looked the favorite, but after he failed to win that epic 10 deuce game, and match point, he looked out of gas.

Ferrer has the task of playing Nadal now, don't see him winning that one. But he is enjoying his best run at the US Open so far.

 

Two players have yet to loose a set in the Open so far. Davydenko and Ernests Gulbis

 

The first one does not surprise me, but the second one does.

 

Day Eight

And Blake loses in a tense five setter against Haas. This match was up and down as far as intensity from both players, when one was playing good, the other looked a bit frail. But the final set lived up to the expectations, with so many twists and turns. The point of match, and the point that sealed the win fo Haas was the point at 3-3 in the final set tie break. Blake never recovered from that.

Haas now plays Davydenko, in a rematch of their quarter final showdown from last year, which Davydenko won after Haas took the first two sets.

Federer and Roddick is now on. I felt a bit sad for Berdych, there was potential for a real fight between the two, but his stomach problem caused him to retire in the second set, having lost teh first.

Federer lost the first set against Lopez, who was eerving out of his mind. But then Federer changed gears, and towards the end won an incredible 37 consecutive points on his serve before winning the match.

 

Haas's win was great

 

I felt bad for him when he faced 3 match points. The New Yorkers are too wild. It really seemed unfair to any non-american.

 

Alright! The Nadal-Ferrer match is awesome, with Ferrer up 2 sets to 1. Both players are extremely hard-hitting, and Ferrer's been unreal this past set or two. Brilliant power tennis!

edit: Yeah! What a match by Ferrer. He's a beast when he plays like that. Looks like I'm not out of the sweepstakes yet!

oh, and looks like american tennis is over tomorrow. Andy has no chance at all.

 

Why were they playing a tiebreaker in the last set anyway?

 

It's all politics. The ITF (International Tennis Federation) who run the grandslams, and the USTA (United States Tennis Association) have a contract with the main television channels to keep the fifth set of grand slams to a tie break. This is to prevent potential matches over running into the night session, and the slot allocated for the night matches. Sponsors and advertisers aren't too happy when that happens.

All other slams this is not the case.

 

I'm heartbroken that Nadal lost last night ... i cant even say anything else

 

You should be proud. He went out fighting.

 

Day Nine

And the biggest upset of the tournament so far. Nadal goes out at the hands of an inspired David Ferrer. The two Spaniards just went at it, but David was on fire, he was hitting forehands from everywhere on the court, and made Nadal run, and run hard. It is only the second time Ferrer has defeated Rafael in their six meetings, and it is also the second time he has reached the quarter finals of a grand slam. The first time was the 2005 French Open when he lost to Nadal.


Djokovic had to battle through a tougher challenge than he would have liked against Monaco. His game was a bit off, and it could be that his conditioning is affected, especially after the match against Stepenak earlier in the event. He now plays Moya, who keeps on turning back the years.

This is Moya's best showing at the Open since 1998 when he reached the semis, after winning his first and only slam in Paris. He looks good, and defeated Novak in Cincy and Hamburg this year.

Chela fills in the final slot.

This is what the quarter finals now look like.

Federer v Roddick
Davydenko v Haas
Djokovic v Moya
Chela v Ferrer

 

Now that Nadal lost this is definately a big chance for Djokovic.