US OPEN 2015

Okay what is happening here

ugh I'm so annoyed I didn't realise Halep/Azarenka resumed, that was great quality until the rain delay and I def did not expect a Halep win!

*continues to ignore Petra forever*

i forgot that Halep was capable of that level of aggressive tennis

such an important win for her, one of her best ever; too many times of late she's looked kind of helpless in her defeats

I read that this is the first Slam where all the women's QFs have gone three sets since the USO 1982.

roger is so ruthless

freakin' amazing

Federer/Wawrinka is pretty intriguing I think...they both looked brilliant in their QFs.

H2Hs:

Williams 4-0 Vinci (2-0 on hard, 1-0 this year)
Pennetta 3-1 Halep (1-1 on hard, Halep 1-0 this year)

Vinci has never taken a set off Serena and I think a similar 4 and 3 scoreline to Toronto the other week is her best case scenario. Pennetta beat Halep en route to her first SF here two years ago - the first Slam where Halep was really expected to go deep, and Halep's first week two appearance. If Halep comes back down to earth after the Azarenka heights or if the Halep of round 4 shows up, she'll be in trouble...

Djokovic 13-0 Cilic (9-0 on hard, 2-0 this year)
Federer 16-3 Wawrinka (11-0 on hard, 1-1 this year)

Wawrinka's h2hs against the elite are so lop-sided because they've been beating him for most of his career - credit to him that he's improved so much that his matches against them are real toss-ups now. Federer's net-charging tactic is a bit overrated by the commentators, brilliant that he's adding more dimensions to his game but he lost most of the ones I saw him try vs Gasquet. A lot of it is the fear tactic, players who fear what they perceive he's capable of at net and who then flop the pass, to me it's an opportunistic temporary tactic but something that most will cotton on to quickly. Rather like how Radwanska never repeated her receiving stance from the time she beat Sharapova here.

Pennetta gon' rue being so casual on that point for 5-1, I think

Or not! 5-1.

Halep has gone from the depths to the heights and back to the depths in her past three matches

This has a scoreLiNa written all over it. *cheerleading for 16 61 76*

OK this is p great from Flavia again.

Halep raised her level and then Pennetta PEAKED THE FUCK OUT OF HER MIND. She's on a mission

jeez

Did not expect it! Good stuff.

omg

!!!!!

19 of the last 21 points I think? I feel like she was 1-3 down, I blinked, and then it was 6-3

At this point I'd like to believe Halep isn't too lightweight to win a Slam but she's not offering a whole lot of evidence for that.

I think she's got a decent chance at the French

whoa Vinci, what a set. One in the eye for everyone who thought she was a joke SFist - would much rather watch this contrast than Serena against Sharapova or Mladenovic or Bouchard or whatever hard hitter

This third set!

bloody hell

Vinci. Point of the tournament

ITALIA

I guess you failed to predict the Vinci/Pennetta finals Lex. I'm disappointed.

Phew.

crazy

Bloody hell. Vinci's volleying was peaking in the last game, so appropriately. Can't believe that's how the Calendar Slam dream died

wtf

This is only Serena's 4th ever semifinals loss, vs. 25 semi-final wins. Out of 30 career singles semifinals, she has 21 titles

yanks, what channel is this on?

wtf squared

lol twitter so full of anti-drake tweets over this bc memeified concepts must be maintained at all costs

If this gets people REALLY hating Drake, at least some good will have come from this

Has this thread gone all Italians Do It Better or what?

serena charming and gracious as always in the post match presser

i heard vinci was 300-1 to win 0_0

espn showed a graphic tryna include it w/ miracle on ice, buster douglas, giants over pats idk some other crzy ones

Vinci was def not 300-1 to win lol, that was the announcer lying and fabricating. 7-1, iirc.

This loss really exemplifies why the Calendar Slam is different to four-in-a-row, it's why Serena's USO last year (zero top 10 opponents) is rated better than her Cincy title a couple of weeks ago (two top 10 opponents). It's just...the external mental pressure regardless of the actual level of tennis required.

On which note, Vinci has never been considered a choker. You can't be, in the 21st century with her game. Those two volleys in the last game, no one else on the tour can make, and Serena would have chased down their attempts and probably won the points.

First women's Slam final since 1979 without a top 20 player. Insane that they're two BFFs who've known each other since childhood. The 1999 RG girls' doubles champions!

novak is looking fierce

Awesome to have an all Italian slam final!

actually not really...wtf - just trying to process this.

Coming into this thread having watched almost nothing to point out that Lex actually predicted a Pennetta slam title a la Schiavone some years ago on one of these threads. As amazing as Vinci's win is, I'm definitely pulling for Flavia tomorrow.

This loss really exemplifies why the Calendar Slam is different to four-in-a-row, it's why Serena's USO last year (zero top 10 opponents) is rated better than her Cincy title a couple of weeks ago (two top 10 opponents). It's just...the external mental pressure regardless of the actual level of tennis required.

oh i think you're overplaying this aspect of it. serena easily could have lost in any of her 11 (!!) other three-setters in slams this year. she can't win every match, even if the sorry state of the tour makes it seem like it

And in another shocker oh wait. Novak through.

that's got to be the worst a defending champion had lost ever?

yea i was wondering abt that

gutsy hold from stan down 0-40 there

stan's imploding