US OPEN 2015

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

and fed is in god mode

apparently martina hingis just won the mixed doubles finals and is playing in the women's doubles finals tmw? for some reason that makes me incredibly happy

this fed match is kinda w/e tho

Cilic was an embarrassment, 60 61 62 actually flatters him bc Novak was bored to tears in the third set, as was I

Stan/Fed is fun though pretty one-way right now

Schiavone, Pennetta, Vinci and Errani make quite a quadrumvirate of Italian tennis underdogs coming into their own as veterans.

Hey look it's Flavia and Roby in an Italian junior team in 1998

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COeiiEpWwAAtr3b.jpg

And with their girls' doubles trophies from RG '99...the Slam when it was Steffi who failed to win #22

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COpuM7TXAAAGEaO.jpg

so...fed/novak

well the semis have sucked

No, that was #22 for Steffi, Lex. The Hingis meltdown.

stan has zero heart, smh

xp of course, duh. For some reason I thought she got #22 at Wimbledon but must have blocked out the Davenport win.

11 games combined for the men's SF losers. The eternal question of which is better, the WTA's chaos or the ATP's NID deference

Vinci v Pennetta feels a bit like Myskina v Dementieva crossed with Schiavone's first Slam final. Childhood friends vibe x veteran Italian spirit. Hopefully the quality is more like the latter.

apparently martina hingis just won the mixed doubles finals and is playing in the women's doubles finals tmw? for some reason that makes me incredibly happy

otm & she won wimby too!

vinci was really cute/goofy in that post-win interview

just put the ball in the court and run

i watched a lot of the re-air just recently too -- serena fucked up more than i thought she had