US Open 2014

Draws out! http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/index.html

Nightmare draws for Halep and Djokovic in particular. Simona has Muguruza in R3, Venus or Giorgi in R4 and then maybe her nemesis Sharapova in the QF; Nole has a possible Isner R4 and then Murray or Tsonga QF. Cakewalks for Kvitova (who needs it) and Raonic (ugh).

- Serena's R1 vs Taylor Townsend should be fun to watch if not competitive
- Watch #32 seed Zhang Shuai go 0-12 in Slam R1s, she's drawn Barthel this time
- Kvitova seems to be playing well in New Haven after a terrible USO swing? Keys is certainly dangerous on paper in R3 but the match-up favours Petra, while that big victory/deep run just always seems to elude Madison
- Bouchard has another easy section but I have a feeling a flop is coming
- Mrs Krumm just never ever ever gets a break in Slam R1s. Venus AGAIN :(

- Happily, Isner getting his USO nemesis going back to 2012, Kohlschreiber, in R3, might save us from the nightmare scenario of Isner beating Djokovic in R4
- Kyrgios vs Youzhny, big opportunity for the kid against a declining veteran
- ew, please let Nishikori be healthy enough to beat Odesnik at least
- wondering whether Thiem is ready to navigate the Gulbis/Lopez section? hmm
- Tomic vs Brown, what a fun R1
- LOL @ the US media whining yet again about Harrison's "tough draws" as if the world #184 shouldn't be getting on his knees and giving thanks that his nationality permits him a place in the draw in the first place. Scalp him, Grigor!
- And hoping for Fed to mete out a triple bagel to that awful wanker Matosevic

Qualies have been pretty exciting as ever. Disappointing that a lot of the young talents flopped - Konjuh, Kulichkova, Zverev, Kokkinakis, the last of whom doesn't seem to have comported himself with any class according to this: https://twitter.com/rourkeytennis/status/502521070998781952 Pinch of salt as per Twitter but scrolling that guy's timeline and he doesn't seem like someone who's making shit up.

But some interesting names in the final qualy round: young talent represented by Krejcikova (who beat MLDB), Abanda and Siniakova on the women's side, by Nishioka, Escobedo and Coric on the men's. Notable that all four Chinese women and both Chinese men in the qualy draws are in the final round (and at least one will qualify, with Saisai Zheng and Lin Zhu playing each other).

And an excellent article about the Murray/Mauresmo relationship! http://online.wsj.com/articles/andy-murrays-new-tennis-partner-1408659814

4R predix, pending qualifiers:

S.Williams d. Vandeweghe
Ivanovic d. Rogers
Kvitova d. Kuznetsova
Diyas d. Watson
Kerber d. Jovanovski
Radwanska d. Safarova
Wozniacki d. Sharapova
V.Williams d. Muguruza

S.Williams d. Ivanovic
Kvitova d. Diyas
Radwanska d. Kerber
Wozniacki d. V.Williams

S.Williams d. Kvitova
Wozniacki d. Radwanska

S.Williams d. Wozniacki

Kohlschreiber d. Djokovic
Tsonga d. Murray
Robredo d. Wawrinka
Raonic d. Sock
Lopez d. Klizan
Ferrer d. Janowicz
Dimitrov d. Monfils
Federer d. Bautista Agut

Tsonga d. Kohlschreiber
Raonic d. Robredo
Ferrer d. Lopez
Federer d. Dimitrov

Raonic d. Tsonga
Federer d. Ferrer

Federer d. Raonic

(it is SO HARD to ever pick against Serena, even after her Slam flops this year) (typing Vandeweghe and Raonic happened on the basis that the worst will always happen)

I was just about to question the Vandeweghe pick

she's legit improved this year and I am extremely fucking pressed about it. Vekic in R1 is a virtual bye right now (Vekic split with her coach a couple of weeks ago), CSN hasn't been playing well since her RG choke and can be overpowered, Vandeweghe already beat Stosur this year (her height means it's a decent match-up for her). Plus, Vandeweghe has always been one of those players who does ten times as well on home soil as anywhere else

the halep/sharapova bracket is kinda stacked

i watched querrey/garcia lopez @ the wake forest tourney last night -- that'll be a good 2nd rd match

she's legit improved this year and I am extremely fucking pressed about it.

haha I completely understand, I just hate her

Nice set of qualifiers. Françoise Abanda becomes the third 1997-born kid to play a Slam main draw, I think she's more talented than Bouchard as far as Yung Canada goes (and she got Lisicki, who's always beatable off grass). Ons Jabeur, first Tunisian woman in a Slam since Selima Sfar. Great to see Borna Coric come through on the men's side, shame he drew Rosol - too tough right now. Radu Albot - first Moldovan in a Slam ever? I can't remember any others. Slam debuts for Yoshihito Nishioka, James McGee, Niels Desein, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Saisai Zheng, Qiang Wang as well. Slam comebacks for Steve Darcis (first Slam since beating Rafa at Wimbledon last year) and Yung-Jan Chan.

Nice to see that Petra is finding a semblance of form in New Haven.

lol yung canada, thats a p good rap name

I watched the following practice on Thursday: Dmitrov, Azaranka, Vesnina (?), Ferrer,
Vedasco, and Fonini, along with unidentifed others. Dmitrov won me over ... It was just
practice but he made some very stylish shots. I don't much about tennis but the free qualifying
week at the U.S. Open is so much fun. I didn't realize how beautiful tennis ladies are. And how loud.

I bought a ticket for the night session next Thursday, but I'll be way up high in Ashe.

never heard of james mcgee

27 so no novice, save at this level

and theres a reasonable chance he will get to play tsonga

Starting with Ons Jabeur and Andrea Petkovic!

Halep a set down to an unranked college player. Oh dear.

Petkovic staved off a really spirited first set challenge by Jabeur...

is there a good stream for kyrgios youzhny

yeah http://www.drakulastream.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html

Halep's got this now but Muguruza will eat her alive in R3

Jabeur really dictating vs Petko, who hasn't taken advantage of her movement at all

Kyrgios given a game penalty for swearing, ha

not bad response service game

Mrs Krumm with the early break on Venus...

Gutted for Kimiko. AGAIN against Venus, always like this :(

End of the Murray match was a mess. Kyrgios v impressive closing out Youzhny.

raonic is fuckin blasting the ball

Muguruza won't be eating anyone alive. She lost to Lucic, who you would imagine is now completely incapable of winning another match without UE-ing herself to death, because, well, it's Lucic.

And Giorgi managed to lose to Rodionova. Halep's nightmare draw clearing itself for her.

Okay, what good matches are happening.

right now, Cirstea/Watson is probably the best televised one? but I don't feel sad that I still have a bit of work to do

(or time to keep an eye on the scores and see which ones stay close/upset-brewing)

Yeah, I'll switch over to Cirstea/Watson for now.

id prob watch lu/Garcia-lopez or niemenen/karlovic

is Lu/GGL streamed anywhere? I can't see it as an option

well, Cirstea hammered Watson, it seems

#32 seed Zhang Shuai is now 0-12 in Slam matches in her career (while her qualifier compatriots Wang Qiang and Zheng Saisai have both scored wins on their main draw debut). To be fair to her, none of those losses are that terrible, she just has rotten luck with draws...

Oh Sweta

DFing on MP in a third-set TB to lose in R1 on the 10-year anniversary of your USO title is very...in-character

Vesnina has gone from 6-0 5-0 up to 6-0 5-5. Why is this not being televised.

Isner takes the first and I die a little inside

I just need Isner to get off my TV. Campaign to always schedule him on outside courts

Vesnina avoids the meltdown, wins 7-5.

whoa, Coric a set up on Rosol. NO STREAM THO UGH

34yo Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos, the oldest ever USO debutant, gets his first ever Slam win over Sijsling :)

Coric storming to victory over Rosol, up 6-4 6-1 5-2. Super-impressive givenn Rosol's form.

Meanwhile, Azarenka is being dictated to by Misaki Doi lmao.

i watched some of doi play v nicole gibbs in new haven, she looked solid tbh

15yo CiCi Bellis is a double break up on Cibulkova :o AGAIN NO STREAM

Two DFs in the TB from Vika, she was 2-0 up... Doi is playing fearlessly

Three DFs and Doi has the set!

Vika is toast, right

The scoreline flatters her if anything, Doi is treeing and Vika is a total shadow of herself as she has been since her comeback

man if Vika goes out in round 1 this will have been a successful US Open for me

I mean, I could envisage Doi's high-risk game slipping if she gets nervous and Vika outsteadying her, but it's like Vika doesn't even have weapons any more. Not that they were huge in the first place but when you can't dictate against Doi...

Doi definitely tightening up now

Vika serves for the set...two DFs. Back on serve

Found a stream for Bellis/Cibulkova at 3-3 in the third...they rigged up a hand-held camera out there http://cricfree.sx/live/watch/the_u.s._open_tennis/52247

I had to go to Home Depot but I got so many satisfying lols from Nick Jonas before I left the house

i almost texted you about it

That rally!

kind of a not great final. some really good points tho. glad she reached #18

Scoreline really flatters Wozniacki, who never really turned up and who thus never was in it. Wozniacki can't afford to make those errors against most top 50 opponents let alone Serena. Bad strategy? Looked like she was trying to be aggressive but I think moonballing for her goddamn life would've been smarter, or maybe not because Serena never showed any sign of wobbling. 18 is special for Serena and Graf's 22 is within reach bc her game is still that awesome, though not if she has to take 3 Slams to get over her nerves for each one henceforth.

18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 THANK FUCK. YESSSSS

excepted a lot tougher. wozniacki could've pushed serena a lot more, she was so nervous especially in set #1. serving really picked up in the 2nd. so glad she didn't have to serve for it omg my heart

Happy Serena's often bizarre slam year has ended well.

now go nishikori!!! <3

New rankings.

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Simona Halep (2)
3. Petra Kvitova (4)
4. Maria Sharapova (6)
5. Agnieszka Radwanska (5)
6. Na Li (3)
7. Eugenie Bouchard (8)
8. Angelique Kerber (7)
9. Caroline Wozniacki (11)
10. Ana Ivanovic (9)
11. Jelena Jankovic (10)
12. Sara Errani (14)
13. Dominika Cibulkova (13)
14. Lucie Safarova (15)
15. Ekaterina Makarova (18)
16. Flavia Pennetta (12)
17. Andrea Petkovic (19)
18. Carla Suarez Navarro (16)
19. Venus Williams (20)
20. Samantha Stosur (21)
21. Shuai Peng (39)
22. Alize Cornet (23)
23. Svetlana Kuznetsova (22)
24. Victoria Azarenka (17)
25. Garbine Muguruza (26)
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (25)
27. Sloane Stephens (24)
28. Madison Keys (27)
29. Casey Dellacqua (32)
30. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (29)
...
33. Belinda Bencic (58)
44. Roberta Vinci (30)
57. Daniela Hantuchova (37)
80. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (121)
100. Aleksandra Krunic (145)
106. Taylor Townsend (103)
112. Ana Konjuh (116)
179. Francoise Abanda (205)
431. Catherine Bellis (1208)

It's pretty funny looking at the draws of our 2014 Slam champions:

Li, AO: Konjuh, Bencic, Safarova, Makarova, Pennetta, Bouchard, Cibulkova
Sharapova, RG: Pervak, Pironkova, Ormaechea, Stosur, Muguruza, Bouchard, Halep
Kvitova, Wim: Hlavackova, Barthel, V.Williams, Peng, Zahlavova-Strycova, Safarova, Bouchard
S.Williams, USO: Townsend, King, Lepchenko, Kanepi, Pennetta, Makarova, Wozniacki

Only ONE top 10 win (Halep) in all four Slam runs combined. That's insane. Only two wins over former Slam champs (Stosur, Venus).

Li and Kvitova not only didn't beat a top 10 opponent en route to their Slam, but neither have beaten a top 10 opponent in 2014 yet.

Interesting that the three best teenage prospects all feature - if Konjuh, Bencic and Townsend fulfil their potential these Slam runs could look more impressive in retrospect.

Cilic with the first break. Apart from a slight wobble in the first game, he's been rock solid. Kei still seems a bit nervous.

I know it's a Monday but the low turnout on Arthur Ashe so far is pretty depressing.

Kei looks more out of gas than nervous to me :(

cilic is playing p well too

seriously though, when did cilic learn to serve like that?

oof. Kei can't seem to do anything right now. :(

his timing has deserted him

http://i.minus.com/inn8fdrAvbluc.gif

It's all a bit sad

Cilic is relentlessly good, Nishikori is dead on his feet and has fucked up the two-three half chances where it seemed like Cilic might choke

On the plus side we are heading to a neatly symmetrical pair of finals, score-wise.

rip my mans kei

this nu-Cilic is kinda terrifying, I'm so used to him being a headcase

btw has anyone seen Mario Ancic? He lives in NYC now doesn't he? still miss that dude

so many absolutely dreadful first serves from cilic
difficult to respect him for that reason alone

he doesnt just miss his first serves he hits them into the net about 15 inches above the ground

Ancic is a lawyer now isn't he?

Third Croatian Slam winner in history. Iva Majoli, Goran Ivanisevic, Marin Cilic. And the next generation of Croats is waiting in the wings...

nu-Cilic will be interesting.

Hope Kei can put it together in future, just not at the races today.

I always think Cilic is older than he is. He's more in Nishikori's generation than he is in Wawrinka's. So he'll have a lot of time to embed himself as nu-Cilic, not just a veteran peaking late in the day.

Kei looked spent, didn't do enough with Cilic's weak second serve which is what he did well against Djokovic. I really hope he gets another chance one day.

I hope he gets to another Slam final and doesn't exhaust himself en route, yes. Very satisfying to see him there before Dimitrov and Raonic.

Liked the wild DF on the first championship point. Little homage to Goran.

haha

lol xp

Ancic was apparently celebrating in the Columbia cafeteria, haha: https://twitter.com/callejonshair/status/509117063341015041

Goran ws hilariously nervous. Like chill out man, hes got this.

Haaa was just coming here to post that tweet Roz

Goran's face as Cilic was serving for it bringing back memories of him serving for Wimbledon!

So Croatia has an RG title, a Wimbledon and a USO. Over to you to bring home the AO, Konjuh or Coric or Vekic...

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Marin Cilic
Women's singles: Serena Williams
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina
Mixed doubles: Sania Mirza & Bruno Soares
Boys' singles: Omar Jasika
Girls' singles: Marie Bouzkova
Boys' doubles: Omar Jasika & Naoki Nakagawa
Girls' doubles: Ipek Soylu & Jil Belen Teichmann

Gotta be the first Turkish Slam title of any kind for Soylu in the girls' doubles.

god it is still so weird to see Cilic's name there.

No repeat winners this year!

AO: Li Na, Wawrinka
RG: Nadal, Sharapova
Wimbledon: Kvitova, Djokovic
USO: Cilic, Serena

New rankings:

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Rafael Nadal (2)
3. Roger Federer (3)
4. Stan Wawrinka (4)
5. David Ferrer (5)
6. Tomas Berdych (7)
7. Milos Raonic (6)
8. Kei Nishikori (11)
9. Grigor Dimitrov (8)
10. Andy Murray (9)
11. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10)
12. Marin Cilic (16)
13. Ernests Gulbis (12)
14. Juan Martin Del Potro (13)
15. Roberto Bautista Agut (19)
16. John Isner (15)
17. Fabio Fognini (17)
18. Gael Monfils (24)
19. Kevin Anderson (20)
20. Feliciano Lopez (21)
21. Richard Gasquet (14)
22. Tommy Robredo (18)
23. Alexandr Dolgopolov (22)
24. Philipp Kohlschreiber (25)
25. Leonardo Mayer (26)
26. Gilles Simon (31)
27. Lukas Rosol (27)
28. Nicolas Almagro (29)
29. Julien Benneteau (28)
30. Guillermo Garcia Lopez (33)
...
32. Mikhail Youzhny (23)
36. Dominic Thiem (45)
46. David Goffin (56)
53. Nick Kyrgios (60)
69. Victor Estrella Burgos (80)
150. Alexander Zverev (157)
167. Yoshihito Nishioka (245)
176. Borna Coric (204)
206. Nikolay Davydenko (183)

And the tennis wagon continues to Hong Kong, Québec City and Tashkent - where Wimbledon girls' champion Jelena Ostapenko has just won her first WTA match over Peer...

Bit harsh on whoever is at #31, Lex.

Not sure what Cilic has to defend points-wise this autumn but to not be top 10 / into the ATP Finals by year-end would be bizarre for a male Slam winner. Thomas Johansson the last, maybe?

#31 is Karlovic! (I just did the top 30 + points of interest elsewhere, one of which was Youzhny's fall...)

Cilic is only #11 in the Race despite having nothing to defend (almost literally - he was still banned this time last year, only came back in Paris and won one match). Murray is only #10. London YEC better prepare itself for Murray not to make it.

Johansson got into the YEC as an alternate after Agassi w/d - I think you have to go back to Kuerten in '97 to find someone who didn't qualify in any capacity. Can't remember what happened in '98 - neither Korda nor Rafter were at the YEC, I presume Korda had been banned by then and Rafter was injured because I'm sure he was top 10?

It could happen on the women's side this year too, with Li only #6 in the race and still out (and rumoured to be on the verge of retirement). Ironic given the fuss made over bringing it to Asia this year.

Ah, Johansson did make it - right.

Yeah, Rafter was top three at that time, I think. Lost a tight match at Paris Indoor vs Todd Martin first week of November so he was fit at that point (and no Davis Cup F to distract). Korda wasn't banned until '99 but wasn't actually ranked high enough to make the YEC in '98; his ranking took a knock when he failed to defend his Stuttgart title in the October (I know this makes no diff re: race points, but basically he was top 10 as a result of Stuttgart '97 + AO '98). He was #13 by Nov '98, despite the Slam. So he might be the one.

(Also, Korda only won another four matches in 10 events after losing in the '98 Wimb QF to Henman and testing +ve for nandrolone, though the test result wasn't made public until the end of the year (I guess Korda knew?) and I think his Wimb points stood until then. Oh, Petr.)

Lex where do you get the rankings from, read this in a report:

Cilic’s victory means Andy Murray will drop out of the top 10 for the first time in six years, with Cilic climbing to ninth, one place behind Nishikori.

ATP website confirms list above. Did wonder, seeing as the tournament ended on a Monday and the rankings are published on a Monday, whether perhaps they were incomplete, but the jump in Cilic's points (1800 to over 3000) suggests that it's all in there.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx

but I've worked out why it's wrong there - the ATP still put new rankings up on Monday and presumably will just add another 800pts to Cilic later today. Which is a terrible way of doing it, but hi tennis authorities. I thought that was an unusually small climb for Cilic!

So yeah, Cilic up to 9, Dimitrov 10, Murray at 11 and out of the top 10 for the first time since 2008.

xp I haven't looked at the points, I just went to the rankings thread on MTF...it's pretty sad when amateur statisticians on both tennis forums are so much more reliable than the ATP and WTA themselves

Ah, right!

Would it kill them to release the ranking on a Tuesday after the only Monday-finish Slam?

Especially as a few times in the past the rankings have been released on a Tuesday because they forgot to do it on a Monday!