US Open 2022

[rsvman]

And... that game was not so good.

[willywoody]

Serena has many more unforced errors than prior match. It is going to take everything she has to win this match.

[rsvman]

Horrible mistake on that last point.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I love it when announcers are silent and let you enjoy the moment.

[rsvman]

Ran out of gas, for sure.

[Kdogg]

Wish her run would have lasted longer. A true GOAT.

[SouthernDukie]

Didn’t go the way I thought it would. But what a great final game. Hats off to Serena.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Cap on an absolutely phenomenal career. Kudos.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Yep. Thanks for all the memories Serena. One of the all-time greats.

[Tooold]

Serena is obviously so talented and so fiercely competitive, but her opponent was pretty remarkable last night as well. It took a lot of mental toughness to handle the moment, the stadium, the crowd, and Serena. She came back in the first two sets when she could easily have folded. And she was a gracious winner who gave Serena her moment (and a time that may have been the biggest moment in her own career).

[rsvman]

Serena is obviously so talented and so fiercely competitive, but her opponent was pretty remarkable last night as well. It took a lot of mental toughness to handle the moment, the stadium, the crowd, and Serena. She came back in the first two sets when she could easily have folded. And she was a gracious winner who gave Serena her moment (and a time that may have been the biggest moment in her own career).

Agree. Color me extremely impressed with her interview after the match.

[Tooold]

Agree. Color me extremely impressed with her interview after the match.

She gave another interview today and she was quite sincere and introspective. She said she would have been fine with Serena winning the whole tournament, and that it was the most conflicted she has ever felt after a big victory. What a fantastic sportswoman! I will now be a Tomljanovic fan!

[Bluedog]

On another note, there are 5 American men into the third round right now, which seems like a lot more than we've been seeing lately in the majors. This includes two 21 year olds, a 23 year old, a 25 year old, and #22 seed Tiafoe (who is only 24). So, a lot of young guys making some noise. I noticed 21 year old Jenson Brooksby (who "attended" Baylor for a semester, but never played a single match for them due to injury then COVID shutdown) got through with a nice upset win over the 25 seed, saving 3 set points in a second set breaker. He's got a tough matchup vs #3 seed Alcaraz next. Brandon Nakashima also had a nice upset victory over #17 Dimitrov. He attended (And played) for UVa for one semester when he was a 17-year old freshman before turning pro. He's matched up against #11 seed Italian Sinner next, which is a tough one, who is ALSO only 21. 23 year old JJ Wolf has got Krygios next while 25 year old Tommy Paul has #5 Ruud. Tiafoe also has a tough match against #14 Schwartzman.

So, basically all the American men will be underdogs here - we'll see if any of them can breakthrough to the fourth round.

Well not too surprisingly all the American men lost except the seeded Tiafoe who had a nice straight set (upset) victory over Schwarzman. Tommy Paul had a heckuva match against #5 Ruud but ran out of steam in 5 sets. First three sets were 7-6,6-7,7-6 (i.e. Paul lost two tiebreakers), but then he took the fourth 7-5, and unfortunately got bageled (do players still use that term?) in the 5th. 4.5 hrs of tennis. Ruud becomes the first Norwegian ever to reach the round of 16 at the US Open and actually is only one of four men who has a chance to be ranked #1 after the US Open.

Tiafoe has Nadal next so it's a tall order. He has a great backstory if you don't know. Pretty inspiring guy!

[Tooold]

Kyrgios showed what he can do when he focuses. He may be the most talented player on the tour. If only he would work on his game, accept coaching, stay in control…. He should have/ could have beaten Djokovic at Wimbledon but he reverted to his “old self”. It will be interesting to see if he learned from that experience.

[Bluedog]

What a win by Tiafoe over Nadal! Incredible. I love Nadal but certainly am happy the American pulled through with perhaps the biggest win of his career. He will be a crowd favorite from here on out for sure.

[Tooold]

What a win by Tiafoe over Nadal! Incredible. I love Nadal but certainly am happy the American pulled through with perhaps the biggest win of his career. He will be a crowd favorite from here on out for sure.

I am a Nadal fan and was rooting for him. But he still can’t serve full speed, and didn’t even really practice his serve until right before the Open, so it was going to be a long shot for him to win it all. Tiafoe played really well, so I hope he can keep it going. And if Nadal isn’t going to win it, then the next best thing IMO is to have a new face. I was able to watch Rublev on an outer court when I was at the Open last week, and he is also fun to watch. He can really pound the all, especially when he gets mad.

[curtis325]

I am a Nadal fan and was rooting for him. But he still can’t serve full speed, and didn’t even really practice his serve until right before the Open, so it was going to be a long shot for him to win it all. Tiafoe played really well, so I hope he can keep it going. And if Nadal isn’t going to win it, then the next best thing IMO is to have a new face. I was able to watch Rublev on an outer court when I was at the Open last week, and he is also fun to watch. He can really pound the all, especially when he gets mad.

Another big Rafa fan who is not sad. I really like Tiafoe's game and hope he can go far. It looks like anyone could win it now. I'm hoping it is not Kyrgios.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Anyone stay up until 2:23 am to watch the men's match? It is too bad it ran so late as it sounds like it was great. The women's match before it dragged on a bit - the men's match still would have gone late but that didn't help.

Tiafoe is going to be the huge fan favorite the rest of the way - should be fun.

Miserable weather in NY today so glad that they have the roof.

[Tooold]

Another big Rafa fan who is not sad. I really like Tiafoe's game and hope he can go far. It looks like anyone could win it now. I'm hoping it is not Kyrgios.

I agree! Alcaraz, tiafoe, Rublev, sinner….all good options!

[Bluedog]

Anyone stay up until 2:23 am to watch the men's match? It is too bad it ran so late as it sounds like it was great. The women's match before it dragged on a bit - the men's match still would have gone late but that didn't help.

Tiafoe is going to be the huge fan favorite the rest of the way - should be fun.

Miserable weather in NY today so glad that they have the roof.

Saw the first couple of sets but then bailed. What a match. There was a LOT of debate about Cilic's foot placement on his serve/foot faulting. The thing that's bizarre to me is Cilic is a VERY seasoned player, so has he always done that or was something "different" about this match? Basically, he'd start when bouncing the ball with his foot slightly on the line. He'd then move his foot slightly BACK to be behind the line as he "starts his motion" backward with his arm/racquet. The debate that was raging is what defines the "start of service motion" as that apparently is in the rulebook as a footfault if your foot is on the line. And if he's on the line slightly but then just RAISES his toe to be above the line, is that a foot fault? Seems like there wasn't total consensus. But didn't understand why he'd take the risk to make it so close when he could just stand literally one inch further back. Maybe he changed in later sets. He was trying to explain his rationale/why it's not a foot fault to the chair umpire. They seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as he moved his toe/heel to behind the line prior to him taking his racquet back.

My other observation from the match - they hit the ball HARD. Man, some of those groundies were just crushed. Like Marat Safin...