[Tennis] US Open

I've been watching the open since the get go. I like Donald Young, and hate Andy Roddick. My favorite player, Marcos Baghdatis lost in the first round like he seems to do almost every US Open.

Meanwhile I'm pulling Djokovic and Murray as well as anyone who plays against Roddick.

What a great match for young today.

 

Enjoying watching Young play also.

 

Young displayed some maturity in that match. gl to him against Murray, where his Open odyssey will probably end. luv Andy Roddick! (just not for this slam)

Serena marches on although there were some moments against Azarenka when she appeared mortal. best regards to her big sis Venus with her Sjögren's challenge.

 

glad Roddick won. Not sure why it's become so popular to hate the guy--he hasn't been immature and cocky over the last few years...he's seemed to work hard in an attempt to win another slam before his career is over. I'm pulling for him (and Young, and Isner)

 

Cocky, maybe not, but still immature...

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Just got home from seeing the Flavia Pennetta and Don Young matches! Caught a part of the Nadal and Roddick matches!

Great day at the Open!

 

The play at the US Open has left a little to be desired. There have been a record number of player retirements and straight set matches have been the norm, BUT it has been a good tournament for the Americans.

Donald Young FINALLY looks like he is ready to at least be a top 40 or 50 player on tour. Not what he was expected to be when he was the top-ranked junior, but still solid.

Roddick has played well, but he's not playing the inspired tennis that it will take to make a run to the semifinals or finals. He is still playing too passively and he isn't winning nearly as many points off of his serve.

Isner looks like the real deal. His serve has always been a weapon, but now he is moving better and is winning more tiebreaks, which is a HUGE part of his success. He is currently playing Alex Bolgomolov, Jr., who is a nice story. 28-year-old American who had essentially quit the tour. Now, he's in the third round of a major and ranked around 45 in the world.

Even the women look better. Serena is playing like her old self and Sloane Stephens, Christina McHale and Irina Falconi all had signature wins.

 

I'm on the Donald Young bandwagon. He is very talented and has a great serve off the ad service line. That slider out wide to an open court forehand. I think he has a good shot against Murray if Murray plays his defensive style.

Roddick will never beat the big guys. He plays too much defense and when he goes up against the top guys on the tour who can return his first serve, he will get pelted off the court. He needs to flatten out his forehand.

Marty has the best shot to make a semi final. He is pretty solid and now the best all around American.

Hoping Donald makes a run though. He is the crowd favorite the rest of the way I would think. Either way, Djokovich will win. He is on another level now.

 

Extremely jelly man. Nice stuff.

I'm glad to see Donald Young this far and I hope he keeps going. I don't get the Roddick hate anymore. I used to be a big Roddick hater and I think his comments in the interview earlier this week were a tad whiny and immature but I think he was just frustrated. Still, he's not going anywhere in this tourney.

 

I don't have much of an issue with that. He certainly could have handled it better, but a ton of athletes handle interviews worse..

 

Roddicks forehand is weak now. He has no chance to win it.

 

He's obviously tried some different things to improve his game. Some of it has worked but not enough to bring him up to the next level. I don't mind the guy working.

I hate him because of things like that interview already shown. He tries hard to use his humor and come off like a "good" guy, but in the end he always really shows himself for who he is, and that's a d*&#. He let's it show at different times during his matches as well.

He seems like frustrated frat boy date rapist who never quite lived up to his potential.

While his efforts to improve are notable they aren't enough to trump his frequent episodes of dickishness.

 

It's fine if you don't hate Roddick. Nobody should be required to hate the guy.

But that interview is just one in a long line of examples on why Roddick is an ass. If it was just that particular interview maybe he wouldn't be deserving of so much hate. But that's one of many.

 

Especially since he's facing Ferrer in the next round. Roddick has played a lot of long points in this tournament, but he's not going to be able to do that against Ferrer.

He could have handled the interview better, but I think his reaction was borne out of frustration and not anger towards anyone or anything. He is working hard to make one last big run in his career and so far, it hasn't worked out. That has to eat at him.

As an aside, I love hearing Jim Courier in the broadcast booth on the CBS broadcast. He is really bright, but when he is unsure of how to answer a question or respond to something, he admits that rather than talking out of his rear end.

Just a few minutes ago, the play by play guy asked him why it had taken Juan Carlos Ferrero so long to get back to playing at a high level and he responded with "I'm not really sure." Then, he gave us some reasons why it might have happened. Gotta respect a guy that realizes it's better to admit you're not sure than just throw crap against the wall.

 

Really good match going on right now. Flip to CBS if you have a chance. Janko Tipsarevic and Juan Carlos Ferrero are tied at one set apiece and they are on serve in the third set. Both players have called for the trainer multiple times. Neither player has a huge weapon they can really put away points with, so they are both just having to scratch and claw for every point.

Serena's match is about to begin, so CBS will probably stay with her more often now, but you can always watch any match on a TV court at USOpen.org.

 

I guess if that's people's true reasoning, I'm more ok with it.

I made an assumption (that I guess is incorrect) that people hate him because he was supposed to be the next great American player during a time period when we had no one (tail end of Sampras and Agassi, but past their primes), and he never lived up to it. I assumed people resented him for that and have allowed that general negative attitude to manifest itself into "hating" on him even if that's no longer his tag. I realize his attitude (moreso when he was younger imo) added to it, but I thought a lot of it was born out of expectations that were never met.