I didn't see a thread yet so I figured I'd make one. If anyone was just tuning in, there was an epic 5 set match in the second round featuring the American Taylor Dent who came back from a 2 year hiatus due to a back injury. Anyhow, after trading match point opportunities with his opponent, Dent finally hit a return winner and sealed the deal, finishing the match 12-10 in the 5th set tiebreaker. The New York crowd was behind him 100%. After he won the match, he ran to the umpire's microphone and thanked the crowd for believing in him and cheering him on. He then proceeded to run around the stadium and give high-fives to everyone in the front rows. It just goes to show that even second round matches can be entertaining.
I went to the US Open tonight, I happened to watch the last set of the Dent/Navarro match, wow, it was an unbelievable atmosphere to watch tennis in. Great match and a great crowd. My boy who went with me to the Open happened to catch one of the tennis balls that the Dent hit into the crowd after winning the match, made the night even that much better. If you ever get the chance to watch US Open tennis, make sure you take advantage of it. And, don't go to Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong court, just watch matches in the grandstand court or on the outside courts, they are very intimate settings to watch tennis in.
Ever since Rafter & Sampras retired, I didn't think I'd ever see a match on hardcourt involving serve-and-volleyers. That was pretty cool.
Oui. How quickly we churn up and spit out our tennis jailbait. One quick shoulder injury, and it's Sharapova who?
^^ Finally, America has closed the Ivo Karlovic gap. (That was a disappointing match to watch; Roddick looked like he was in decent form, but there wasn't much he could do against the guy's serve.)
Isner has one of the best serves since he's 6' 9" but that's all his game is. Unfortunately, Roddick got out-Roddick'd.
CBS's coverage sucks. Not showing the Roddick match in it's entirety and no night results of Safina and Blake is weak. Keep it on ESPN if you can't show all the matches.
What a win by the un-ranked 17 year old rookie -- that was one of the best matches i've seen women play.
The thing I liked about the Isner/Roddick match(besides Roddick losing) is how Isner won. I like that he used his net game to defeat Andy. Oudin is an amazing story. I was cheering for her all the way today. I nearly choked up when she won. The one thing I will say about her is that even a lot of her winners weren't constructed. They were just her working hard or managing to get a lob that dropped in. Her hard work and never say die effort is part of what makes her so easy to like. She has time to work on constructing points, and I hope she does it, because she'll need that ability to have a long career.
Not sure how much it's Nadal's abdominal strain, or Monfils finally putting it together and living up to his potential, but absolutely agreed.
Monfils is very entertaining, and he has the potential to be a star in the sport of tennis for many years to come. He's athletic and rangy, has a very powerful serve and forehand, expresses his emotions and pumps up the crowd, and he's still very young at 24. Hell, the fans in Arthur Ashe were loudly chanting Monfils name at multiple points throughout the match. McEnroe said it was as if Monfils was playing at home in Roland Garros. If he can keep his focus in a competitive 5-set match, direct his energy towards out-performing his opponent, rather than becoming overwhelmed by his emotions in the moment and trying to solely impress the crowd, than he'll be very successful for a long, long time. He's a rare blend of elite athleticism, power, finesse, and flamboyancy.
When Monfils has his feet set and the the time to get underneath those forehands, they are some serious monster shots. Entertaining, for sure, but all that emotion has to be killing a lot of energy for him. He looked absolutely winded towards the end of the 2nd set. From what he showed tonight, he can't sustain playing the same style Nadal does over a 4-5 set match. Some great points between the two though.
You can hit 5 good winners against Nadal but his mobility allows him to chase them all down to force another shot. It was clearly Nadal's stamina that outdid Monfils in this match, as he could not keep his footwork up to hit a good shot.
Is expressing emotion considered a tennis skill? If you don't express emotion, is that a weakness? And he just turned 23 a week ago. He was the underdog. Crowds do that all the time everywhere. You can make similar statements about tons of fringe players. I don't see why you keep placing value in flamboyancy. I have no problem with it but it just doesn't seem like it should be listed as a strength. Sampras, Federer and Lendl were all relatively emotionless. Was that a weakness?
