The Swamp

Oh yes. Was he pretending to scratch his sideburn?

Russians were made to be villains.

Medvedev will probably get worked by Djokovic in the quarters but he’s very good and between him and Kyrgios, tennis has a couple of quality villains now. (I actually like Kyrgios, but he certainly knows how to piss off the traditionalists.)

Joe K wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:46 am Medvedev will probably get worked by Djokovic in the quarters but he’s very good and between him and Kyrgios, tennis has a couple of quality villains now. (I actually like Kyrgios, but he certainly knows how to piss off the traditionalists.)

I like Kyrgios too. He plays the other Russian Rublev tonight.

What's with players screaming at their player boxes this tournament? Zverev was just screaming fuck you over and over at his box.

EdRomero wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:13 pm What's with players screaming at their player boxes this tournament? Zverev was just screaming fuck you over and over at his box.

Zverev is a ticking timebomb. I dont know how he is top 10.

Apparently, his dad is his coach, which makes that screaming even worse. I remember he was being touted as a next great player -- that was one of the worse played matches I've seen. His opponent was hitting 70 mph serves and Zverev was hitting them 5 feet wide. And his double faults were the bottom of the net or 6 feet long type. He's a mess.

Townsend has a match going. Fun player to watch.

EdRomero wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:16 pm

I didn't see that particular shot, but Nadal made all sorts of entertaining shots last night. It was a fun match to watch.

A Medvedev-Federer semifinal would be the most one-sided fan support match ever. We're talking WWE territory.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:07 pm A Medvedev-Federer semifinal would be the most one-sided fan support match ever. We're talking WWE territory.

Medvedev was somewhat conciliatory to the crowd after his win today, but can you imagine if he beats Federer and Nadal back-to-back to win the whole thing? That would be hilarious given his earlier trolling.

That was a painful song.

Where's Pruitt??

Go Bianca!!!!!!!!

Serena looks terrible...

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Sat Sep 07, 2019 4:10 pm Serena looks terrible...

I thought she started okay. I feel like she's going through the same thing Federer has in the last few years -- opponents playing the matches of their lives against them and Serena/Roger slightly declining enough that the can't overcome it anymore.

Hmmm.

Incredible!

The fact that Bianca won those last two games when it seemed that momentum had completely swung was a tribute to that kid's toughness. At the end there were what, 50 US flags and a lone Canadian one at the end of the display. Canada has a new hero.

And fuck Meaghan Markle.

The impossible has happened, the fans are booing Nadal. This is bizarro Rocky IV.

Someone who follows tennis more than I do. We’ve had three straight youngsters win in Flushing on the women’s side. Is there a good explanation? Like do the other surfaces require a little more experience on them to be successful?

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2019 7:49 pm Someone who follows tennis more than I do. We’ve had three straight youngsters win in Flushing on the women’s side. Is there a good explanation? Like do the other surfaces require a little more experience on them to be successful?

Barty won the French for her first title. There is no dominant player right now on the womens side.

Here is a stat.

Andreescu became the first women born in the 2000s in win a grand slam.

No man born in the 90s has won a grand slam.

If Djokovic had never been born — and he’s at worst in the top six or so men to ever play the sport of tennis — Nadal and Federer would both have about 24 grand slams and we’d be insane with the chase between them to be the greatest of all-time.

I don't know what Medvedev did previously to get on the wrong side of the NY crowd (Fowler alluded to it, but it wasn't super specific). But I watched from the end of the second set to the finish and the turn of that crowd (and Medvedev's play) was unreal.

Here's the thing, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, but... Rafa is kind of a bitch. He does a lot of horse shit around time wasting - Hell, the serve shot clock was put in place in no small part because of his bullshit. There were about 5 or 6 serves (at least) from Medvedev that Rafa put his hands up on because of noise. It's not his fucking place to do that, and the umpire should've given him a verbal warning that the next time he did it, the point would stand. At least 2 or those Medvedev serves (if not more) were out and out aces.

So, when the crowd sees that, and really in that third set, they just want to see more tennis... But you combine the kind of negative tactics from Rafa with the young guy making a charge... The crowd really started going nuts.

The skill on display was insane. Glad I was able to watch so much of it.

ETA - Rafa putting his hands up while Medvedev was already serving doesn't even account for the way more than a dozen times where he put his racket up to slow down Med's serve (and slow down the pace of the match.) Again, the umpire needed to get the crowd more in line, but he also needed to tell Nadal to cut the shit.

Umps are pretty gun shy after Serena got a warning for receiving coaching last year and all shit broke out.

I get what you're saying, but there's a pretty big difference btwn a pretty subjective matter (coaching) and crowd noise. NY is notorious for being unruly, and once you let it get momentum, it's a shitshow.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:23 am I don't know what Medvedev did previously to get on the wrong side of the NY crowd (Fowler alluded to it, but it wasn't super specific).

He played some little dude who had already pulled off an upset or two and when the crowd got louder, he started antagonizing. It seemed more good-natured than not, where he would have had them if it weren't a Nadal or Federer in the finals.

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:51 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:23 am I don't know what Medvedev did previously to get on the wrong side of the NY crowd (Fowler alluded to it, but it wasn't super specific).

He played some little dude who had already pulled off an upset or two and when the crowd got louder, he started antagonizing. It seemed more good-natured than not, where he would have had them if it weren't a Nadal or Federer in the finals.

Well, Fowler (in particular) sure was trying to make it into a reverse heel-turn of the highest order. Didn't bother me, but it just lacked context if you hadn't been following the tournament that closely. NBD.

BTW, Deadspin with more background... Seems like he really was going for the heel persona in that match you referenced. And fucking with a ballboy in a previous match.

https://deadspin.com/daniil-medvedev-th ... 1837773316

Bryan Brothers can't do anything by themselves...they plan to retire after the US Open in 2020
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bryan- ... 1573681659

New Davis Cup kicked off yesterday. No longer the year long slog with inconsistent participation from the starts. Now more like a world cup.

USA captain Mardy Fish bringing:
Taylor Fritz (singles ranking 32, doubles ranking 120)
Reilly Opelka (36, 179)
Sam Querrey (44, 79)
Frances Tiafore (47, 445)
and of course Jack Sock (NR, 118)

In Pool play US has Italy and Canada who both look better based on player rankings. Canada opened up the group with a 2-1 win over Italy.

https://www.daviscup.com/

USA go 1-1 with a late night win against Italy. However, they finish 2nd in the qroup and won't be one of the two 2nd places teams to make the knockout bracket.

Schedule is insane but being Madrid everything starts late.

Starting at 11am, they try to get 6 matches in, with a 1 hr break between singles and doubles.

Caroline Wozniacki hanging them up after the Aussie.