Topic: Western & Southern Open

[Gawdblessya]

Entertaining match between Wawrinka / Raonic!  Well played by SW to win it after being a set down.

I'm watching Federer / Fish & Federer played a beautiful first set.  As one of the comms said,  "outrageously good!"    I'm glad Fish has started to settle down in the second set.    DALLAS, I hope you're feeling better about this match!   

My interest in the Women's side has been zilch, but I was surprised to see that Serena Williams is out in straight sets.   

[Alex]

I wasn't able to see the 3rd set. I was cheering for Milos but it wasn't meant to be. Wawa/Federer matches are so boring and one sided. Has Stan even won a set against Roger?

[Tennis4you]

Fed comes through over Fish is straights.  Solid second set by both players.  Can't see Fed losing to Stan, ever...

[Gawdblessya]

The comms with high praise for Federer's game. Rightly so.    And hats off to Fish for digging in & making a match of it in the second set, forcing it to a TB. 

I'm looking forward to both SF's.       

[Jamesdster]

Man I think I am doing a 360 on Roger.  I really thought he was done 2 years ago but now he looks as good as ever!  Just goes to show you what good conditioning, staying away from the injury bug, and genes means in this game.  His incredible conditioning could have him winning majors 3 or 4 years from now!  Look at poor Rafi and his poor torn up body.  He may reitre before Fed at the current rate.

[barbadosan]

Fed comes through over Fish is straights.  Solid second set by both players.  Can't see Fed losing to Stan, ever...

Fed lost to Stan in 2009.. can't remember where offhand

[euroka1]

I wasn't able to see the 3rd set. I was cheering for Milos but it wasn't meant to be. Wawa/Federer matches are so boring and one sided. Has Stan even won a set against Roger?

I was too, Alex, for the same reason.
It is the same, by the way, with Troicki/Djokovic.

Having got that grumble out of the way,  I have to say that the crowd felt it really got its moneysworth tonight on Center Court tonight. I rarely use the word incredible but that's the way I felt watching Fed make beautiful shot after beautiful shot, from corner to corner sometimes. He also demonstrated how he can turn on a killer serve at will to get himself out of trouble. Mardy Fish was actually playing very well, certainly up to the standards he achieved before his heart problem, and he did great to force that tie-break in the second set. We all hoped he would get it just to prolong the night.

Jamesdster in the above post says what many of us are presently thinking.

That is the best tennis I have seen here so far. Like Alex, I am not expecting much from the Wawrinka match and it will probably be up to Nole to give us another match as good in the final.

[EnriqueIG8]

Fed comes through over Fish is straights.  Solid second set by both players.  Can't see Fed losing to Stan, ever...

Fed lost to Stan in 2009.. can't remember where offhand

Think it was 2009, I know for sure it was in Monte Carlo when Fed took a late WC after he just announced Mirka was pregnant.

[euroka1]

I'm so happy for Stanley, he has shown some consistency finally!
Oh those volleys at the end.

Hi Lugburz,

I only came in at the third set here. While Raonic was certainly serving up massively, he didn't seem to do much else. Stan really did play the best tennis and  thus deserved to win.

[Alex]

Euroka, so glad you are having a good time

and yeah, all Serbian players pretty much bent for Novak (he let them win sometimes when he simply doesn't care or doesn't feel like it like that match with Troicki in Umag 2007 or Tipsy in Madrid on blue clay) same with Spanish players with Rafa (that's probably even worse). Fed has only has Stan. I feel bad for Fed  ... 

[euroka1]

Euroka, so glad you are having a good time

and yeah, all Serbian players pretty much bent for Novak (he let them win sometimes when he simply doesn't care or doesn't feel like it like that match with Troicki in Umag 2007 or Tipsy in Madrid on blue clay) same with Spanish players with Rafa (that's probably even worse). Fed has only has Stan. I feel bad for Fed  ...

You are right, Alex, it is the same with the Spanish. I'm thinking of all those Ferrer/Nadal encounters.

As an Australian, I'm speculating about what might happen now if Tomic gets the chance to play Hewitt before the latter retires. Not much respect there.

[oracle86]

Fed comes through over Fish is straights.  Solid second set by both players.  Can't see Fed losing to Stan, ever...

Fed lost to Stan in 2009.. can't remember where offhand

Think it was 2009, I know for sure it was in Monte Carlo when Fed took a late WC after he just announced Mirka was pregnant.

You're right. Monte Carlo Masters 2009, in the third round.

[Alex]

Euroka, so glad you are having a good time

and yeah, all Serbian players pretty much bent for Novak (he let them win sometimes when he simply doesn't care or doesn't feel like it like that match with Troicki in Umag 2007 or Tipsy in Madrid on blue clay) same with Spanish players with Rafa (that's probably even worse). Fed has only has Stan. I feel bad for Fed  ...

You are right, Alex, it is the same with the Spanish. I'm thinking of all those Ferrer/Nadal encounters.

As an Australian, I'm speculating about what might happen now if Tomic gets the chance to play Hewitt before the latter retires. Not much respect there.

Hewitt/Tomic would be very interesting. I still think that Rusty could school him and teach him few lessons.

[Dallas]

Wow!!! It feels weird to see all the "love" post about Roger! Lol! I'm just glad he's healthy and playing pretty good. I had an engagement to go to so I had to tape Roger's match. I'm going to sit down now and watch it!

[Alex]

Wow!!! It feels weird to see all the "love" post about Roger! Lol! I'm just glad he's healthy and playing pretty good. I had an engagement to go to so I had to tape Roger's match. I'm going to sit down now and watch it!

well, Dallas what do you want us to say? Stan has a chance. OK, I just did it for you. I hope you feel good now  . and yeah, make sure you sit down while watching, I don't want you to hurt your back 

[euroka1]

As an Australian, I'm speculating about what might happen now if Tomic gets the chance to play Hewitt before the latter retires. Not much respect there.

Hewitt/Tomic would be very interesting. I still think that Rusty could school him and teach him few lessons.

There's an interesting postscript to the terribly played Hewitt - Troicki match played on court 3 which does not have shot spot. Hewitt lost the first set and was down a serve in the second. A few games into the match, Hewitt sent a nice down the line shot that would have brought him back on to serve. But the Chair umpire ruled it out. Much noise all round. The ushers, thinking the game was over, let the crowd in. But it was not, back to deuce. During the next points there were people crawling over people. Hewitt lost the next two points and the game. Hewitt was miffed and from then on his awful game got worse. Someone told me that in his comments after he blamed his defeat on bad line calls. I had noticed that he apparently did not shake hands with the chair umpire on his way out.  No sportsmanship of the year award for Lleyton this year. 

Gets one meditating on these very rich oldsters in the game. If things don't go their way, to hell with it and let's get back home. More than once I've suspected Roddick of similar behaviour although he usually blames it on some physical quirk.

So, Bernard Tomic, you have to encounter Rusty on a bad day and you had probably best avoid the midnight matches when he plays at his best.

[euroka1]

The order of play for today has the mens semis starting at 1pm and the ladies at 7 pm. They should both be good. The ladies will have Na Li vs Venus and Kvitova vs Kerber. I waited round for the first part of Kvitova's match last night and can say that she is in good form,

Del Potro vs Djokovic is on first this afternoon.

[Babblelot]

I see Kerber took out Serena pretty easily. Anyone watch it? Did Serena look tired and disinterested?

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[monstertruck]

Man I think I am doing a 360 on Roger.  I really thought he was done 2 years ago but now he looks as good as ever!  Just goes to show you what good conditioning, staying away from the injury bug, and genes means in this game.  His incredible conditioning could have him winning majors 3 or 4 years from now!  Look at poor Rafi and his poor torn up body.  He may reitre before Fed at the current rate.

He's smarter.
He's got an experienced team in his corner that can take a champ deep into the final stages of his career.
He schedules well and stays mentally fresh for the most part.
He seems comfortable with taking his family on tour with him.
He is the heir to secrets of champions handed down from Llendl -> Sampras -> Federer.  His professionalism is evident in his physical condition.  Tell me how many times in his career have you seen Fed seriously sucking wind in a 5th set final???

And of course, now with Annacone on his team, the points are shorter (have you seen his serve this tourney?!?!?! ) as are the matches against softer opponents.  It just remains to be seen how interested he in his in playing on.  With his nemisis fading rapidly, he may choose to soldier on and try to bag more slams in what some fans may deem a weak era with Nadal out of the picture.

[Tennis4you]

I see Kerber took out Serena pretty easily. Anyone watch it? Did Serena look tired and disinterested?

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Serena was just missing a lot.  She was showing a lot of frustration.  Threw her racquet.  Tossed her arms up a lot, laughed at errors, etc.