US OPEN 2021

I played 2 very long sets today and the idea of playing 5 sets at this level is just insane

barty upset by shelby rogers

that was super fun

sack jock amirite

left the house with barty up 5-2 in the third, didn't even occur to me that rogers might have come back

On Saturday afternoon, Sloane Stephens detailed the horrific racist abuse, sexist abuse and threats she received on social media, likely from bettors, after her tight loss to the former world No 1 Angelique Kerber on Friday. Stephens said she received over two thousand messages of abuse and she posted screenshots of the threats she received.

“This type of hate is so exhausting and never ending,” she said. “This isn’t talked about enough, but it really freaking sucks. I’m happy to have people in my corner who support me. I’m choosing positive vibes over negative ones. I choose to show you guys happiness on here, but it’s not always smiles and roses.”

leylah fernandez played a great match

tiafoe/faa is going to have so many fun rallies/highlights

tiafoe is an inspiration to “world class perspirers” everywhere

this is not a great match

agree didnt live up to what i hoped itd be

only saw this highlight today

Lloyd Glasspool here with the shot of the tournament perhaps. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/xi2cdITnV6

— Lee S (@underarm_ace) September 2, 2021

i did not know you could do that

brooksby 6-1, ok

i like sakkari

Glasspool: I guess that's the only legitimate way to win that point? ITF Rule 25b: as long as you don't touch the net or step on your opponent's court, you can play a ball that's bounced on your side and is now about to bounce a second time on your opponent's side, including reaching over the net or, in this case, running around the net post. You obv can't intercept a ball that has yet to bounce or clear the plane of the net.

Sakkari-Andreescu was about 2:15am, same as Tiafoe-Rublev? There have some really extraordinary battles in this event, it would be a shame if the men's singles just went the same way as always. Bottom-half champ, please. People over here getting justifiably excited about Raducanu, but Bencic will be the first top-30 player she's ever played, even though this is her 12th Slam match of the summer (main draw + q). She got a bit lucky with Jenn Brady's withdrawal in R1 (playing a lucky loser instead). She's definitely future elite-level, this summer has just accelerated that. (Just hope she's ok with all the attention).

Raducanu about to serve for the 1st set against Bencic

Got it. No problem

the kids are all right

raducanu cool as a cucumber out there.

77 min 1st set goes to matteo

to the surprise of no one djokovic dominates the second 6-2

yikes djokovic is not fucking around anymore

so far in the 3rd matteo has won two points

berrettinis slice backhand just isnt good enough

yeah novak has him in jail anytime they exchange backhands

roddick esque

Hate saying it but I get the feeling Zverev will beat Djoko

In a purely tennis sense, it would be about bloody time. Best option on that side of the draw was Shapo taking out both of them. Medvedev has been the outstanding player in the men's event, but I think that was true in Melbourne too, until the last day.

Think both women's semis are night session so I'll miss all of that. Least preferred end result by a long way is Sabalenka as champ, but I imagine that's what we'll get. Funny that the only previous US Open women's semifinalists ranked outside the top 100 (before Raducanu) were... Billie Jean King and Kim Clijsters. King played no singles at all Aug '78-Jun '79 and (I guess) hadn't played enough by Sept '79 to earn a ranking (even though she'd reached QF at Wimb), though she was granted a seeding. Clijsters had been away two years and took several wildcards in summer 2009 (winning at Flushing Meadow, beating Serena and Venus en route).

great job by laylah tho sabalenka melted down a bit the end of the 3rd set

love everything fernandez has accomplished and is doing

onto the grand slam final!

which is sadly in character for her

hell yeah!

that was awesome

i'm a novice at watching tennis but she is like wildly crafty. so many great/weird shots.

big shoutout to steve nash in her interview!

let's go sakkari

(sorry britishes)

Don't be sorry lol this is fantastic!!

The only time our finalists have ever played

the top quarter of the 2018 Wimbledon girls' draw, the only time Raducanu and Fernandez have played each other and a bit of an origin story to this tournament pic.twitter.com/Sx2YxWuP9I

— Alex Macpherson (@alex_macpherson) September 8, 2021

Kind of makes you wonder what happened to Whitney Osuigwe. (Still only 19, ranked in the 200s, her time may come).

Raducanu’s results are ridiculous. It’s like Evert or Graf bulldozing through a slam draw in their prime. Only stretched beyond 6-4 once, in the qualies. I still think Fernandez has the edge? But I know nothing, I didn’t see Bencic and Sakkari being brushed aside like that.

The first Brit teen genius to break everything in their path since Ronnie O'Sullivan (but that's snooker which doesn't have the international profile of tennis)?

I missed Fernandez's match but omg Raducanu was incredible to watch, an absolute steamroller

xyz... does this make Fernandez... Kirk Stevens?!

It's a real shame we can't have a Shapo-FAA final in the men's for total NextGen Canadian(-born/-citizen) domination.

Fernandez was not as in control of her match obviously, but what impressed me about her was the ability to keep coming back every time Sabalenka seemed to be about to break loose. Just the mental composure to be that inexperienced, and up against a ferocious player, and keep her cool. In that sense she may be better prepared for the final, just because she's had to deal with being down and coming back. OTOH if Raducanu never lets herself get behind, may not be an issue.

Anyway, they're both fun players to watch, I hope the final is a good match. I don't even have a rooting interest, tbh, fine with either of them winning.

"xyz... does this make Fernandez... Kirk Stevens?!"

Maybe, this is well before my time :)

(Thinking of Ronnie in the UK championship where he just came in and destroyed the field, he was 17 or so)

v high level match by both guys thus far, hope the 5th set can live up to it

sigh

im not sure medvedev can play better than zverev did

Somewhat resigned to this now. I guess if Novak beats Zverev and Medvedev (twice each), Nadal (on clay), Tsitsipas (from two sets down), Berrettini (three times, incl on grass) and Shapo en route to this, you have to say fair enough. Who else could you throw at him? Rublev in his early spring form? Carreno Busta / Karatsev / Sinner around the round of 32 would have been nice and awkward. The draws and scheduling have been moderately kind, but every top seed gets that (Fed certainly benefited). I think he got a dose of luck with the curfew in Melbourne (falling apart vs Fritz, and then a delay while the stadium was cleared) and Musetti running out of gas in Paris, but fair play.

If he beats Medvedev on Sunday he's the greatest male tennis player of all time. No ifs, no buts.

That he is a wanker is just something that people will forget in time.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/10/novak-djokovic-wins-appeal-against-decision-to-cancel-his-australian-visa

Hopefully he won't compete. Jail would've been good but I'll take that.

sadly, he will definitely compete and will probably win the tournament again - Djokovic relishes being the villain more than anything else (my totally unscientific analysis: he didn't get the Golden Slam last year because he was getting too much positive attention at the Olympics lol).

otm

I don't like him either but I was glad to see this result today. Fuck the Australian government

Hmm, this is a different level of antipathy though. Unless this all settles down and is somehow magically clarified in the next seven days, he walks out to defend his title to a pocket of flag-waving fans and several thousand ppl booing him (whether that's justified or not, on the facts of the case). There's almost a safety issue here now.

So wait, is the 21 he's going for the number of Slam titles or the number of times he can catch Covid?

This is amazing

Lol pic.twitter.com/JqlKnap2p1

— Lucky Lance (@theluckylance) January 11, 2022

Novak Djoković claims to have been tested positiv for Covid on the 16th of December.
However the timestamp for the digital version of his positiv test indicates the result may actually be from the 26th of December.
Our reporting @derspiegel in german https://t.co/NnvY0vc09G

— Max Hoppenstedt (@m_hoppenstedt) January 11, 2022

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33046376/novak-djokovic-responding-continuing-misinformation-clarifies-line-positive-covid-19-test-december

aand here we go again

Breaking: Novak Djokovic's visa has been cancelled for a second time by the Australian government

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke: "[Cancelled] on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so."

Appeal v likelyhttps://t.co/N6Ryn9nBsM

— Paul Sakkal (@paulsakkal) January 14, 2022

Never thought I'd say this but Australia...thank you...

it's not over. Though at this point, it really is best for him to call it a day instead of risking the three-year ban.

Djokovic's lawyers are still considering their legal options

They were served documents at 6.03pm, after Hawke's decision

If they appeal, they want a streamlined trial with condensed time for written submissions and verbal evidence

They want trial completed by Sunday @theage https://t.co/Q8IUDnMhLG

— Paul Sakkal (@paulsakkal) January 14, 2022

What a fucking loser.

The simple facts of Novak Case. Visa approved by Australia. Australian Judge upheld visa in court of law.Government want him out.If Novak's visa was not approved,he would never have been allowed to board flight to Australia.Explain why he received a visa then?This is not right!

— Greg Rusedski (@GregRusedski1) January 14, 2022

lol

Really, really happy at his humiliation. Hopefully it will be a four year ban.

I thought he would've been denied visa and never boarded a flight to Australia. This farce was just beyond anything I'd imagine. So good!

yeah, I knew he was kind of a dick but not quarantining when he knew he had covid is next level.

at what world crisis will nigel farage appear next

Oh dear. I’ve had a quick look at this company. “Biotech” might be a stretch. Strap in... https://t.co/Z8qzdQxP53

— Dr Darren Saunders (@whereisdaz) January 19, 2022