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There is no way for Serena to lose this match. Quite an act to win a set each with a lopsided score.
Serena now has pretty much a cakewalk draw to the final now, and most likely the title.
Final Quarter now happening between Azarenka and Halep, the winner of this to play Italian journeywoman and predominantly doubles player Flavia Pennetta.
Hey, I just wanted to report my experience attending the U.S. Open over the weekend. I was there from Friday night through the end of the day on Monday. Here are the matches I saw.
(Higher seeded player listed first, winner in bold, match of the day underlined. The Friday and Saturday matches were 3rd round/Round of 32 matches, while the Sunday and Monday matches were 4th round/Round of 16 matches. Ashe Stadium, Armstrong Stadium, Grandstand court, and Court 17 are, in descending order, the four largest courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.)
Friday
*M: Ferrer/Chardy (Armstrong, part) - Ferrer was committing more errors than usual and Chardy played solidly.
*W: A. Radwanska/Keys (Grandstand, part) - Keys was really booming forehands in this match.
*W: S. Williams/Mattek-Sands (Ashe, part) - I got there when Serena was in some trouble late in the 2nd set; she played excellent in the portion I saw.
*M: Nadal/Seppi (Ashe, most) - it was truly an electric atmosphere at Ashe, even though the match ended after 1 AM. Seppi played out of his mind.
Saturday
*W: Petkovic/Konta (Armstrong, part) - I only watched the first set, but Konta played excellent and deserved the win.
*M: Berdych/Garcia-Lopez (Court 17, part) - I saw the first two sets and both were very tight; Berdych pulled away after I left.
*M: Federer/Kohlschreiber (Ashe, part) - neither player played his best, but it was still great to see Federer in person for the first time.
*W: Kerber/Azarenka (Ashe, all) - this was a great, high quality match, one of the very best women's matches (or singles matches) of the tournament so far.
*M: Anderson/Thiem (Court 17, all) - I wanted to see the ascending 21 year old Thiem, plus I like Anderson. Though Thiem has great power, he needs more variety, specifically touch, in his game to become a true top player IMO.
*W: Lisicki/Strycova (Grandstand, part) - I only saw most of the 3rd set, but what I saw was amazing. Lisicki was down 5-1, then pulled a Serena and dramatically improved, winning the last 6 games of the match. Strycova was near tears in the last couple games of the match and went to the locker room immediately after it was over.
*M: Murray/Bellucci (Ashe, part) - though Bellucci was game, there would be no repeat of the night before in the late night match on Ashe.
Sunday
*M: Cilic/Chardy (Ashe, part) - I stuck around for the first set and part of the second; it was fairly tight when I was there.
*M: Tsonga/Paire (Armstrong, all) - this match was closer than the final score, at least during the first two sets, but Tsonga showed his superiority.
*W: V. Williams/Kontaveit (Ashe, part) - I only saw the end of this match, but Venus had no trouble with the teenage qualifier.
*W: S. Williams/Keys (Ashe, all) - I thought Keys had a shot at winning after her performance against Agi Radwanska two days earlier, but she didn't play that well and Serena stepped up her play.
*M: Lopez/Fognini (Armstrong, part) - I had to wait an hour to get into Armstrong, and saw Lopez win the third and final set easily over an emotionally spent Fognini.
*M: Djokovic/Bautista Agut (Ashe, all) - definitely the match of the day, Bautista Agut played great for most of the match, but his few dips cost him against the Djoker. Djokovic also changed tactics during the match, playing more to Bautista Agut's backhand to help him regain control.
*W: Makarova/Mladenovic (Ashe, all) - this late match (ended about 1 AM local time after a late start) was up and down but pretty good quality through two sets, but Mladenovic took control in her first Grand Slam Round of 16 singles match to advance to the quarters.
Monday
*W: Azarenka/Lepchenko (Ashe, all) - Lepchenko actually played pretty solid against Azarenka, but Vika was too much for the Allentown, PA resident (which is near where I grew up).
*M: Wawrinka/Young (Ashe, part) - I only watched the first set, but Wawrinka was a little too much for the game American Young.
*W: Halep/Lisicki (Armstrong, part) - I had to wait 1 1/2 hours to get into Armstrong, but was fortunate enough to see part of this match (all of the 3rd set) because it was so long. Lisicki was cramping early in the set and Halep took advantage.
*M: Murray/Anderson (Armstrong, all) - my long wait to get into Armstrong paid off because I was able to see this entire match (though I did miss all of Stosur/Pennetta and Kvitova/Konta; I really wanted to see Stosur and especially Kvitova). Anderson really hit his forehand well during most of the first two sets, but Murray fought back. It looked like it would go five sets, but Anderson got the early lead in the 4th set tiebreak and wasn't denied.
*M: Federer/Isner (Ashe, part) - despite being played in the U.S., most of the crowd was pro-Federer. Isner actually played pretty well (Fed was solid too), but he couldn't convert some golden break point chances or win in the tiebreaks, which cost him the match.
*M: Berdych/Gasquet (Armstrong, part) - taking place concurrently with Federer/Isner, Gasquet was the better player after the first set, advancing to the quarterfinals a few minutes before Federer.
In addition to the above, I was shown on the ESPN broadcast a couple times late Sunday night/early Monday morning during the Makarova/Mladenovic match. Chris Evert liked my straw hat, but the play-by-play guy (not sure who it was; might have been Tom Rinaldi) questioned the Philadelphia Phillies logo on it. (For those not familiar with the USTA National Tennis Center site, it is located across the subway and LIRR/commuter rail train tracks from the Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The Phillies and Mets are big rivals in Major League Baseball.)
Except for the relatively severe sunburn on my arms and part of my neck (have some raw skin today and a few blisters on my right arm in particular), plus the long waits to get into Armstrong Stadium on Sunday and Monday, I had an excellent time. I'm already trying to figure out what days I'll attend the U.S. Open next year (first two rounds, middle weekend like this year, or quarters/semis/finals).
So Federer gets $13 million a year to wear Nike's absurd shoes. It's like getting paid to look like a clown. You'd think Nike would put him some shoes that don't look quite so outlandish...
So Federer gets $13 million a year to wear Nike's absurd shoes. It's like getting paid to look like a clown. You'd think Nike would put him some shoes that don't look quite so outlandish...
I would wear high heals if I get paid 10% of what he gets paid.
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