'23 US Open 8/28 - 9/10 General Discussion

[ashkor87]

Maybe time to move the USO to a date later in the year..it is just too hot at this time there..it will eat into the China swing, which is anyway good!

[skatingfan]

Maybe time to move the USO to a date later in the year..it is just too hot at this time there..it will eat into the China swing, which is anyway good!

This is probably a bit of an outlier in that the tournament started out seasonable, and then got hotter mid way through. Usually it's the other way around. Climate change may eventually force changes, but it will take a lot to get the USTA to move the event away from the Labour day long weekend at the end of the summer.

[nelslus]

I am TOTALLY curious about how things have gone for joanjettson, ti-amie, and all TAT members who have been or are going to the Open. To my huge surprise- the tennis at Ashe and Armstrong was actually quite comfortable concerning the heat. I mean, sure, I would have preferred being in a fully air conditioned space. With both, they kept large portions of the roofs closed. At Ashe, (and I was in Row W), it felt like there might even had some air conditioning going on, at least a bit? At Armstrong, it looked like they had some upper fans going on, and breezes were coming in and out. Fortunately, I knew that my spray sunscreen wasn't allowed. But, after shellacking myself with my spray sun screen prior to leaving for the Open- I was in shade so much, that I didn't need to use any of my sunscreen lotion. It was when I left the Open and started walking to the subway that I could feel how hot and humid it was (I think I left around 8:30 p.m. or so)- and instantly turned into a hot puddle of sweat and filth. At least I maintained my version of very aged beauty while I was at the Open today. Some folks who sat near me said that the conditions had been far worse on Tuesday. So, it looks like the Open provided some fixes that worked- at least for me.

The only match I saw at Ashe today was the full Sabalenka match. Total demolition in the 1st set. Zheng definitely played considerably better in the 2nd set- she especially served better. But, Sabalenka made very few skanky errors throughout the match, and it just took one sub-par service game to make the difference. Still- Sabalenka was in scary-good form.

I then toddled over to Armstrong, hoping that I'd be in time to see enough of the second doubles match. (Now and then, I checked the scores for the Medvedev/Rublev match. If Rublev had even taken a set, I probably would have at least watched a little of the match. But, THAT demolition derby I had zero interest in). WELL, leave it to Vera and Laura to eventually win over Vika and Haddad Maia in approximately a 57 hour match. It actually was mostly very well played- especially if one could ignore how obnoxious Laura can be. Either team could have won, but Laura and Vera have a LOT of doubles tricks up their sleeves. I then stayed in Armstrong for all three double matches.

Funny thing is- I was expecting to root on Coco and Jessica. But, it can now officially be announced that I just cannot ever root against Hsieh. I miss how well Hsieh used to play singles. But, she remains a HOF-level doubles player. She is just a joy to watch. Every shot in the book- and all of those evil, match-shifting lobs. Wisely, especially after the first set, Coco and Jessica played every shot they could at Wang. That worked in the second set. Mind you, throughout the match, when Hsieh could assert herself in the match, she did- usually (but not always) successfully.

But then, Wang and Hsieh went up double break in the third set- only, with some sloppy play- including from Hsieh, but mostly from Wang- and more forceful play from Coco and Jessica. THEN, all tied up, they broke Coco (throughout the match, Coco's serve/some double faults and forehands remained issues), and then Wang managed to hold. Truly- I'd have been happy with either team winning. But, Hsieh and Wang very much deserved the win. Even when Wang faltered- she managed to fix her mistakes when it mattered the most. 'Twas a team effort.

The Danilina/Heliovaara team were definitely the better team today- mostly because- by his standards- Pavic's poor play. While I believe that all of the players dropped their serves- Pavic got broken multiple times. Way too many double faults and errors- and, of course, grouchiness. Shibahara had some really good moments. But, again- on the day, the better team won. Danilina/Heliovaara were crazy-excited when they won- which was very nice to see. The first Slam final for both- and Heliovaara is 34 years old. I certainly didn't know he was that "old".

AS for Ben and Taylor.....UGGGGHHHH!!!! While Taylor and Ben managed to win the first set in a tiebreaker- winning the biggest points, and some errors from Krajicek in that tiebreaker. But, from then on- they sucked. Taylor served pretty poorly the whole match- and Ben was CLEARLY (one can only hope) "saving his arm" for his SF match against Novak. His first serve was mostly in the 90's MPH- but it could go down to the 70's MPH- where his second serve could mostly be found. He even served a second serve in the 60's MPH. After the first set, they both made WAY too many errors. Taylor missed so many volleys in the net, or groundstrokes over the baseline. And, I believe that every lob she put up either went out or was fodder for an easy overhead. Ben also became more and more error-prone. He'd then try to over-hit the hell out of a shot- seemingly often to show off. But, most of the huge shots went out. He just could not find the aggressive smart-play level that was needed. I was quite disappointed with them. But, I must also note that Jessica and Krajicek played a lot of excellent tennis- and certainly played much smarter in the second set and third set tiebreaker. Can't take anything away from them.

A bottom line is- one can only hope that Ben's poor level in the mixed ain't gonna replicate itself against Novak- as this has been looking like a simple blow-out as is for Novak. I do wish Ben had truly tried harder in the mixed. This can't help him at all with his singles SF- playing poorly can never help.

That's all I got. Which, admittedly and apparently, is a lot.

[nelslus]

OMG.....I swear, even though I pretty much fell asleep as soon as I got in the bed- I woke up feeling like an achy, dried up old trollop after being man-handled by a gang of local sailors. (And, YES, I know, this means it must be Thursday).

AND- here's my dilemma. The men's doubles SF starts at Armstrong at noon. Once those matches are over (AND, of course, with my luck, they'll probably each take an hour..... (WHERE are Laura and Vera when I really need them?!?!) I mean- assuming that Armstrong remains comfortable today (a BIG assumption)- they'll next have a WC men's doubles SF at Armstrong. I probably will just remain and watch that. (LOL, I just looked to see that this third match won't begin until 4 PM. ) THEN- sure, there's all sorts of remaining juniors, WC, etc matches- all in the delightful baking sun and humidity. I COULD after the two doubles matches go back to where I am staying. But, that's a good hour or so back and forth once you factor in waiting for the subway and train. And then making myself go back for the 7 PM!!!! women's SF matches.

I could of course just go to the open before 7 p.m.- but, Rajeev and Joe play the second doubles SF. OF course, they could also lose miserably....UGHHHH!!!!! I hope I can find some freakin' air-conditioned American Express lounge or something to, discreetly of course, nap.

FOR sure, as I'm likely to head out soon- I'm gonna on purpose be late for the first men's doubles SF.

****!!!! (Self-censored).

[ponchi101]

Decisions, decisions, decisions....
(Have a great day!)

[meganfernandez]

OMG.....I swear, even though I pretty much fell asleep as soon as I got in the bed- I woke up feeling like an achy, dried up old trollop after being man-handled by a gang of local sailors. (And, YES, I know, this means it must be Thursday).

AND- here's my dilemma. The men's doubles SF starts at Armstrong at noon. Once those matches are over (AND, of course, with my luck, they'll probably each take an hour..... (WHERE are Laura and Vera when I really need them?!?!) I mean- assuming that Armstrong remains comfortable today (a BIG assumption)- they'll next have a WC men's doubles SF at Armstrong. I probably will just remain and watch that. (LOL, I just looked to see that this third match won't begin until 4 PM. ) THEN- sure, there's all sorts of remaining juniors, WC, etc matches- all in the delightful baking sun and humidity. I COULD after the two doubles matches go back to where I am staying. But, that's a good hour or so back and forth once you factor in waiting for the subway and train. And then making myself go back for the 7 PM!!!! women's SF matches.

I could of course just go to the open before 7 p.m.- but, Rajeev and Joe play the second doubles SF. OF course, they could also lose miserably....UGHHHH!!!!! I hope I can find some freakin' air-conditioned American Express lounge or something to, discreetly of course, nap.

FOR sure, as I'm likely to head out soon- I'm gonna on purpose be late for the first men's doubles SF.

****!!!! (Self-censored).

I'do for the 2nd mens dubs semi (Joe and Rajeev) and stay the whole day. I wouldn't go back to the Airbnb - the schlepping would be exhausting. Find a shady spot somewhere. Can you go inside the Chase lounge?

[ti-amie]

OMG.....I swear, even though I pretty much fell asleep as soon as I got in the bed- I woke up feeling like an achy, dried up old trollop after being man-handled by a gang of local sailors. (And, YES, I know, this means it must be Thursday).

AND- here's my dilemma. The men's doubles SF starts at Armstrong at noon. Once those matches are over (AND, of course, with my luck, they'll probably each take an hour..... (WHERE are Laura and Vera when I really need them?!?!) I mean- assuming that Armstrong remains comfortable today (a BIG assumption)- they'll next have a WC men's doubles SF at Armstrong. I probably will just remain and watch that. (LOL, I just looked to see that this third match won't begin until 4 PM. ) THEN- sure, there's all sorts of remaining juniors, WC, etc matches- all in the delightful baking sun and humidity. I COULD after the two doubles matches go back to where I am staying. But, that's a good hour or so back and forth once you factor in waiting for the subway and train. And then making myself go back for the 7 PM!!!! women's SF matches.

I could of course just go to the open before 7 p.m.- but, Rajeev and Joe play the second doubles SF. OF course, they could also lose miserably....UGHHHH!!!!! I hope I can find some freakin' air-conditioned American Express lounge or something to, discreetly of course, nap.

FOR sure, as I'm likely to head out soon- I'm gonna on purpose be late for the first men's doubles SF.

****!!!! (Self-censored).

Both Chase and AMEX have air conditioned lounges in the Armstrong area if I'm remembering correctly.

I haven't been on Ashe in years, definitely pre roof. If there's an interesting match on there I watch from the Plaza in front of Ashe. We used to just get grounds passes and wander from outer courts to Grandstand or Armstrong but that was because we went during the first week.

There was one year we went, 4-5 years ago, where we were constantly chugging water because it was so hot and we didn't make one trip to the ladies! I'll never forget that.

Still it seems people were leaving the place in droves yesterday afternoon because it was just too hot. The local all news station did a report about it. My daughter said the same thing when she went on the Sunday before opening day. The heat is supposed to break this afternoon nelslus.

[jazzyg]

Love those first-hand posts, nelsius.

The only two years I made it to the Open were 2002 and 2003 and they were both awesome days. I remember having just as hard a time making decisions about where to go or whether I should stay put.

[Owendonovan]

Why do I keep hearing commentators etc. saying Coco is trying to get to her first slam final when she's already been in one? Did I not see Coco in French Open final 2022?

[meganfernandez]

Why do I keep hearing commentators etc. saying Coco is trying to get to her first slam final when she's already been in one? Did I not see Coco in French Open final 2022?

Someone is actually saying that? Not first US Open final?


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[meganfernandez]

Love those first-hand posts, nelsius.

The only two years I made it to the Open were 2002 and 2003 and they were both awesome days. I remember having just as hard a time making decisions about where to go or whether I should stay put.

Yeah that stresses me out so much. So many places to be. And now it’s so crowded it can take awhile to get into a court. And if you have good seats somewhere, do you give them up?


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[ashkor87]

Climate change protest has halted play

[Owendonovan]

Why do I keep hearing commentators etc. saying Coco is trying to get to her first slam final when she's already been in one? Did I not see Coco in French Open final 2022?

Someone is actually saying that? Not first US Open final?


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Yes, which I've found weird, the frequency, because I paid specific attention to make sure it was what I was hearing during her last match. Also, oddly I haven't really heard her FO final appearance as any kind of particular qualifier of her.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]