ATP M1000 WTA 1000 Cincinnati 8/12 - 8/19 2024

[ashkor87]

Very surprised Samsonova has come this far .would have thought the court would be too fast for her. But then, her huge serve must help on a fast court.
Not at all surprised Leylah is doing well, her reflexes, ability to redirect the ball, speed around the court are what got her to the finals of the USO..

[ashkor87]

But this is the same FH she had last year, with which she won the Open.
It is not as if she has a new FH, or the rest of the tour are noticing NOW that she has a technical flaw. She is a well known quantity.
There's got to be something else.

My understanding of the issue is that it's a confidence thing. When she swings properly she hits the ball well, and consistently, and when she hesitates we see the errors.
[/quote
Sorry, wrong quote. I meant to comment on Alcaraz

[ponchi101]

The service line judge would have been seated at the other side. But having somebody else on court to see what happened would have been good.
They all behaved well, but this was one case in which "replay the point" would have worked. The call by the chair was wrong, when seen in slo-mo. But in real time, it was too quick.

[mick1303]

I am not putting you on, Skating, but: how does winning take a toll? At worst, the elation should carry him for a long time. He really, really, now has NOTHING ELSE to win. He is the sole player ever to have win it all (Agassi did not win ALL MS1000's).

If we are to nitpick, then "won all masters 1000" does not pass the scrutiny. It is not the fault of Novak that some events change the venue and the spot on the calendar. It used to be Madrid Indoors (last played in 2008). Also the last clay TMS before the French was Hamburg (was denoted to 500 series in 2009). Novak did play those events in 2006-2008. So he had 3 tries for each event. In 2008 he was already a Slam champion, so it's not like he was a complete rookie. Just did not manage to win them and then they were relocated.

[ponchi101]

I am not putting you on, Skating, but: how does winning take a toll? At worst, the elation should carry him for a long time. He really, really, now has NOTHING ELSE to win. He is the sole player ever to have win it all (Agassi did not win ALL MS1000's).

If we are to nitpick, then "won all masters 1000" does not pass the scrutiny. It is not the fault of Novak that some events change the venue and the spot on the calendar. It used to be Madrid Indoors (last played in 2008). Also the last clay TMS before the French was Hamburg (was denoted to 500 series in 2009). Novak did play those events in 2006-2008. So he had 3 tries for each event. In 2008 he was already a Slam champion, so it's not like he was a complete rookie. Just did not manage to win them and then they were relocated.

I don't get your point, Mick. What you say is completely true; Novak did not win the Hamburg Masters even though it was played for three years during his career, because it was then demoted (the tournament, not him). But Hamburg was replaced by Madrid, which he has won.
My point was not about his accomplishments; I am past that one and as much as I don't like Novak, the claim for GOAT it too solid for me to say he is not. But my point is that I don't see how winning that elusive Olympic Gold could be TOLLING.
He has had the greatest career of all time. If he loses in 1R at the USO, sure, he will not feel good. But the year has been a success for him already.

[mick1303]

I am not putting you on, Skating, but: how does winning take a toll? At worst, the elation should carry him for a long time. He really, really, now has NOTHING ELSE to win. He is the sole player ever to have win it all (Agassi did not win ALL MS1000's).

If we are to nitpick, then "won all masters 1000" does not pass the scrutiny. It is not the fault of Novak that some events change the venue and the spot on the calendar. It used to be Madrid Indoors (last played in 2008). Also the last clay TMS before the French was Hamburg (was denoted to 500 series in 2009). Novak did play those events in 2006-2008. So he had 3 tries for each event. In 2008 he was already a Slam champion, so it's not like he was a complete rookie. Just did not manage to win them and then they were relocated.

I don't get your point, Mick. What you say is completely true; Novak did not win the Hamburg Masters even though it was played for three years during his career, because it was then demoted (the tournament, not him). But Hamburg was replaced by Madrid, which he has won.
My point was not about his accomplishments; I am past that one and as much as I don't like Novak, the claim for GOAT it too solid for me to say he is not. But my point is that I don't see how winning that elusive Olympic Gold could be TOLLING.
He has had the greatest career of all time. If he loses in 1R at the USO, sure, he will not feel good. But the year has been a success for him already.

That was not to put Novak down. Obviously he is the most successful in Masters as well as the Slams and overall in almost every stat category. My point that these categories are sometimes not that cut and dry. For instance Roger won more masters and YEC than Novak with best of five finals. Every time something is changing we are losing the point of comparison. This is the reason I HATE the idea of slams going to best of 3 format.

[patrick]

Agree on Slams needing to stay best of the 5 along with the following:

1. WTA Slam SF and F needs to be best of 5
2. ATP Masters final needs to be best of 5 with the finalists getting a bye at the next Masters tournament if not a bye already

[JTContinental]

The UFE count could easily reach triple digits in a best of 5 women's match, so I could probably go without experiencing that.

[JTContinental]

Yes. That was dumb. How to ruin an immaculate image in one bad moment.
It will mean nothing. Roger busted his racquet during that Novak match at Miami (IW?) a long time ago. But that was totally out of character.
About the match.
What happened? Was Carlos off? He was playing well last night.

His excuse in his apology was that it is difficult to control emotions when your heartrate is elevated, which is, of course, absurd. Own it, Carlos!

[mick1303]

Agree on Slams needing to stay best of the 5 along with the following:

1. WTA Slam SF and F needs to be best of 5
2. ATP Masters final needs to be best of 5 with the finalists getting a bye at the next Masters tournament if not a bye already

I'm not sure about automatic entry to the next year Masters. The thing is - the entry-list for Masters is composed on the current year performance (race). The results from last year are not relevant. Also there is a stipulation for Slam winners. They are getting an entry if their ranking is inside top 20. In 2004 Gaudio got in while being #10 over Agassi (#8) and Nalbandian (#9). In 2002 both Al Costa (#11) and ToJo (#14) were outside top8 and their slam wins granted them participation. It means that somebody from top 8 did not get in. If in addition to this we will award last year Masters finalists, it may get even worse: potentially #5 player can be snubbed. So I would keep the entry rules as they are and bring back best of 5 final.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[skatingfan]

I'm not sure about automatic entry to the next year Masters. The thing is - the entry-list for Masters is composed on the current year performance (race). The results from last year are not relevant. Also there is a stipulation for Slam winners. They are getting an entry if their ranking is inside top 20. In 2004 Gaudio got in while being #10 over Agassi (#8) and Nalbandian (#9). In 2002 both Al Costa (#11) and ToJo (#14) were outside top8 and their slam wins granted them participation. It means that somebody from top 8 did not get in. If in addition to this we will award last year Masters finalists, it may get even worse: potentially #5 player can be snubbed. So I would keep the entry rules as they are and bring back best of 5 final.

Masters 1000 events, not the World Tour Final.

[ti-amie]

https://cincinnatiopen.com/score-center/order-of-play/

[ashkor87]

Looking forward to Swiatek-Saba semis...will tell us a lot about how Swiatek can adapt to these much faster courts, how Sabalenka is finding her rhythm..Saba has been more and more impressive in every match this week. Can Saba push Swiatek on to her back foot, or Swiatek drive Saba from side to side...