An early look at the US Open

[ashkor87]

It is, of course, early days yet - no hard court tournaments yet in the second swing.. but we have had one earlier, totally dominated by Swiatek..
and, of course, every hard court is different - they can change the speed of the court by changing the granularity of the surface.

So, until we see how the courts are really playing at Flushing Meadow, it will be difficult to say anything.. but certainly I, for one, place little stock in the tournaments leading up to it - they are all slightly different from the USO especially in speed, and at this level, even a 5% change can be decisive..

with all these caveats then, I would say:

On the Men:

#1 Medvedev - clearly the best hard-courter in the world, defending champion, and Djokovic will probabaly not be there
#2 Sinner - the faster the court, the better he likes it, and he showed us at Wimbledon what he is capable of
# 3 Nadal - if he plays, which, to my mind, is unlikely - hard courts are hardest on his feet and he is about to become a father
# 4 - Kyrgios - he seems ready to play, and his big serve will be lethal here also
# 5 - Alcaraz - he will be able to hit his shots on the high-bouncing surface, no problem..his speed around the court will win him matches

On the Women:

#1 - Swiatek - simpy the best player in the world, totally dominated the hard courts in the first half, will be able to hit her spin
#2 - Osaka - showed us at Miami that she is getting there, and she is a 4-time major champion on hard courts.
#3 - Leylah Fernandez - very impressive at RG, beat Anisimova, for instance, which she had no business doing, on a clay court, if the court is fast like last year, I would make her #1, her reflexes and service return are out of this world.
#4 - Andreescu - her game is getting there and she was the Queen of hard courts before Osaka and Swiatek came along
#5 - Raducanu - if the court is fast, like last year, I would move her to second favorite behind Leylah..
# 6 - Rybakina - she seems a bit slow on her feet, to me,takes a split-second to adjust, especially to low balls.. but, of course, one of my favorite players anyway..

comments?

[Deuce]

#5 - Raducanu - if the court is fast, like last year, I would move her to second favorite behind Leylah..

comments?

^ Wow.

Has Emma been playing and winning secret tournaments that the rest of us don't know about?
She has done absolutely nothing of any positive significance since last year's U.S. Open, which was almost one year ago.
Prior to that, the only thing she had done of any meaning was to win a few rounds at Wimbledon, before becoming too overwhelmed at her circumstance to continue.

I entirely fail to understand how anyone can pick her as any degree of favourite at any tournament - let alone at a Major. Unless that person knows something that no-one else knows about her.

I won't ask you what she has done in the past 11 months to make you believe she is a favourite to win the U.S. Open, because I've asked you that same question a few times before when you've picked her to win or to do very well at other tournaments, and I don't recall getting a practical answer other than that you see potential in her.

Sorry, but based on her results, I just continue to shake my head at your extremely high current opinion of Raducanu, which I feel has, at best, a very, very, very shaky foundation.

(And, as much as I like Leylah, I don't see her as a favourite to win it, either.)

[ashkor87]

#5 - Raducanu - if the court is fast, like last year, I would move her to second favorite behind Leylah..

comments?

^ Wow.

Has Emma been playing and winning secret tournaments that the rest of us don't know about?
She has done absolutely nothing of any positive significance since last year's U.S. Open, which was almost one year ago.
Prior to that, the only thing she had done of any meaning was to win a few rounds at Wimbledon, before becoming too overwhelmed at her circumstance to continue.

I entirely fail to understand how anyone can pick her as any degree of favourite at any tournament - let alone at a Major. Unless that person knows something that no-one else knows about her.

I won't ask you what she has done in the past 11 months to make you believe she is a favourite to win the U.S. Open, because I've asked you that same question a few times before when you've picked her to win or to do very well at other tournaments, and I don't recall getting a practical answer other than that you see potential in her.

Sorry, but based on her results, I just continue to shake my head at your extremely high current opinion of Raducanu, which I feel has, at best, a very, very, very shaky foundation.

(And, as much as I like Leylah, I don't see her as a favourite to win it, either.)

as I said, if the court is fast.. Emma and Leylah will do well again, as they did last year.. if not, not. we shall see..

[Deuce]

I'm pretty sure that most people who follow tennis closely view last year's U.S. Open as very much an anomaly. Conditions (not the least of which was COVID-19 turning things upside down) came together to produce that result.
No knowledgeable tennis person predicted either Leylah or Emma being noticed in that tournament, let alone playing in the Final. But it happened, due to a 'perfect storm' of circumstances.
Those circumstances are very unlikely to be repeated - ever, let alone again this year.

Will Leylah have a legitimate shot of winning Majors in a few years? Perhaps. She has shown signs of a promising potential over a fairly lengthy period of time (much more than Emma has).
But only time will tell. And that time, in my opinion, is not within the near future for either Leylah or Emma.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

No Coco Gauff?

I really like the game of Sinner to do well at the US Open. Alcaraz is also a guy I can easily see going very far here. I however think Medvedev is the favorite to win it.

I like Coco Gauff if she gets on a roll and out of the first few rounds. The crowd will definitely be behind her. Osaka has to be in the conservation. If she is there mentally then she could win it all for sure. Certainly I think Iga has a much better chance of winning here at the US Open than at Wimbledon. Leylah & Emma definitely can put together a string of wins on this surface.

My early predictions:

Men's: Sinner over Alcaraz in 5 sets
Women's : Leylah over Gauff in 3 sets

[ashkor87]

A brave prediction..could happen, though I don't think Coco is there yet..still too many flaws in her game which a good player can exploit..
And, if course depends on the draw! Coco and leylah could meet in the quarters, for instance

[Cuckoo4Coco]

A brave prediction..could happen, though I don't think Coco is there yet..still too many flaws in her game which a good player can exploit..
And, if course depends on the draw! Coco and leylah could meet in the quarters, for instance

Too early to really know the draw so I really don't know how that will play out yet, but I got to hope Coco plays into it somehow. Look at Coco and the way things played out for her at the French Open before coming up against Iga.

[meganfernandez]

A brave prediction..could happen, though I don't think Coco is there yet..still too many flaws in her game which a good player can exploit..
And, if course depends on the draw! Coco and leylah could meet in the quarters, for instance

Too early to really know the draw so I really don't know how that will play out yet, but I got to hope Coco plays into it somehow. Look at Coco and the way things played out for her at the French Open before coming up against Iga.

love the bold predictions. I'm curious to see how Sabalenka does. She has had good results at the US Open - even the fourth round she lost to Osaka in 2018 was super close and the match of the tournament. And of course, she should have won the title last year. We'll see if she can find her form in the hard-court events before the Open, after month layoff.

Kerber is another person to watch. She's been playing well, was another of Leylah's victims last year in an incredible match.

Can't wait, the US Open should be amazing. Better than Wimbledon. Something about Wimbledon felt a little flat to me.

On the men's side, agree about Medvedev. And Sinner and Alcaraz could pose some serious challenges. I'm rooting for Thiem to make a dent. Murray will be interesting - I know people say he can't win more than a few best-of-5 matches, especially if he is pushed to 5 early in the tournament, but I think he can. Lots of other contenders - Botic, Nadal, Rublev back, Tsitsipas looking for a good result, Fritz to follow up on Wimbledon with a home crowd, Nakashima, Kyrgios... Tons of storylines that we didn't have at Wimbledon.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

A brave prediction..could happen, though I don't think Coco is there yet..still too many flaws in her game which a good player can exploit..
And, if course depends on the draw! Coco and leylah could meet in the quarters, for instance

Too early to really know the draw so I really don't know how that will play out yet, but I got to hope Coco plays into it somehow. Look at Coco and the way things played out for her at the French Open before coming up against Iga.

love the bold predictions. I'm curious to see how Sabalenka does. She has had good results at the US Open - even the fourth round she lost to Osaka in 2018 was super close and the match of the tournament. And of course, she should have won the title last year. We'll see if she can find her form in the hard-court events before the Open, after month layoff.

I just love the young players. Even on the guys side with Sinner and Alcaraz. Sinner being the only one that is 20. The rest that I picked between the men's and women's are all teenagers.

[meganfernandez]

Too early to really know the draw so I really don't know how that will play out yet, but I got to hope Coco plays into it somehow. Look at Coco and the way things played out for her at the French Open before coming up against Iga.

love the bold predictions. I'm curious to see how Sabalenka does. She has had good results at the US Open - even the fourth round she lost to Osaka in 2018 was super close and the match of the tournament. And of course, she should have won the title last year. We'll see if she can find her form in the hard-court events before the Open, after month layoff.

I just love the young players. Even on the guys side with Sinner and Alcaraz. Sinner being the only one that is 20. The rest that I picked between the men's and women's are all teenagers.

I don't blame you! I loved Capriati, Hingis and Chang when they broke out as teenagers and I was in my teens and early 20s. It's cool to see people in your own generation doing so well. I forget that Sinner is so young still.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

love the bold predictions. I'm curious to see how Sabalenka does. She has had good results at the US Open - even the fourth round she lost to Osaka in 2018 was super close and the match of the tournament. And of course, she should have won the title last year. We'll see if she can find her form in the hard-court events before the Open, after month layoff.

I just love the young players. Even on the guys side with Sinner and Alcaraz. Sinner being the only one that is 20. The rest that I picked between the men's and women's are all teenagers.

I don't blame you! I loved Capriati, Hingis and Chang when they broke out as teenagers and I was in my teens and early 20s. It's cool to see people in your own generation doing so well. I forget that Sinner is so young still.

I don't know much about Michael Chang(except the video you shared about him) and Capriati I know of her name and the huge promise that she had that never really came to be. Martina Hingis I do know of as she became a huge champion. She was also at the Wimbledon Centre Court celebration. I was also surprised when I looked up Jennifer Capriati and saw that she won 3 grand slams.

[ponchi101]

Uhm, Ashkor. Disagree on a lot.
1. Emma. I am sorry, but it has not been one or two bad showings. It has been bad showings, injuries galore, a merry-go-round of coaches. You tell me right now, 1R loss or SF's or better, and I say 1R. She has not shown any consistency.
2. Rafa. Novak pulled back within 1 again, and Rafa has a good chance of ending the year as #1. They all say they don't care about that, and that is a lie. Rafa and Novak are clearly driving each other more and more. About to be a father? I think the baby is due after the Open. Plenty of time to order those diapers over Amazon. Problem #1 is: what will be this season's injury (he seems to get one per playing season)? I say he plays, and has a very good chance because I say...
3. Medvedev. He won two sets at the Aussie final and since then, not a whole lot. Reached two finals on grass where he was beaten soundly, and his hard court season was interrupted. I agree, he loves this court, but I don't know if he reaches a second final against Rafa, on an outdoor court, and if he can pull that one out. Sure, #1 favorite, but by a whisker.
4. Carlitos. Nothing but upswing. The serve is getting better, the FH is a sledgehammer, his physical conditioning is reaching "peak Nadal". If he lift that trophy, not the slightest surprise.
5. Coco. Have to join C4C here. RG finalist, loves hard courts, did well at W (yes, I know, got creamed in her last two sets, but that was not a bad run), will have everybody backing her. Has to be in the conversation.
6. Naomi. Injuries, mental health, a low ranking. She has become a player with lots of problems to deal with. She gets her game back? I don't see her losing. But that is a big if.
7. Iga. Streak is over. Let's start another one.
8. Leylah, Aryna, Rybakina, OTHER. All in the mix. I know, Iga will be the favorite. But no way I put her at over 33%. OTHER is just too strong nowadays.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

On the men's side I don't think you can count out Medvedev especially with Novak most likely out and Rafa up in the air with the abs injury. That is why I really think some of these younger players on the men's side like Sinner and Alcaraz are going to shine at the US Open. I really think Sinner might win the whole thing.

On the women's side I expect like usual there will be a bunch of upsets in the early rounds messing with the draw and a few players will really end up benefiting from that happening. Hopefully one of those players is Coco Gauff and possibly Leylah Fernandez. If they meet in the final that would be my dream match up. I think Leylah with the experience(that 19 year old experience) would come out on top.

[meganfernandez]

I just love the young players. Even on the guys side with Sinner and Alcaraz. Sinner being the only one that is 20. The rest that I picked between the men's and women's are all teenagers.

I don't blame you! I loved Capriati, Hingis and Chang when they broke out as teenagers and I was in my teens and early 20s. It's cool to see people in your own generation doing so well. I forget that Sinner is so young still.

I don't know much about Michael Chang(except the video you shared about him) and Capriati I know of her name and the huge promise that she had that never really came to be. Martina Hingis I do know of as she became a huge champion. She was also at the Wimbledon Centre Court celebration. I was also surprised when I looked up Jennifer Capriati and saw that she won 3 grand slams.

Look up Tracy Austin. One of the great teenage tennis stories!


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[Cuckoo4Coco]

I don't blame you! I loved Capriati, Hingis and Chang when they broke out as teenagers and I was in my teens and early 20s. It's cool to see people in your own generation doing so well. I forget that Sinner is so young still.

I don't know much about Michael Chang(except the video you shared about him) and Capriati I know of her name and the huge promise that she had that never really came to be. Martina Hingis I do know of as she became a huge champion. She was also at the Wimbledon Centre Court celebration. I was also surprised when I looked up Jennifer Capriati and saw that she won 3 grand slams.

Look up Tracy Austin. One of the great teenage tennis stories!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanx, I sure will. I know her name and I have seen her doing interviews and stuff like that before.