Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 27, 2023 17:49:09 GMT 1
The final Grand Slam of 2023 - US Open - is shortly upon us and there is huge anticipation of a repeat final between Djokovic and Alcaraz after Wimbledon on the men's side, especially after a thrilling late night final between them at Cincinnati last week where Djokovic came out on top in 3 sets (5-7 7-6 7-6). On another note, this will be John Isner last tournament as he will retire at the end of the tournament.
On the women's side, the US Open is synonymous with producing 1st time grand slam winners in recent times with 5 winning their 1st in the last 7 tournaments. Defending champ Iga Swiatek will be favourite in what has been a dominant year for her but recent results haven't gone her way, losing in the semi-finals in the last 2 tournaments against Coco Gauff and Jess Pegula, who went on to win their respective tournaments. Another note is former world #1 Caroline Wozniacki making her comeback here after retiring in 2020.
On the Brit side, 7 players have qualified to play - 4 men and 3 women and fair to say their form collectively during the US Open series hasn't been great. No Emma Raducanu this year as she still recovers from her surgery. Also no Liam Broady, Harriet Dart, Heather Watson or Jan Choinski either as they failed to make it through qualification this week. Liam Broady could still enter as a lucky loser if someone pulls out of the draw between now and when the match starts.
All four men - Andy Murray, Dan Evans, Cam Norrie and Jack Draper - are in the top half of the draw. Alcaraz could potentially have a string of Brits in his path to the final with Evans in round 3, Norrie in round 4 and Murray in the QF if all goes well. Murray is struggling with an abdominal injury and has impact his preparation, pulling out in his last 2 tournaments. Draper's preparation is affect with little niggle injuries that has plagued his season. Evans continues to build up form after a poor year and Norrie is on a poor run of form.
On the women's side, Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage qualify directly for the US Open for the first time based on ranking. This will be Boulter's 2nd time playing at the US Open (1st time she came through qualification that year with Emma Raducanu) and Jodie's 1st time. Joining them will be Lily Miyazaki, who came through qualification to enter the US Open after a tight Q3 match against a player almost 100 positions above her yesterday and this will be only the 2nd time she plays at a Grand Slam.
All 3 will have tough 2nd round matches should they get through the 1st round. Burrage has had recent success in the doubles winning a tournament, her singles performance has been OK. Boulter retired in her last tournament, not sure why. Miyazaki has had some good runs on the ITF circuit recently so should relish the experience.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 28, 2023 21:27:14 GMT 1
1st round matches
Lily Miyazaki beats Magarita Betova 6-3 6-3 After an understandably shaky start losing serve early in the 1st set, the qualifier Lily Miyazaki comfortably wins on her debut against her much experienced Russian opponent, who is playing under a protected ranking and now on a 10 match losing streak since her comeback from child birth. The world number 198 will next play 15th seed Belinda Bencic in the 2nd round. Comparisons is already been talked with Emma Raducanu with Lily Miyazaki's victory, as she faces the same opponent Emma beat on the way to winning. She's got the game to beat Bencic so could be an interesting game.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 29, 2023 22:44:07 GMT 1
Katie Boulter beats Diane Parry 6-4 6-0
Really good dominant performance by Katie, who overpowered and cleverly exploited weaknesses left from her French opponent with her controlled aggressive play - epitomised with her 2nd set bagel to win her first match at the US Open.
Another bonus is her opponent in the 2nd round, as she was expected to play 7th seed Caroline Garcia but shockingly lost her first round against Chinese opponent Yafan Yang. Could be a decent chance this.
Cameron Norrie beats Alexander Shevchenko 6-3 6-2 6-2
Comfortable win for Norrie and less error strewn performance against his lesser experienced Russian opponent and on the back of his losing streak in the run up to the US Open.
He next plays qualifier Yu Hsiou Hsu in the 2nd round
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 30, 2023 2:37:56 GMT 1
Andy Murray beats Corentin Moutet 6-2 7-5 6-3
A thoroughly entertaining match lasting almost 3 hours and Murray came out on top to record his 200th Grand Slam win - becoming only the 9th man (8th in the Open era) to achieve this feat.
It was a match that had a bit of everything - smashed racquets, controversy from the faulty VAR system (being introduced for the first time this year to accompany the electronic line calls to check other things) and some beautiful tennis from a vintage Murray.
He next plays Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who himself went through a brutal 5 setter and almost lost the match tie-break.
Dan Evans beats Daniel Galan 6-4 6-2 7-5
Routine victory in a match he controlled from start to finish. It should give him some confidence as the tournament progresses.
He next plays Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who came through the 1st round after winning just 1 set.
Jack Draper beats Radu Albot 6-1 6-4 6-3
Comfortable win for Jack and eases the concern over his shoulder injury he sustained during the last event.
He next plays 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
Jodie Burrage beats Anna Blinkova 6-3 6-4
A fairly comfortable win for Jodie against an opponent ranked over 50 places above her in the rankings to record her first win at the US Open and the first outside of Wimbledon.
She's next likely to play 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka in the next round.
All 7 British players made it through to the 2nd round and made it through without dropping a set.
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Post by rubcale on Aug 30, 2023 13:09:55 GMT 1
Alcaraz could play Evans in R3, Norrie in R4 and Murray in the quarters!!
Dimitrov will be a tough match for Andy but I'd love to see him have one last run deep into a Slam.
I still feel bitter about this year's Wimbledon - the Daily Telegraph was explaining yesterday about how they promised the BBC more live action in the evenings in their 2021 broadcasting deal and Andy kept getting late matches - I am convinced had the match started earlier and been able to be completed on the same day Andy would have beaten Tsitsipas.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 31, 2023 0:20:19 GMT 1
2nd round matches
Lily Miyazaki lost to Belinda Bencic 3-6 3-6
Apparently Miyazaki and Bencic have a long history within the tennis and have played each other from the ages of 9 and 7 respectively in Switzerland.
However on this occasion, it was fairly straight forward straights sets victory for Bencic and no fairytale Emma Raducanu type heroics. However a lot of positives to take away for Lily and along with the prize money, she will rise close to the top 150.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 31, 2023 21:05:52 GMT 1
Let's get the bad news (so far) out of the way
Jodie Burrage lost to Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 2-6
Not a surprising result as Sabalenka utilising her power game and brushes aside Burrage. Jodie at least did better than her Wimbledon 2nd round by winning 3 more games, but Sabalenka shows why she is 2nd seed and one of the favourites for the title.
Some more good Grand Slam experience for Jodie and should qualify for next years Australian Open.
Andy Murray lost to Grigor Dimitrov 3-6 4-6 1-6
A surprisingly heavy defeat for Murray, as Dimitrov clearly had a game plan by playing a lot of slices and giving Murray no pace to work with. It helps that Dimitrov had pretty much most of Murray's former coaching team to hand with coach Dani Vallverdu and Jamie Delgado in his corner.
With such a heavy defeat and the defeat to Tsitsipas at Wimbledon, it makes you think if Murray will have the desire to play another year. Most of his matches has felt like a struggle this year and niggly injuries won't help matters either.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 31, 2023 21:29:19 GMT 1
Now onto the good news (so far)
Katie Boulter beats Yafan Wang 5-7 6-1 7-5
It took a while to get going but an impressive win against the in-form qualifier from China after being a set down. This result sees her potentially knocking on the door to a top 50 spot in the rankings.
She will next play American Peyton Stearns - ranked #59 and has a good chance to progress to the 4th round.
Jack Draper beats Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 7-5
To be honest, I was expecting a closer match and potentially a 5 setter against the 17th seed but Jack showed no signs of any injury and controlled the game. The serve was the key factor in this win and possibly an injury to Hurkacz.
He will next play Michael Mmoh - ranked #89, who beat John Isner from 2 sets down in an epic 5 setter.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 1, 2023 18:40:40 GMT 1
And completing the round up of 2nd round matches from last night. Dan Evans beats Botic van de Zandschulp 1-6 6-1 6-3 6-3
Not sure what happened with Evans in the first set but it was a good comeback in the 2nd and cruised his way to a win.
He next plays the (former) world #1 and current champion Carlos Alcaraz in the 3rd round.
Cam Norrie beats Hsu Yu-hsiou 7-5 6-4 6-4
Scoreline didn't tell the whole story as Cam should have lost the 1st set after his qualifier opponent failed to convert multiple set point chances. Experience of Norrie was telling and recorded a comfortable win.
He next plays Italian Matteo Arnaldi - ranked #61 in the 3rd round.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 3, 2023 13:45:41 GMT 1
3rd round matches
Cam Norrie lost to Matteo Arnaldi 3-6 4-6 3-6
A deserved win for the young Italian, who's having the best grand slam run in this tournament. From what I saw, Arnaldi was all over the court and attacked Norrie's serve - leaving Norrie looking pretty lost out there. Norrie had chances to break in the 2nd and 3rd sets but unable to convert whereas Alrnaldi converted 80% of his break point opportunities.
Having not able to replicate his 4th round appearance last year, Norrie will lose points and possibly a few places down the rankings.
Dan Evans lost to Carlos Alcaraz 2-6 3-6 6-4 3-6
An expected result but Evo put up a brave fight against the current champ. Entertaining from start to finish and had it not been for some heroic shots and extraordinary winners from Alcaraz, it was a closer match than the scoreline suggested.
Katie Boulter lost to Peyton Stearns 3-6 4-6
I thought Boulter had a good chance to progress to the 4th round against someone similar ranked to her but she struggled on her serve throughout the match - offering 12 break points to her opponent.
Good tournament for Katie though and should be close to the top 50 when the rankings are updated.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 3, 2023 14:10:13 GMT 1
Jack Draper beats Michael Mmoh 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3
Draper defied the home crowd to beat Mmoh in 4 sets - the first 4 setter match he's won for the first time - and reaches round 4 of a Grand Slam for the first time.
This was a tightly fought contest with both players being run ragged. Hopefully his injury concerns are behind him and you can see he's playing with confidence.
He next plays Russian 8th seed Andrey Rublev in the 4th round.
It's also sad to see how Jack Draper's success is being portrayed in the mainstream media. If this was Murray (and to some extent Raducanu), this would be top news. I know Draper's has been on the main tour for a while and it's still the first week of the US Open. But even so it's still some achievement for a young player.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 5, 2023 1:45:03 GMT 1
4th round matches
Jack Draper loses to Andrey Rublev 3-6 6-3 3-6 4-6
A match to test the limits of fitness but not to be for Jack as he loses an intense battle against his far more experienced opponent. Clearly Jack has the talent to compete at the top level, the only issue is keeping himself fit and free of injuries. Otherwise he would easily be at top 20 player. Hopefully he has a good Davis Cup and end of season.
With numerous British losses today including Neal Skupski's loss in the men's doubles, Joe Salisbury is the only remaining Brit left playing in the US Open this year in the men's doubles.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 13, 2023 21:41:54 GMT 1
To wrap things up from last week
Novak Djokovic wins his 24th Grand Slam against a spirited Daniil Medvedev to level with Margaret Court's 50 year old record.
Coco Gauff continues the tradition of first time Grand Slam winners by becoming the 6th person in 8 years to win the tournament - defeating Aryna Sabalenka in 3 sets.
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram win their 3rd men's doubles championship in a row - the 1st time this has happened at the US Open in the open era.
Updated Rankings
Mens * Norrie #17 (-1) * Evans #27 (+1) * Murray #41 (-4) * Broady #104 (+3) * Draper #106 (+17) * Choinski #128 (-2)
Womens * Boulter #50 (+11) * Burrage #85 (+11) * Watson #142 (-4) * Miyazaki #154 (+44) * Dart #161 (-17) * Swan #175 (-1) * Raducanu #194 (-9)
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Post by Panda on Sept 17, 2023 22:03:47 GMT 1
What a finish to GB's Davis Cup tie against France! Through to the quarter-finals.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 17, 2023 22:11:05 GMT 1
Cracking week of tennis and capped off with a thrilling doubles victory against France.
Well done to the GB team and surely makes up the disappointment of last year.
I question the decision on playing Dan Evans in the singles and doubles on the final day but it was justified.
GB will either play Italy or Serbia in the QF.
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Post by rubcale on Sept 18, 2023 17:16:55 GMT 1
Great result saving match points on Evan's serve in the final rubber.
But why the h*ll were they playing Norrie given his awful current form when other options were available?
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 18, 2023 18:32:04 GMT 1
Numerous things which leads to why Smith has to play Norrie - Format of the DC matches, Dan Evans being British #2 in singles and Dan Evans playing in doubles. The format of the matches played in a Davis Cup tie is: -
- 1st match - Nominated 2nd singled ranked players (of the 2) of their country play each other
- 2nd match - Nominated top singled ranked players (of the 2) of their country play each other
- 3rd match - Doubles match
We know Leon Smith has preferred Skupski/Evans to play the doubles rubber in Davis Cup but this leads to the problem of where Dan Evans plays in singles.
As Evo is ranked 2nd in the British rankings behind top ranked Cam Norrie, he has to play the 1st match if Norrie is nominated and gives Dan a break in between matches for the doubles match.
If Murray or Draper is nominated to play singles with Evo, Evo has to play in the 2nd match and Murray/Draper in the 1st. Leaving Evo only 30 mins or so to ready himself for the 3rd match and potentially play 6 sets of tennis in a row - the same situation like GB against Australia in their first tie, where Evo won his singles but lost the doubles.
I can see why Smith wants to go with this pairing for doubles but it still surprising as to why we can't have a specialised doubles team given the players available and recent achievements they've had this year. This could at least give an option of not relying on Evo so much.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Sept 20, 2023 17:28:11 GMT 1
Confirmed that GB will play Serbia in the Quarter Finals of Davis Cup around the 23rd November.
Tough choices to make with team selections in the next couple of months. As much as I want Murray to play Djokovic, it's highly unlikely given his ranking.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Dec 9, 2023 1:33:07 GMT 1
Emma Raducanu is confirmed to make her long awaited return on the tour next month at the Auckland Classic tournament on Jan 1st after being awarded a wildcard after multiple surgeries on her wrists and left ankle.
She using her protected ranking (of #103) to enter the Australian Open. Likely needing to go through 3 rounds of qualifications, unless she gets an wildcard or about 6-7 players drop out.
I hope she does go through qualifying and see where her game is at. It's probably not the be all and end all if she doesn't qualify for AO, although the "one time, lucky winner, money grabber" sceptics will be out in full force once again.
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