US Open 2007

[Arrian]

Wow. Out goes Nadal. I only saw the first set and the first couple of games of the 2nd. I guess Ferrerro just out-ran him?

Henin > Serena. The first set was really good. Serena looked sloppy to me, though. Too many errors to overcome. Well played, Justine.

Today is a good day to die, Andy. Sorry. I like ya, man, but Roger's going to end you.

I think Venus will win tonight. I'm not terribly impressed by Jankovic.

-Arrian

[Asmodean]

Mattek is a breath of fresh air

http://ekstrabladet.dk/gallerier/sport/article334403.ece

[Lorizael]

I'm looking forward to the women's final... err... I mean semi-final... between Venus and Henin.

[LordShiva]

@ deciding-set tie-breakers

[Arrian]

Andy Roddick played about the best set he could possibly play, and lost it (in a tiebreaker). That sums it up. Good effort by Andy, and a really entertaining bit of tennis to watch - really high-quality stuff. How frustrating must that be? To throw everything you have a the guy - absolutely everything, and do it right, and lose? Ouch.

edit: holy crap, checking the recap on ESPN, Roddick did the same in the second set - and again lost in the breaker. Brutal. I went to bed after the first set.

-Arrian

[Lorizael]

But as good and as close as that match was, it was still decided in 3 sets. Federer has this ability to become even more extra amazingly awesome when the game (or set) is on the line.

[Arrian]

I know. The man does incredible things. Roddick played amazing tennis, and it was like all he accomplished was to push Federer's game up ever further. The back-breaking shots Federer hit in the 1st set (the ones I saw) were utterly brilliant. It wasn't that Andy was making errors. He was actually hitting great shots... and the response was jaw-dropping.

-Arrian

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Arrian
To throw everything you have a the guy - absolutely everything, and do it right, and lose? Ouch.

A similar thing was happening to Jelena against Venus. Except that it was Venus's killer first serve that decided that match.

[Cort Haus]

Where is Winston anyway?

[Arrian]

Yeah, Jankovic played very well and lost too.

But I think it's different... Jankovic has a pretty stark weakness (her serve) that I think would be problematic for her against several of the top players, not just Venus. Although, oddly, it *wasn't* really the problem against Venus. Heh.

The way Andy played the first set (and apparently the second, which I didn't see)... I'd expect he'd have beaten anyone but Darth Fed.

Maybe I'm wrong. But I was watching him do everything right - powerful serve, mixing in some serve & volley, and even playing quite well in the baseline rallies. It's the best I've ever seen him play - it may have been the best tennis he can possibly play. He was really excellent. There was no particular weakness in his game, but Federer was simply superior. And there was this particular sort of demoralizing aspect to it... Andy would hit a really great shot and, almost as if to say "hah! is that all you can do? watch this!" Federer would then, from a defensive position, hit an utterly amazing winner. I know, I know. He does this to everyone. I just thought it was even more the case last night.

Jankovic, unless I'm mistaken, also still has a realistic chance of improvement. Andy... like I said, I think that was his absolute best.

-Arrian

[Hot Mustard]

Roddick is still relatively young though - with experience comes wisdom.

[Arrian]

Hopefully for him, yeah. But as far as I can tell (and no, I'm obviously not an expert), his game plan was good. His shot selection was good...

edit: anyway, as a fan, I enjoyed the set I watched. It was seriously high quality tennis, and there is some honor is such a defeat for Roddick. He didn't get blown off the court, and he didn't lose because he was sloppy, unprepared, etc. He lost because the other guy is simply better. And Roddick forced Federer to produce things that were hard to believe. Bravo.

-Arrian

[LordShiva]

Djokovic cruising through his service games

[Maquiladora]

Djokovic throws away 3 set points

Make that 4.

[LordShiva]

Make it 5

And teh set

Can't hold his nerve