Stephens dominates Keys

Sloane Stephens dominated Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-0 to win the US Open.  Stephens presented three major problems that Keys was unable to negotiate.  First was her spectacular movement, with regard to both speed and footwork.  Stephens’ blazing speed allowed her extend rallies even after scorching ground strokes from Keys, and her footwork allowed her to make telling shots even when rushed.  Second, Stephens hits a heavy ball, particularly on the forehand side, and Keys had a difficult time controlling the ball sufficiently to keep it in play.  Third, Stephens did not overplay.  She hit some very penetrating shots, but those shots were high percentage plays.  In many cases, Stephens won points simply because Keys, who plays a higher risk game, missed first.

Another problem for Keys in this match, and all of her matches, is that her flat, hard shots are not well suited to dealing with short balls.  One must hit short balls up to get them over the net, and Keys hits so hard and flat that she has trouble keeping those shots in the court.

From the perspective of the TV viewer, the only problem watching this masterful performance by Stephens came from the commentary by Chris Evert.  Leaving aside her irritatingly poor grammar, her focus on the psychological states of the players, rather than the specifics on how the points developed and were decided, was just plain tiresome.  Any statements about what a player is thinking and feeling must necessarily be based on speculation, and as such, they are not terribly informative.  Great players like Evert should be able to provide more trenchant insights into the way points evolve, the kinds of skills that shots pose for the opposing player, etc. 

Of interest now is where these two grand slam ingénues will go from here.  Will they establish a level of dominance in the sport, or fade into the background?  My hope is that they will continue to excel and produce great rivalries with the other current greats like the new number one, Muguruza, Pliskova, and the convalescent Kvitova.  Both Keys and Stephens have tremendous talent, so let’s hope they stay healthy and motivated. 

Men’s semifinals:  These went as predicted here, with Anderson and Nadal winning.  A word of advice to tennis balls:  Don’t sit up after a slice, three feet behind the service line, when Nadal is there, poised to hit a forehand.  If you do that you will get spanked!!

US Open happenings

Federer loses to del Potro.  Roger Federer lost his quarterfinal match with Juan Martin del Potro in four sets.  This match couldn’t have been summarized any better than was done by Federer in his post match interview.  To put it simply, Roger wasn’t playing at a level in this tournament that would have beaten Nadal or given him any real chance of winning the whole thing.  Federer’s ground strokes were weaker than earlier in the year, as was his serve, and he played big points poorly.  He had two set points on his own serve in the third set tiebreaker but failed to convert and lost the set.  Is the 36-year-old just a little bit tired after all of the tennis he has played in 2017?  It’s hard to know.  It’s a bit painful to watch this legendary talent produce tennis that is so far below his best, but such is reality.  At least Roger, as is typical of him, made no excuses.  In my opinion, del Potro’s chances to beat Nadal are slim at best.  If he red lines his game, both on the serve and on the forehand, he may have a chance.

Stephens beats Venus Williams.  In a thrilling match, Sloane Stephens took out Venus Williams in a 3 set semi.  The third set was amazing, with great hitting from both.  Ultimately it was Stephens’ spectacular court coverage that won the day.  Venus got a bit tired both physically and mentally as her great shots kept coming back.  If you want to have fun, replay the 5-5 game in the third set, with Venus serving!

Keys dominates Coco.  Madison Keys looked just awesome in her semifinal decimation of Coco Vandeweigh.  Sometimes players are just too good, and Keys was on this day.  A great tournament for Coco, who took out world number one Karolina Pliskova in the previous round.  As a result of Pliskova’s loss, Wimbledon champ Garbine Muguruza will become world number one on Monday. 

Predictions

Nadal will beat del Potro

Kevin Anderson will beat Pablo Carreno Busta

Nadal will beat Anderson in the final.

Keys vs. Stephens:  Pick ‘em

US Open happenings

Shapovalov falls:  Denis Shapovalov, the teenage Canadian phenom, went down to Pablo Carreno Busta (CB) in the 4^th round.   CB played a smart match, keeping the ball in play and hitting aggressively only when completely comfortable.  A few more errors from his opponent was all it took, and CB beat Shapovalov in three tiebreak sets.  Denis will be back though.

Federer, Nadal cruise:  Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have been winning easily, and are one match away from a semifinal encounter.  Federer has the tougher road, as he confronts del Potro next.  Nadal gets Andrey Rublev, another teenage talent from Russia.  Don’t count on a teenager beating Nadal in a slam quarterfinal.

Some great matches:  Every once in a while, Petra Kvitova produces unbelievable tennis and is simply unbeatable.  An example was her first Wimbledon finals win over Sharapova in 2011.  This level of tennis is rare for Kvitova, but she found it against Garbine Muguruza in the 4^th round.  Garbine must have been asking herself: “Why me??” as Kvitova beat her soundly despite a great effort on Muguruza’s part.  That level of tennis did not characterize Kvitova’s next match, where she went down to Venus Williams in a third set tiebreak.  This was a great match, though, with Venus showing some real power and psychological fortitude to win it.  Kvitova played well, but not quite unbeatably well in that one.

            Another fabulous match took place between del Potro and Dominic Thiem in the 4^th round.  What a match!  Thiem won the first two sets easily, but del Potro, who showed similar resolve in his last run at the Olympics, gradually gained strength.  On match point down Thiem double faulted by shanking a second serve.  An amazing way to end such a great match.

American women looking strong.  American women gained positions in all four quarterfinal matches.  Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams won those and are scheduled to meet in the semis.   The other two, Coco Vandeweigh and Madison Keys, must play Karolina Pliskova and Kaia Kanepi, respectively.  I, for one, don’t care where players hail from, but for those who like to see Americans succeed, this is a great tournament. 

US Open happenings

The men

Federer looks better

Roger Federer looked pretty healthy in is third round match with Feliciano Lopez, the big, strong, lefty Spaniard with a powerful serve.  Of all his matches with Federer, Lopez played his best in this one.  Lopez is known for having a weak backhand that is almost always sliced and almost always is hit cross court for passing shots.  In this match, however, Lopez really clocked some topspin backhands and hit them down the line as well.  He gave it his all, but Roger was just too good and won in straight sets.  The second and third sets were very entertaining, with great baseline exchanges in the second, and brisk net play in the third.

Federer looked to be about 90% in this match.  His lateral movement was improved, as was his serve, though his serve and backhand were still not quite up to the level he had at the start of the year.  Still, his improved health bodes well for an exciting encounter with Nadal in the semis, if both players get that far. 

Cilic misses an opportunity

            Marin Cilic, former US open titlist, missed a great opportunity to go deep in this tournament.  With Murray and Djokovic out, and Sasha Zverev losing, Marin’s half of the draw was pretty much wide open.  Instead he lost to the 5’7” Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.  The take home message: Don’t take your opponents for granted, they don’t show up to the US Open to lose.

Popcorn match of the next round:  Thiem vs. del Potro

The women

Jelena Ostapenko out

            Jelena Ostapenko, French Open titlist, lost to Daria Kasatkina, a young talented player.  Ostapenko has not backed up her French Open win particularly well, though she is still a youngster, so no need for her fans to panic.

Sharapova faces a tough test

            Maria Sharapova will have to play Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia next.  This woman is relatively unkown, considering her skills.  I think Maria’s run will end in this one.

Popcorn match in the next round:  Several, including Muguruza vs. Petra Kvitova, Madison Keys vs. Svitolina and the Sharapova match with Sevastova.

US Open happenings

Federer survives Youzhny

Roger Federer once again had to go 5 sets to defeat his second round opponent, Mikhail Youzhny.  At this point it’s clear that Roger is suffering physically.  His serve is far less potent that normal, and his lateral movement is compromised, which is leading to many unforced errors off the ground.  Federer committed more than 60 unforced errors in this match.  Federer’s play was improved over his first round match with Tiafoe, but he has a long way to go if he wants to win this tournament.

Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Tsonga, Sasha Zverev out.

            Nick Kyrgios lost his first round match to journeyman John Millman, the said in his new conference that he really doesn’t care that much about winning.  This guy will never be ranked in the top 5 with that attitude, despite his prodigious talent.  Grigor Dimitrov was surprised by teenager Andrey Rublev in straight sets.  Did Dimitrov have a letdown, or was this young, talented player just too good?  Has to be a bit of both in my opinion, and Dimitrov has to shore up his psyche if he wishes to reach his full potential.  Another rising star, Denis Shapovalov, knocked out Joe Wilfried Tsonga.  This match went according to script, with the highly motivated Shapovalov simply outplaying Tsonga.  Sasha Zverev also lost, to Borna Coric.  Is Coric finally fulfilling his promise?  Coric kept a lot of balls in play in this match, and pushed Zverev into taking more chances off the ground than is typical for him.

Men’s Draw.  The top half is now depleted of threats to Federer and Nadal, who appear headed for a semifinal confrontation.  Nadal, like Federer, has looked vulnerable in this tournament, but his health is clearly good.  If Federer can’t play at least close to his best, that encounter will be an anticlimactic win for Nadal.  Players to watch who remain in the draw are Thiem, del Potro, Cilic, Shapovalov, and two Americans, Isner and Querrey.   Only one of those two can go really deep because they play each other in the next round if they win again.