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