I didn’t see the final, but I did see that Murray trounced Federer to win the gold. Del Potro then beat Djokovic for the bronze (and when was the last time Novak lost two matches in a row?). That heralds a very interesting summer and fall, and if all that weren’t enough, Nadal withdrew from Cincinnati because of his knee injury. At this point he looks very doubtful for the U.S. Open, since he has not played since losing to Rosol at Wimbledon and would be going into New York with no match play. So Murray is coming off the biggest win of his career, Del Potro might be ready for another charge to the top, Federer is still ranked #1 (depending on how Djokovic does in Toronto), and Nadal is out for now. The rest of the field will be back in action in Cincinnati next week.
Yeah, I think the odds are against Nadal playing the U.S. Open. Having skipped the Olympics and everything else in between because of another knee problem, it doesn’t make sense for him to come back and play a major on hard courts with no real preparation. There have been a hell of a lot of twists and turns on the ATP Tour the last couple of months. While we’re discussing the Open, let’s not forget that this is going to be Kim Clijsters’ final tournament. I hope she remains healthy and makes a good showing.
Djokovic successfully defended his title in Toronto, beating Richard Gasquet in the final. He had a relatively disappointing spring, so does this mean he’s ready for a stronger summer? It’s not a bad result for Gasquet either: he just won the bronze medal in doubles and this is his first Masters singles final in six years (he’s 0-3 in those), although it came against a depleted field where a lot of guys either withdrew or dropped out early. With the notable exception of Nadal, the rest of the field is back in action at Cincinnati this week. This might get tricky for Djokovic because there was a lot of rain in Toronto and the finals were played on Monday.
Petra Kvitova won in Montreal. She beat Li Na in the final. I did see Na’s semifinal- she was losing to Safarova 1-5 in the third set, and Safarova choked and dropped six games in a row. It was hard to watch.
Darn you, Marley! I came to report this. Here’s what Nadal said on Facebook:
Lamentandolo mucho, tengo que anunciar que aún no me encuentro en condiciones de competir teniendo que renunciar a jugar el Open de los Estados Unidos en NY este año. Es una lastima porque siempre me encontre con un publico entregado y apoyando, pero tengo que seguir mi recuperación y preparación para estar en condiciones de competir con garantias. Un saludo a todos los fans y en particular a los neoyorquinos. Os echaré de menos este año.
In my rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, this is what I believe is the gist of what he said.
“It pains me to say that I have to announce that I’m unable to compete in the US Open in NY this year. It’s a shame because I’ve always enjoyed interacting with the public there and (??) but I have to think of my recuperation and the preparation necessary to compete at this high level. Shout out to all the fans and in particular to the New Yorkers. I hope to kick ass next year.”
Hey, it’s been 30 years, since I’ve taken Spanish. Give me a break!
This has been a chronic problem for him for a while, and it stands to reason that it’s going to continue to give him trouble and it probably won’t get better on a permanent basis. Is it the beginning of the end? It’s tempting to read it that way but it’s hard to say. He plays very hard and he’s usually faded at the end of the season, which means he’ll schedule himself that much more carefully from now on. If he can’t get back into shape for the clay court season next year, we’ll really be wondering what he has left. But I expect he’s still going to be there at the end of the clay court masters events and the French.
So I’m watching the Cincinnati women’s semifinals, Venus Williams against Li Na and I cannot contain the following comment any longer: Li Na has some amazing legs, god damn.
I watched the semis yesterday and I have to say that the Li v. Williams match was some of the most mediocre tennis I’ve seen in awhile. So many unforced errors.
Couldn’t attend the men’s finals because we were moving my daughter into her dorm, but I did get to see the tiebreak on tv. Too bad Novak couldn’t pull out that second set.
Hard for such a competitive athlete not to, but he’s abused his body more than most – especially considering his style of play. In any event (take it with a grain of salt) he gave this interview to a major radio station yesterday…oh wait, easier, found it in English. Anyway, in it he says it’s not the same knee problem as ‘always’ but rather something called “Hoffa’s Syndrome”…and while in the translated version he says it’s related to prior stuff in the original interview he says it isn’t.
So it’s really anyone’s guess – I know I’ll miss him.
It’s certainly good news for Nadal if this isn’t related to his other problems, although his knees are always going to be a problem and he knows it. I saw a different translation of the interview where I think he talked about cutting back on his schedule and playing even more clay events regardless of what might happen to his ranking. Meanwhile Federer notched a big win in Cincinnati and Li Na won her first event since the 2011 French Open.
The draw for the U.S. Open is going to be really interesting. The big question is whether Murray will wind up on Federer’s side on Djokovic’s. We’ll have to see where Del Potro and Tsonga wind up, too. Del Potro supposedly experienced some left wrist pain this week and will get it checked out. I hope it’s not a serious issue.
Here are the draws for the men and women. Federer starts with Donald Young and he could get Berdych in the quarters and Murray in the semifinals. Murray’s quarter includes Cilic and Tsonga and some other guys who can make a little noise, so that might get interesting. I can see some unpredictable stuff happening in Ferrer’s quarter - the top players there are Ferrer and Tipsarevic, and Ferrer has been good on hard courts but I could see Isner or Gasquet or someone else coming out of there. Djokovic could meet Del Potro in the quarters. Roddick is also in that quarter in what might be his last U.S. Open.
Serena could get Wozniacki in the quarters and Venus or Kerber or Radwanska in the semis, but honestly, does anyone think she’s going down before the final here? Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but with Azarenka and Sharapova and Kvitova and even Na and Stosur, the top half of the draw looks much more crowded to me. Venus starts against Mattek-Sands and could get Kerber in the second round. Clijsters starts her last pro tournament against Victoria Duval, a 16-year-old American who I think received a wildcard. She could get Na in the third round.
And we’re underway! No huge upsets yesterday, although Lisicki did lost to Cirstea. Kim Clijsters won her first round match, although her baby-faced opponent (Vicki Duval) made a nice impression on everyone. Federer beat Donald Young easily in a match that was pretty depressing to watch. Young’s losing streak is over but he just doesn’t seem to know what to do right now, and it goes without saying he was totally outclassed. Andy Murray won easily without looking his best. Right now Milos Raonic is in trouble, down two sets to one and a break to Santiago Giraldo. I’d like to see Raonic make some noise at this tournament but I guess he’s still not ready to be a consistent threat.
Tonight we’re going to see Djokovic-Lorenzi and Serena-Vandeweghe. I also picked up a spare ticket for tomorrow. I’d like to see Federer, but I’m guessing not because of the timing of the men’s first round. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get stuck watching Sharapova again.
I’m not surprised Federer won easily either. But it was disappointing to see Young look so clueless and the McEnroes also really ripped into him during the broadcast. He just turned 23, but this year has been an unmitigated disaster for him and now he’s going to be pretty far down in the rankings. We’ll see if he can bounce back this fall or next year.
And Raonic pulls off the comeback! Roddick got through to the second round today, and it was nice to see wildcard James Blake win his first match on Monday. I think Blake was the first man to complete a match.
