Congrats to John for giving it his all out there – double digits in aces, didn’t face a single BP in the match…BUT he was facing one of (if not the toughest ever) the most willful players in the history of the game. When healthy, Rafa simply refuses to accept defeat no matter what they throw at him. Which is exactly what he did today – fought-off three set points. As for his legacy, should he go on and win the year’s USO, no one should ever again utter the ridiculous “clay specialist” label that is so often thrown his way. Mind you, the last time anyone won Mont/Toronto was back in '03. And yes he then went on to win the USO. His name? Andy Roddick and that was the biggest feat of his great career as a true hard-court specialist. Aggassi almost made it, but fell in the USO final.
12 Tournaments entered. 11 Finals, 9 titles, including a record-tying 5 Master series titles in a year. The stuff legends are made of.
What a great week of tennis. I’ve gone to the tournament for about 25 years now, and this was, by far, the best weather we’ve ever had. High 70’s, low 80’s and sunny every single day. No rain delays. I spent almost all day there on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. In addition to seeing some great doubles matches, a rare treat, I saw Murray, Federer, Ferrer, DelPotro, Berdych, Lopez, Petkovich, Williams (both), Azarenka, Li Na, Wozniaki, and my favorite player, Rafa, 4 times.
Scored some incredible front row seats to see Rafa take on Federer Friday night. How awesome is that? I was so close I could have pinched their butts had I been so inclined. So glad that Fed won a set and gave him a real match. Semi-finals were both great matches. Gave away my finals seats because I had to move my daughter to college, but watched it taped. So glad that Rafa won the tournament for the first time. He has great momentum for the US Open next week, but I saw a lot of players who could make a real run for it.
Sharpova’s not changing her name, but she just withdrew from the tournament with bursitis in her right shoulder. It just got that much easier for Serena and Azarenka to get to the finals.
Top men’s seeds at US Open:
1 Novak Djokovic
2 Rafael Nadal
3 Andy Murray
4 David Ferrer
5 Tomas Berdych
6 JM del Potro
7 Roger Federer
Fed has dropped to #7 in the Rankings? He turned 32 earlier this month. Retirement has got to be close. I just can’t see him playing out the string.
He won Cincinnati last year and last to Nadal in the semis this year, so his ranking went down to #7 from #5. I think he said last year that he wants to keep going until the Rio Olympics.
I guess they’re still broadcasting the draws, but Djokovic will start with Berankis. He could get Murray in the semifinals. Federer and Nadal could meet in the quarters.
My pick? Nadal to go all the way at the USO. Still, not betting money on it. He doesn’t have half an easy a draw as many are saying – couple of servebots in the way (Isner yet again and Pospisil) and then that possible Fed 1/4 final. Then again neither does Djokovic – likely has to get past Del Potro & Murray prior to the Final.
Here’s hoping for two five-setters in the top bracket prior to (possibly/likely) meeting Rafa in the Final.
I saw DelPotro play a few times in Cincinnati. IMO, he’s not nearly in the shape he needs to be in order to win the tournament. When he had to go 3 sets against Feliciano Lopez, he was toast by the end. (Or perhaps he was imitating Pete Sampras’ hangdog act.)
I am going to bet on Murray to win, just because I want him to win again and because he has all the tools that he needs to in order to beat the big guys. I love watching his craftsmanship on the court. My longshot is Tursunov, who looked incredibly sharp in Cincinnati, as sharp as DelPotro looked before he won the US Open a few years back. I’d love to see Ferrer make a run for it, but the latter part of the hard court season hasn’t been kind to him, and he’s not getting any younger.
On the women’s side, I am hoping for anyone to beat Serena. I’d love to see Kvitova or Li Na win, just because I like both of them. Petkovich was looking sharp, but I don’t think she’s up to taking on Williams or Azarenka yet.
Just in time for the US Open, ESPN did a story on the Bobby Riggs vs Billie Jean King “Battle of the Sexes” Tennis match from nearly 40 years ago
As well as an episode of Outside the Lines earlier today.
The story centered around NEW allegations that Riggs threw the match because he was in deep with Bookies and the Mafia. A Tampa Bay Golf pro overheard a conversation between known mafia associates and Riggs at a Tampa Country Club. Riggs layed out a plan that he would easily beat Margaret Court and then throw the match against BJK and the mafia would forgive his 6 figure gambling debts.
I have never seen the Match in its entirety, but it sure looked like Riggs muffed some easy shots in highlights they showed in the OTL show. But the OTL segment also claimed that Riggs passed Lie Detector tests (For whatever that is worth) and maintained until his death that he did not “Take a Dive”.
I doubt he threw it. He was in his mid-50’s and king was about 30. Was Riggs in “John McEnroe” kind of shape at that point? I mean, McEnroe is a perfect example of staying in shape into your 50’s.
I think McEnroe could beat Serena Williams right now in a 2 or 3 set match, by the way.
Did you see that just the other day, Serena was asked by David Letterman how she thinks she’d do against Andy Murray, and she opined that she’d lose 6-0, 6-0.
Of course, Andy Murray is at the top of his game. Certainly the same cannot be said of Riggs at the time he played King.
