U.S. Open [TENNIS]

So the U.S. Open starts Monday and normally we have a thread going a couple of days in advance.

So thoughts?

Djokovic is still x-2 on the year with no particular end in sight to his winning ways. Speculation can be made of course from his second loss of the year, a retirement in the finals of a recent tournament. I’m confident he’ll still be just fine for this tournament, probably making it to the semifinals or finals and losing to Federer again if they play. If not, then I’m calling Novak the winner.

As for women, Serena making some noise in some recent tournaments and apparently looking sharp to make a strong run. And some other stuff with the women’s game I’m sure is happening.

The draws.

Also, my work schedule lines up almost 100% perfectly for me to miss every single bit of tennis shown on ESPN during the week, so I look forward to you guys posting copious updates.

Djokovic is looking to take an amazing season to historic levels. He’s the favorite but I think his shoulder may be a little bit dicier than you’re suggesting, unfortunately. I hope he’s had enough time to recover. The Big Three are the sole contenders until somebody proves otherwise.

Serena withdrew from one tournament but she’s kicked butt this summer. I can’t bet against her.

We will. Do you have the internet at work? A lot of it is available there. I run it in the background usually.

I haven’t had a lot of time to look at the draw, but I hope the Monfils-Dimitrov match gets a lot of airtime. It won’t start before 5 p.m. Eastern, which means it won’t be competing with that many other matches, but that tends to be a deadspot in TV coverage. Dimitrov played that great match against Tsonga at Wimbledon and I think he has a chance here. I’m not sure if this match is today, but I wouldn’t want to sit too close to the court during Karlovic vs. Fernando Gonzalez. That looks like a hazardous situation. Isner and del Potro and Soderling all in one section of the draw could be interesting - if form holds and I’m reading this correctly, Soderling could play Isner in the third round and the winner could get del Potro in the fourth. I like DP to come out of that section.

Nay.

I do have a smartphone though. Is there some sort of application I could use to get updates during my breaks?

Wimbledon champ Kvitova is having some real trouble in her first match. She dropped the first set in a tiebreak. She took a 2-0 lead in the second set, but gave it up. I hadn’t heard of her opponent (Dulgheru) before- she’s ranked around 50 in the world, so that’s kind of a tough draw. It’s 4-3 Dulgheru in the second set.

I watch tennis on my computer. Go to http://espn.go.com/espn3/index/_/sport/tennis and they have many, perhaps all games, under a button that says replay. One may have to wait up to 24 hours.

We were already told Bees doesn’t have internet at work, unless that is a smart phone application.

But the link I posted was for replay later, not real time, so it is not for work but rather before or after work, later, elsewhere.

In news that you did not expect: Sharapova lost her the first set 6 games to 3.

In news that you expected: Sharapova is SharaShreiking.

The Aussie commentators are saying if the Umpires are pretty much, I don’t know if the term is ‘afraid’, to call her on it. Then the press and everyone makes the shreking and the umpire the story not the tennis. I personally thing it’s games(wo)menship on Sharapova’s part. She ain’t going to quit it any time soon.

It’s not only Sharapova who shrieks and screams. It’s gamesmanship at least in part, but the umpires are not going to single out one player and go after her for it. There will either be a rule about it or there won’t.

I hadn’t checked the women’s draw, but I see the Radwanska sisters are playing against each other in the first round. Right now Agnieszka (#12 seed) leads Urszula 2-0.

Yes, you are right there about the shrieks, I’ve heard worse live. ( Victoria Azarenka, earplugs should be required)

I can’t even read the scoreboards on ESPN. Is this there way to make me buy an HDTV.

Thanks for the link. When I tried to watch the replay of Monfils’ match it asked for my service provider. I answered Comcast then it took me to Xfinity (comcast’s internet provider) website to sign in to some sort of online account.

Is this normal protocol?

My goodness, Federer had moments of absolute suckage last night. I fell asleep so I assumed he pulled it out, but I’ve never seen him so out of sorts before. It doesn’t bode well for him.

Monfils entertains me with his antics. One minute it appears that he is seconds from expiring on the spot, and the next he whips out a blistering forehand.

The kid who sang the “New York” homage at the Opening ceremony last night (which was oddly held AFTER an entire day of play) creeped me out. Was Beyonce not available?

The commentators have addressed Sharapova’s shrieking. Acc to them, IF the rules are changed, they will have to start with the juniors because it would be unfair to players who’ve made shrieking a part of their game, to stop mid-career.

He won 4, 3, and 2. He definitely disappeared for a while after going up 5-1 in the first set, but won pretty easily.

Thanks for the update. I’m hoping that Fed can give Djokovic a run for his money. Top 3 is very interesting combination:

Nadal is afraid of Djokovic
Djokovic is afraid of Federer
Federer is afraid of Nadal