# US Open Tennis **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 28, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071 "2009-08-28T19:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/321 "2009-09-13T23:12:50Z")
… … … Federer’s playing on GOD MODE. It’s the only explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/322 "2009-09-13T23:19:21Z")
Well that was expectedly boring. Federer convincingly holds his serves. As does Novak. Then Roger makes one or two ridiculous shots (Which are admittedly fun to watch) and breaks serve and continues to comfortably hold, no matter how hard his opponent is trying. Roger wins. _shrugs_ He’s not even trying to win and he demolishes Novak. Who, like the commentators said, would have beaten anyone else with his current level of play. Except for Roger. Roger should have to play without shoes on or something equally far out just so it at least looks like he’s trying. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/323 "2009-09-13T23:34:39Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Why did Novak just stop playing that point while he was at net? 😕 I’m not sure. Either he figured his last volley was a sitter and gave up, or he didn’t think the shot was going over the net in the first place. Federer did not invent that through-the-legs shot and it’s not his best shot ever, but few guys make that shot at all. To hit a winner that way to set up match point in a Grand Slam semifinal is incredible. Del Potro is very, very consistent off the ground and he did choose his shots well. I didn’t see the whole match because I was traveling, but by the second set it was clear Nadal was not at 100 percent. This was a while in coming, though - JMDP won four hardcourt titles in a row last summer and reached the quarterfinals at the Open. He’s an excellent hardcourt player and with his length, that inside out forehand looked deadly. He even had a chance to beat Federer in Paris. This will be the third straight year Federer plays a first-time slam finalist for the title in New York. He beat Djokovic and Murray in straight sets, and I think Federer completes his 16th championship in four sets. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/324 "2009-09-13T23:50:43Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Well that was expectedly boring. Of all the adjectives I would use to describe that match, “boring” is not one of them. Both men played some great tennis, and the total points won was pretty even between them. Good enough to keep pulling me away from the Giants game during commercials (and sometimes longer!), which is no small feat. > [@Windwalker](#): > > And I really like the class Nadal shows in defeat. First of all, as a losing player, he stays and talks to the interviewer right after losing! Then he mentioned his injury, but he gives credit to the superior performance of Juan Martin, and basically just sums it up with “Congratulations”. Then, despite having suffered the worst dismantling in his majors career, he stays and signs some autographs! I love watching him play, and I think he shows himself to be a truly classy guy. Such a stark contrast from a certain top woman’s player who also lost a semifinal match… I’ll be rooting for the Spaniard heavily next U.S. Open. Agreed completely. I dislike Nadal, but would never disparage his sportsmanship. He’s a a genuinely good guy and great competitor. I don’t mind the slow pace or wedgie picking. The only thing that really bothers me about him is that he grunts like a girl. Stop that! > [@abbeytxs](#): > > I have no way of knowing what was going through her mind last night, but I highly doubt she took the penalty instead of letting Kim beat her. Serena is a fighter. […] Serena’s behavior towards the linesperson was inexcusable and Serena knew it. There was no point in arguing the point penalty, there was nothing she could do about it, so she did the only thing she could do at the point and go congratulate Kim on the win. This is twice now that my point has been misunderstood, in two different ways. I thought I was pretty clear. I think after the foot fault, Serena lined up to serve, and then thought to herself that she wasn’t going to win anyway, so why not go out with a bang. She then turned and started yelling at the linesman to intentionally trigger a violation, which would result in a point penalty because it was her second of the match. That way she gets to claim she could have won even though it was obvious she had no chance. Basically, I’m saying that Serena decided to take her ball and go home. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/325 "2009-09-14T00:00:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Both men played some great tennis, No arguments there. > [@](#): > > and the total points won was pretty even between them. Quite true, but these still don’t add up to an exciting match. Analogy: Horseracing. Two horses are neck and neck (total points won being even between the two players) and miles ahead of the rest of the horses (great tennis being played) but during critical junctures, the Federer horse decides he’s done screwing around and breaks serve, then goes back to pretty comfortably holding serve and wins the set. Repeat three times for the match. Now, I don’t mean to imply Roger was intentionally giving Novak a few points on his serve to tease him. **No.**. I mean that Novak played amazingly well and stayed even with Roger, but only because Roger wasn’t in Serious Mode yet. When he was in full on Serious Mode, he hits winners from between his legs that make me just roll my eyes that this guy has chosen tennis to spend his time on instead of flying around, saving the world from supervillains. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/326 "2009-09-14T00:13:43Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > This is twice now that my point has been misunderstood, in two different ways. I thought I was pretty clear. > > I think after the foot fault, Serena lined up to serve, and then thought to herself that she wasn’t going to win anyway, so why not go out with a bang. She then turned and started yelling at the linesman to intentionally trigger a violation, which would result in a point penalty because it was her second of the match. That way she gets to claim she could have won even though it was obvious she had no chance. > > Basically, I’m saying that Serena decided to take her ball and go home. I am pretty sure I understood the point you were making, so perhaps I wasn’t the one who was clear. I sincerely doubt that Serena thought “she wasn’t going to win anyway, might as well go out with a bang”. I also doubt that she decided she would “take her ball and go home.” I do not think Serena intentionally stopped playing the match and took the penalty as an easy way out. I can’t remember her ever doing that before. That is not her style. She may not be gracious in defeat, but she always plays it out. My point was that until the last point is played, I don’t think Serena ever thinks she is actually going to lose a match, so I can’t see her intentionally forcing the penalty to save herself the embarrassment of being beaten. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/327 "2009-09-14T00:19:20Z")
We can disagree. I think she intentionally went out with a bang, taking her ball and going home. At least two other people agree with me, namely whoever wrote that blurb I linked to upthread, and that guy on the Sports Reporters. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/328 "2009-09-14T00:22:42Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Analogy: Horseracing. Two horses are neck and neck (total points won being even between the two players) and miles ahead of the rest of the horses (great tennis being played) but during critical junctures, the Federer horse decides he’s done screwing around and breaks serve, then goes back to pretty comfortably holding serve and wins the set. Repeat three times for the match. I don’t understand what you’re saying. I also don’t understand how great tennis can be boring. Show me a “nailbiter” that goes back and forth all match, culminating in a tiebreaker in the final set; if it’s full of unforced errors with no winners I’ll be bored to tears. Show me a straight sets win with great play on both sides and I’m riveted. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/329 "2009-09-14T00:32:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Show me a “nailbiter” that goes back and forth all match, culminating in a tiebreaker in the final set Well I fully admit that it’s possible I don’t have the same appreciation for great tennis as others in this thread, but the Roger/Novak match today was in no way a nailbiter. The first set was nailbiting yes because it looked like maybe Roger was having a vulnerable day. I stopped thinking that the moment he won the tiebreaker in the fashion he did (Novak had like two points in the tiebreaker). Which is just another example to show Roger deciding to stop screwing around when it got important. I stayed and kept watching the other two sets to see if perhaps Djokovic would get riled up and steal at least one set. You already know how that went. And for the third set, I just laid on the couch nursing a half headache and just happened to be looking the direction of a TV that happened to have a tennis match on. EDIT: Also, it wasn’t a nailbiting match because neither player was really struggling to fight off the other in their own service games. It’s nailbitingly exciting for me when two players are both playing so damn well that it doesn’t matter who is on serve because the opposition could win that game at any moment. The tension comes from the server trying to hold serve, succeeding, then the next server trying to do so. With Roger it is almost _never_ like this. He comfortably holds most of his service games, then effortlessly breaks his opponent when he feels nice and ready to do so. Or it goes to a tiebreaker, where his MO is the same: hold comfortably, effortlessly break a time or two to win the tiebreaker. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/330 "2009-09-14T00:39:28Z")
Also, I’m not saying there weren’t fun shots to watch in the match. Both players consistently were hitting damn good shots, but that still doesn’t make for an exciting match, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/331 "2009-09-14T01:20:32Z")
Serena has been fined $10,000 and may lose more, like her winnings from the tournament. [http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ro-serenafine091309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns](http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ro-serenafine091309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/332 "2009-09-14T01:24:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Serena has been fined $10,000 and may lose more, like her winnings from the tournament. > > [Serena fined, more punishment possible - Yahoo Sports](http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ro-serenafine091309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns) Call me cynical, but I bet the officials puss out and don’t suspend or ban her. I give them a slight belief that they’ll take her prize purse away, but I don’t see a suspension or banning coming from this at all. Everyone knows she’s a big important diva of tennis, so if she gets banned/suspended, she’ll make their life hell with shitty arguments about them being big ol’ meanies treating her unfairly and I assume the officials overseeing this whole thing want it just to be over. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/333 "2009-09-14T01:26:26Z")
Basically, **Covered\_in\_Bees!** is saying he expected Federer to win the match by raising his game at key moments, which is what happened. That’s what Federer does, though, so it doesn’t make for a boring match. You always expect Federer to win, but both men played great. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/334 "2009-09-14T01:29:08Z")
I doubt Serena gets suspended. The current fine makes no different to her, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets raised. [Take a look at what Jeff Tarango did to earn a suspension:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Tarango) > [@](#): > > During a third round match in which he was trailing against Alexander Mronz, Tarango became infuriated and refused to continue when umpire Bruno Rebeuh, after having ruled against him several times before, called one of his serves out. Tarango shouted: “That’s it, I’m not playing”, and turned to Rebeuh and yelled: “You are one of the most corrupt officials in the game and you can’t do that.” He then called for the officiating supervisor and asked for Rebeuh to be removed, and was denied, then he packed his bags and stormed off the court, defaulting the match. He shouted at the crowd to “Shut up” when they jeered at him as he was leaving. To add to the controversy, Tarango’s French wife Benedicte walked up to Rebeuh and slapped him twice in the face ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/335 "2009-09-14T01:35:01Z")
Does anyone find Wozniacki’s outfit flattering? She is really cute, but the ruffles on her dress (skirt?) makes her butt look huge. And the color is just ugly, dull purplish brownish gray. And the sports bra (camisile?) she wears underneath the dress hides what little figure she does have. Reminds me of the awful outfits that Tracy Austin used to wear. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/336 "2009-09-14T02:19:02Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Does anyone find Wozniacki’s outfit flattering? > > She is really cute, but the ruffles on her dress (skirt?) makes her butt look huge. And the color is just ugly, dull purplish brownish gray. And the sports bra (camisile?) she wears underneath the dress hides what little figure she does have. False modesty? Maybe she doesn’t want to be an overnight sex symbol? ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/337 "2009-09-14T02:35:10Z")
Sorry, wrong thread. And since I’m editing, you can watch the match live on [usopen.org](http://usopen.org). ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/338 "2009-09-14T02:59:03Z")
I think the outfit is cute, but a terrible colour. Match point now. If Serena was suspended up to & Including the Australian Open that would make everyone pay attention. Bet it doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/339 "2009-09-14T03:05:39Z")
Kim Clijsters winning makes me happy. She has always seemed like such a nice person. That’s quite a comeback. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071/340 "2009-09-14T03:27:17Z")
Those two young ladies were very classy in the post match ceremony. Those smiles really lit up Arthur Ashe court. I wonder how many 19 yr old Americans would have the presence to speak 3 different languages fluently. Wozniacki just got herself another fan. But please, see someone about complimentry outfits. Congrats to Kim Clijsters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-open-tennis/508071.md?page=18)