It’s a good thing that the Atlanta tournament got eliminated from our US-Open-runup schedule so that Canada and Cincinnati could run about a week and a half each for the first time. Even without the added heat, tennis players put more strain on their bodies than in the wooden racket days of Borg, McEnroe, and Connors. (Yeah, Ashe had his metal Head but it’s not like today’s power-laden weapons.)
Raducanu certainly put up a good fight v Sabalenka. A decent day for the French men with 3 notable wins .
Two of them had to qualify as well, so five wins each! 37-yr-old Adrian Mannarino being one of them, his strokes are just better than the much-younger Tommy Paul. Big disappointment for the American; hard to see him breaking through to the top.
Venus just cannot let go it seems ! Wildcard for the US open . US Open 2025: Venus Williams given wildcard to make Grand Slam return in New York
The other being 23-year old Terence Atmane from the Opal Coast. Didn’t play Washington. Lost in qualifications at Toronto. Just ask Taylor Fritz how this promising kid is doing in Cincinnati. Still searching for who can challenge Alcaraz and Sinner. Putting this kid on a shortlist, need to see if he can consistently hit as well as he did this evening.
Rublev has been gritty of late; definitely has surpassed Medvedev as Most Dangerous Russkie. Thought he had a decent chance against Alcaraz going in. Breaks to survive 3-5 but gets broken to lose 5-7 in the 3rd set. He’s tonight’s Bournemouth (tennis-version). —————————————————— Shelton-Zverev tonight. It’s a prove-myself opportunity for Ben despite winning Canada last week.
How did we get here? - Gauff & Sabalenka both terrible! Come back, Serena, and save women’s tennis. - Shelton looked tired but that was pathetic v Zverev as well. - Atmane the newcomer needs a better backhand. And maybe needs a heavier racket we’ll see but he saved this Cincinnati event
Unfortunately as the article suggests injuries hit him hard . https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cdxyj0eky07o
Sinner sadly had to pull out through illness before the match started which obviously was a shame for the crowd .
Turns out that one Cincy semi was fatal for both: Terence Atmani with a foot injury that has him out of the US Open, Sinner getting sick the day after his birthday. (The Tennis Channel folks gave him a cake after his in-studio interview after that semi. Hmmmmm…) One of my other new faves, Belgie Alexander Blockx, is also out, withdrawing from yesterday’s qualifier after twisting his ankle badly whilst losing the 1st set tiebreak. (Didn’t catch that one.) I’ll pin my men’s underdog hopes on San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima, who looks promising, long-term, to me. Maybe more so than Ben Shelton. Part of the fun of following to find out.
Sure, on your side of the Pond, the main focus is the start of Football. It’s good that late July & Aug & early Sep tennis is reserved for North America since “our” football (NFL) doesn’t really start until the last day of the US Open. (College gridiron is a week earlier, so some competition, but usually no big matchups.)
I don’t like that word. Like the Monty Python sketch? I don’t like Spam!! I don’t like ‘soccer’ !!! Of course, I wasn’t entirely truthful on “our” college gridiron football scheduling. A very small number of games are being played this weekend, the biggest of which is playing right now in your neck of the woods: Dublin! That’s right, it’s Farmageddon between the corn-and-bean kings Iowa State and wheat kings Kansas State! Ireland Style, so it’s Farm O’ Geddon!
Back on topic! We’ll need some googling to find out if anyone from Indonesia has ever won a match in a major…until today. Their telly will surely be playing highlights of Janice Tjen’s US Open victory over Cincinnati semifinalist and #24 seed Veronika Kudermetova on a loop.
Good win for Radacanu - very comfortable . After a great run at Wimbledon an awful early exit for Tauson v young Eala in 3 having been 5-1 up in the decider .
