Tennis 2018

jon abbey

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Wow, I didn't realize that Hsieh had already beaten Muguruza and Radwanska, she just took the first set from Kerber too.
 

jon abbey

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Chung looking impressive against Djokovic so far, off to a 4-0 lead which he then blew to go down 6-5, but he regathered, held serve, won the tiebreak and is now up 2-0 in the second.
 

jon abbey

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Chung wins in three tight sets, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6, Djokovic looked pretty hurt but still a really impressive win. Chung/Tennys next round, winner to the semis (!!).
 

jsinger121

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Tennys Sandgren making the QF is one of the biggest shockers in a while. He beat Stan and Thiem to get there but this is a guy that has only made the 1st round of 2 majors ever (French 17, US Open 17). He is usually a player that gets bounced in the qualifying stage of these majors.
 

InstaFace

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Sandgren taking out #5 Thiem in 5 sets is one of the big upsets of the last year, no? To say nothing of dispatching 9th-ranked Wawrinka in straights.

Also, Federer has yet to drop a set, the only such player remaining (even Nadal dropped a tiebreak in the R16). He gets Berdych next.

Maddie Keys is playing to her potential this tournament, which is a rarity. But when she does, it usually ends up like AO 2015 where she took Serena to a tiebreak, or last year's US Open (though hopefully without getting bageled to lose the Final).
 

jon abbey

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The first night of quarterfinals has been a night of upsets so far: #4 Svitolina lost, #3 Dimitrov lost, and now Cilic just won four games in a row to tie Nadal at one set all, some serious hitting in this match, no surprise.
 

jon abbey

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Nadal/Cilic is great if anyone is awake, it should go for at least another hour (on serve at 4-3 in the 3rd, 1 set all).
 

tbrep

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Nadal having to work hard on his own serve. Cilic has been on Nadal’s 2nd serve for most of the match and, in the last few games, has really got into good return rhythm against the first serve too.

On another note, there will be two unseeded men’s semi finalists (first time that’s happened at a major since Wimbledon 2008).
 

tbrep

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Nadal retires down 0-2 in fifth set. Was grabbing his right thigh and wincing in every lunge. Hopefully nothing that takes him out of the game for too long.
 

jsinger121

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Nadal retires down 0-2 in fifth set. Was grabbing his right thigh and wincing in every lunge. Hopefully nothing that takes him out of the game for too long.
Rest up and don't return until the clay season for a few warmups before the French Open. To me at this stage in their careers Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djoker should reduce their schedule and focus on majors only.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Ugh, was looking forward to another Roger-Rafa throwback.

And then there were six: Federer v Berdych and Sandgren v Chung in one half of the draw, and Cilic v Edmund in the other.

Knock wood, but a 20th grand slam for Roger at age 36 now seems like a serious possibility, something that 3-4 years ago seemed about as realistic as 40 y.o. Brady going after a sixth Super Bowl.
 

BigMike

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Go Sunshine.

Woz makes it through to the semi finals, where she will face Mertens. Very great to see. I'd love to see her get a championship.
 

Dim13

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Wow, they have plenty of time to kill after Keys got smoked by Kerber in about 50 minutes. If you blinked, you missed it. Total domination.
 

InstaFace

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Thankfully I don't watch sports to get my politics.

Sandgren-Chung just started a few minutes ago. ESPN is streaming it, on top of the TV broadcast on ESPN2.
 

InstaFace

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This is a really entertaining match. Chung looked invincible right up until 6-4 2-0, and then Sandgren figured something out and has been chipping away. Was serving for the 2nd set but got broken, Chung now serving to go to a tiebreak.

This is my first time watching him, and you gotta love Sandgren's story, redneck or not. College star, hit the pros, and just took it on the chin year after year. They showed that he'd made $438k over the course of his career up to this point, across 5 years of play. With all the travel, coaching, etc he's probably banked negative dollars, would have made more money teaching tennis than playing it. They said he finally qualified to the main draw of an ATP event last year in Houston, on his fifteenth try.

Well, he plays challenger event after challenger event, finally gets himself inside the top 100, gets in the main draw of a grand slam, and proceeds to take out Wawrinka and Thiem as he storms to the QFs. He's now guaranteed himself $350k from this tournament, $700k+ if he can win the match with Chung.
 

jon abbey

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Nadal's injury news as good as could be expected, aiming to be back in three weeks, well before the French.
 

jon abbey

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Exit Sandgren, some crazy and hilarious points in that last game, what was that slice exchange?
 

jon abbey

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But of course Berdych ends up losing the set, like he always does to Fed. He had set points in two different games, but eventually Fed took it to a tiebreaker and then steamrolled the breaker, 7-1, making it 18 out of 19 sets over Berdych since 2014.
 

jon abbey

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And Fed finishes it off pretty easily, looking like him and Cilic in the finals.
 

InstaFace

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And Fed finishes it off pretty easily, looking like him and Cilic in the finals.
Holy crap I hadn't even realized that Dimitrov had gone and lost to a random Brit. So the semis are Cilic vs #50, and Federer vs #58. If you spent 400 australian dollars on tickets to get tickets to the semis, you're pretty pissed, even though you get to watch Fed in action at a major.
 

Mr. Wednesday

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Wozniacki looked like she was bossing the match against Mertens, but suddenly from 30-love up serving for the match, she seems to have completely gone to pieces, as she was 15-40 down for the set.

But then, as I write this, she seems to have rediscovered her ground strokes, and she's got advantage to play a tiebreak for the match.

Or not... another double fault to go back to deuce.

Wozniacki eventually holds, and opens the tiebreak by going up a minibreak.

She totally got her mojo back in the tiebreak (helped by some untimely errors by Mertens) and won it handily 7 - 2.
 
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Infield Infidel

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It's amazing how often a player completely loses their shit, and then their opponent, seeing an opening and gaining confidence, loses their shit. It's surprisingly dramatic too.
 

InstaFace

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I've been watching this second set of Halep-Kerber and it's a good one. Kerber was down a break point at 3*-4, missing one would have let Halep serve for the match, she sends a bold down-the-line to the corner and I think it hit both lines. Two awesome points later she holds and is still in the set (and match).

I'm really tired but I think I'm watching the conclusion of this set.
 

jon abbey

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This match is crazy, both women have served for the match in the last few games and both have been broken, 6-6 in the 3rd now.
 

jon abbey

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Halep takes over and breaks at 8-7, somehow the top two seeds are in the final despite both being on the brink early on in this tournament.
 

jon abbey

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Federer/Chung about to start, the 14 year age difference is the biggest in a men's semi since Connors/Courier in 1991.
 

jon abbey

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Mine seems ok, Chung on the other hand seems to be experiencing technical difficulties. :)
 

jon abbey

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6-1, 3-1 already for Fed, Chung is over his head and playing terribly.
 

jon abbey

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Chung got treated for blisters, he looks way way way worse than he has all tournament, dunno how much is physical and how much is mental.
 

jon abbey

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Not the most exciting brand of tennis, but Wozniacki pulls out the first in a tiebreak after blowing a 5-2 lead.
 

jon abbey

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Halep got treated for effects from the heat in the middle of the second set, and she is not moving her best, but she pulled through and won the second 6-3, so it's one set for the title and #1 in the world.
 

jon abbey

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Extreme heat conditions in effect today, so the players get ten minutes off before the third set.
 

streeter88

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Yes was still about 30C just now when I went out, plus unusually humid here tonight.

What a remarkable couple of points at the end of this match which came really suddenly for how the previous games had gone. I think Wozniacki took a very timely medical stop about 20 minutes ago, and has been borderline unstoppable since, hitting the ball much deeper and dictating the points much better (more like she did in the first set). And just amazing the way she saved those last couple of points, saving her very best tennis for the last game.

Well earned, but well done to Halep for even being able to still stand after a marathon effort these past two weeks.
 

BigMike

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Great match between two very easy to root for women. I hope Halep gets her title soon.

Woz is just one of the most likeable and loved athletes of her generation. So very happy for her. Just 2 brilliant points to end the match