Tennis 2018

jon abbey

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Sloane Stephens laying an egg out here early, down 6-2, 2-0 to #19 Sevastova.
 

jon abbey

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Sloane out in straight sets, she was evidently fighting off a cold. That means Madison Keys and Serena are two of the three highest remaining seeds at #14 and #17, behind Serena's next opponent, #8 Pliskova.
 

jon abbey

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Impressive first set comeback from Serena, Pliskova (who beat her convincingly here in a 2016 semi in straight sets) went up 3-1 and was looking like the much more consistent player. Then Serena found another gear as usual and took the set 6-4.
 

jon abbey

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Serena closed it out, into the semis.

Now Thiem is dominating Nadal (yes, that’s correct), just won the first set 6-0 in 24 minutes.
 

InstaFace

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Nadal takes 2nd set. It's a match now, and was from the first game of the 2nd set.

Nobody is willing to suffer more than Nadal to grind out a grand slam match. Thiem better be emotionally prepared for the long haul.
 

BigMike

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Thiem is just giving away opportunities here Just threw a turd of a game up serving for the 3rd set.
 

mauidano

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Incredible choke by Rafa. The chance to break and serve for the match. He then gives up six straight points. Sheesh.
 

Mr. Wednesday

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After all of the incredible shots both ways, it seemed a little anticlimactic for the match to end on an unforced error by Thiem (on what didn't look like a particularly difficult overhead shot).
 

shawnrbu

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Thiem had it and made a couple brutal errors during the tiebreaker.

If one were inclined to place a wager, would Del Potro over Nadal in the semifinals be a good idea?
 

mauidano

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These past two nights have had absolutely incredible tennis at the highest level.
 

jon abbey

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My DVR cut off at 4-4 in the tiebreaker, I watched almost five hours of that and missed the last four points. I don’t even care, that was an amazing match.
 

jon abbey

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Thiem had it and made a couple brutal errors during the tiebreaker.

If one were inclined to place a wager, would Del Potro over Nadal in the semifinals be a good idea?
If it was Thursday, I would say yes but they get an extra day so it’s much closer.
 

jon abbey

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Well, Nadal has had two of those epic matches now, but more importantly, Nadal has knocked Del Potro out of three of the previous four slams (last year's US Open and this year's French and Wimbledon).
 

BigMike

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That one may stick with Thiem for a bit. He had opportunities to win every set, and just couldn't close.

In terms of DelPo vs Nadal, who knows. If Nadal serves like he did yesterday, it is really hard to imagine him winning this tournament. I don't think fatigue will be an issue
 

InstaFace

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Serena has been to a major final in 18 of the last 20 years (And just made her 2nd of this year, her 21st as a pro), and has won a major title in 14 of the last 20 - she can make it 15 years out of 20 on Saturday.
 

jon abbey

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Serena lost the first two games and then won 12 out of the final 13, 6-3, 6-0. She came to the net constantly and was great at it, I don't ever remember seeing her do that in a singles match before (as she said after "usually I only come to the net to shake hands").

Osaka is stomping Keys similarly right now, up 6-2, 2-0, very impressive.
 
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jon abbey

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Crazy age difference in the women's final, just short of 16 years (Serena turns 37 soon and Osaka turns 21 soon). Serena beat then #4 Monica Seles in Nov 1997, shortly after turning 16. Osaka was born in Oct 1997.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Extremely impressive performance by Osaka
Her post-match interview performance was adorable, too. Paraphrasing from memory...

What were you thinking towards the end of the match? Honestly? I was thinking about playing Serena.
Why? [Giggling] Because she's Serena!
Any message you want to send to Serena? I love you!!!
Any message for the fans here today? I love you!!! I love everyone!!!

Anyway, should be a fun match tomorrow. I'll be thrilled with either result.
 

BigMike

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Happy for Delpo, he seems like a good guy and deserves it. I'll be rooting for him in the finals.

Nadal wasn't right the whole tournament, and was very fortunate to have been where he got to
 

johnmd20

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Djokovic is just playing awesome right now. I can't see Nishikori turning this around, Djok is just too strong and too consistent. And Nishi hasn't been consistent.
 

InstaFace

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Naomi Osaka is bringing it. Mouratoglou said it best - she rarely misses, and today she's not missing at all. That first set was as beat as I've seen Serena get this year, Wimbledon included.

Serena's serve is off, but the rest of her game - movement, angles etc - looks fairly sharp. If the serve picks up, she can easily turn this right around.
 

thestardawg

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The umpire assessed her two code violations. One for a racquet smash and the other for being coached (which she clearly was ) earlier.

Serena is wonderful unless she doesn’t like a call and then she is a royal asshole.
 

johnmd20

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Serena is never a gracious loser. Whenever she loses, it's someone else's fault.

Osaka has played fantastically. She's a worthy winner here, if she can finish it.
 

mauidano

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Serena is never a gracious loser. Whenever she loses, it's someone else's fault.

Osaka has played fantastically. She's a worthy winner here, if she can finish it.
This. Her history is well documented. No one likes to lose however in this moment she should not steal Osaka’s first Major victory. Serena will do well to hold herself together until she has had time to cool down. Nothing good will come out of this for her otherwise.
 

mauidano

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Such a shame. Osaka was clearly playing better. Williams racquet destruction was her undoing.