2014 U. S. Open Championships...New York, New York

[don_budge]

Never one to mind it going alone. As so many times in the past. The herd goes one way...I go the other. I separate myself...in my own self interest. Good luck I say to you...each and every one of you.

I have created another thread. An alternative thread. I will be posting my thoughts here on the 2014 U. S. Open Championships. Which begin on August 25. Since there is some time between now and then perhaps I will post some U. S. Open memories of mine.

I hope something of interest happens this year...that will give me cause to post. That will inspire me to express myself. Oh Lord...I need that now.

[don_budge]

U. S. Open Memories...1984 John McEnroe vs. Jimmy Connors semifinal

My favorite U. S. Open memory took place at the 1984 Championships. After midnight...after watching the two great American left handers Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe play one of the best matches against each other...a five set thriller in the semifinals...I went into the locker room. With my coaches pass. Here we are...thirty years later. It's hard to believe...isn't it?

It was their first match when they both used oversized racquets. Tennis had crossed the line of demarcation...listen to Pat Summerall, John Newcombe and Tony Trabert. Warming up for an epic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0lvniH_iBM

I got there ahead of the players to use the bathroom and as I was coming down the stairs I was face to face with none other than the beautiful Cheryl Tiegs. Followed close behind her was Jack Nicholson. I reached the main floor and here comes Jimmy...not looking all that happy but still fuming with adrenaline. He looked almost surreal.

But nothing like McEnroe who came strolling by me looking as if he was lit up like a Christmas Tree. I have never seen anything like this. The aftermath of a titanic struggle. It was truly a great match. Perhaps the greatest tennis match that I have ever seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

It was 1984...the Orwellian year. The end of reality...tennis wise. Information wise. Few would notice we had crossed the line. The line of demarcation. It's amazing that George Orwell got it exactly right...in 1948. There are no coincidences. 1984 was 36 years after 1948...now we are in it 30 years deep afterwards. Any guesses as to where we will be six years hence? 36 years beyond 1984?

See it and weep. This is where your worship of technology will take us. With every invention comes a curse...1984 was the year to be at the U. S. Open Championships. If you had any interest in connecting the dots. I was there...in the locker room. The epicenter. It was the end. 1984 marked the first time that all four contestants in a Grand Slam Final used over sized racquets.

It was the glorious advent of what is known today as "Modern Tennis". It was merely reinventing via reengineering. Not to be mistaken for evolution. The herd acquiesced demurely and without challenge to the authorities about a change in what had been the standard since the inception of the classic game of tennis. Most saw it as a short cut to excellence...when in reality it was a question of right and wrong. It was a greedy act on all the parts of all concerned...the authorities and the unwitting masses acting in concert. Orchestrated by the beating drum of progress. The almighty illusion of progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSUIQgEVDM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZBnUt6rZ0

[lobndropshot]

I think the game went wrong when people started playing with rackets.

[don_budge]

U. S. Open Memories...1984 Ivan Lendl vs. Pat Cash semifinal

Here was the bookend semifinal day match to the John McEnroe vs. Jimmy Connors evening match at Flushing Meadows in September of 1984. The variety of tennis on this particular day was off the charts and it wasn't only me that said so.

Cash had match point serving for the match on Lendl at 6-5 in the fifth set. Just look what happens to his best efforts at the 7.00 point in the third clip. A nice first serve in deep to the Lendl backhand...Lendl a conservative angled crosscourt return of serve. Pat Cash closing quickly in a flash and he knifes an exquisite volley down the line deep into the Lendl forehand...after his volley he is poised to pounce on any of the ensuing eventualities. Except one...and Lendl executes it to perfection. A high topspin lob over the Cash backhand that lands a mere less than a foot from the baseline. A miraculous recovery that Cash cannot chase down and retrieve.

My friend and I had already sat through the Stan Smith and John Newcombe over 35 championships that Smith won in three very entertaining sets. Pat Cash was on top of the net all day long. There seemed to be a discrepancy in the size of their racquets that played decidedly in Cash’s favor...I believe that Lendl was playing the closest to a standard sized racquet of the four semifinalists.

Oh-la-la...the French announcer exclaims when Lendl breaks the Cash serve to draw even to play a fourth set tie-break. The match was tense and it was close every step of the way. Lendl’s baseline domination versus Cash’s encroachment of the net. Five sets of titillating action. A see saw battle all of the way. The cost of my ticket was nothing...I had a coaches pass that enabled me access to the whole grounds that day. It was a memorable day. The story had some deep personal implications for me as well...reuniting with the one that got away for a stroll in Central Park.

But here take a look if you have the time. Just look at the variety of the play in the two semifinals. Each player with their own distinctive take on the game. John McEnroe with his continental gripped lefty Hopman inspired play versus the prototypical “Mama’s boy” gone wild in Jimmy Connors. The robotic machine like efficiency backcourt power game of Ivan Lendl versus the catlike agility high wire act of the Prince racquet touting Pat Cash. It was exquisite play for some 12 hours that day...I didn’t miss any of it in spite of the influence of “The Ugly American”...my best friend who also accompanied me to Paris and the French Open this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjtEjWMylJo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A6OFJ297s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX7SbR7jKrE

You know life is funny...I learned so much from reading the Ferdinand Celine novel “Journey to the End of the Night”. Jim Morrison also wrote a song called “End of the Night” inspired by this great novel. I don’t use that word lightly. But life becomes a bit of a puzzle that can only be solved by connecting the dots. The three little dots. We often ask ourselves why this happened or why that happened. Was it luck or was it fate? The existential question that the human race has been asking itself for all of time. Was it coincidence or was it designed to happen? Somehow I believe in fate...the magic of life. But you can’t be certain...you know.

But almost thirty years later...fast forward to the “Kings of Tennis” tennis trainer symposium held in Stockholm, Sweden with Bob Brett headlining and Matts Wilander in the house. I met a man by the name of Johan Porsborn at this symposium. I had seen him numerous times doing tennis commentary from the Båstad Open and the Stockholm Open...but anyways somehow fate had us sitting next together at the Bob Brett on court demonstration. But then again maybe it wasn’t fate as I did ask him if I could join him...a result of a sequence of random events that day that had us in close proximity to each other not to mention a letter that I had in tow with me that I had written to the head of the Swedish Tennis Federation as a result of an interview of Johan’s with Jonas Bjorkman regarding Swedish junior tennis...and the abysmal state of. I had drawn a outline to solve the problem...the equation.

But you see how simple things can be a long story...I only hope that someone, someplace can benefit from my experiences...in helping them to connect the dots. Bob Brett surprised me with the comment that he made to me in private...”it’s only a hobby to me.” Later on I would come to understand. Certain things.

But Johan and I once again found ourselves talking amongst ourselves...I amused him...maybe even impressed him with my tennis knowledge and experiences. He amazed me when we spoke of this very same 1984 U. S. Open match between Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl. He actually simulated this point with live animated commentary...the match point that Pat Cash held on Ivan Lendl serving for the match at 6-5 in the fifth set. He was knocking over drinks on our table as he lunged in simulation of the action.

“A Pat Cash first serve deep to the Lendl backhand...a lunging backhand volley deep into the Lendl forehand...a perfectly executed topspin lob over the backhand side of Cash!!! Lendl saves match point with a spectacular lob!!!”

It was great fun...I can tell you. He invited me to do a television show with him sometime. But of course he was just having fun. He didn’t mean it. I don’t think.

[don_budge]

Memories: Adriano Panatta vs. Jimmy Connors...U. S. Open 1978

1978 was the first year that the U. S. Open Championships were played at Flushing Meadows and guess who was on the scene once more. None other than little old me...don_budge.

I drove to New York for the second time in my life and once again hit the jackpot. We were wandering out on the backcourts and I spotted this most handsome man practicing who was hitting the tennis ball as elegantly as I could possibly imagine. I found out that his name was Adriano Panatta...an Italian. He was scheduled to play Jimmy Connors the very next day. I said to my buddies..."this guy could upset Connors. He's that good". I didn't know at the time that head to head these two were 5-2 to Connors so they had a history. Panatta had actually beaten Connors twice on hard courts.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=P059&oId=C044

The next day we showed up on the grounds and admittedly we were just slightly stoned so the idea was to get as high up in the stadium and see the match from a bird's eye view. What we witnessed is one of the rare events...a five set epic tennis match between two wonderful players to say nothing of their courageous competitive spirits.

They battled in the fourth round for quarterfinal berth at the 1978 U. S. Open. Matches were played best of three that year until the fourth round and both players had really good three set challenges the round before so they were both fit for fight. Fight they did...a see-saw match right down to the end. I was right about Panatta...he was as handsome and as elegant a tennis player that maybe ever stepped out on the court. He and the quintessential "Mama's Boy" from East St. Louis (right near Fergusson) split the first four sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 1-6...with Panatta winning the first and fourth. See what I mean...ride my see-saw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyC-iuA7dt0

They were coming down the stretch in the fifth and neither was letting up. Adriano had gone up 5-2 but Connors had battled back to go up 6-5 with Panatta serving at deuce. Panatta served wide to the Connors two handed backhand...he swings Connors way outside the doubles sideline and I mean way outside. He finishes at least a meter and a half wide of the court but somehow he manages to angle his return from that position wide to the approaching Panatta's forehand from where Panatta must move directly latitudely to his right and plays down the line to the Connor's forehand and not terribly deep. Panatta himself has no forward momentum but he manages two quick steps forwards and just barely to his left. He is banking on Connors going down the line with his pass...he guesses right. He closes perfectly...so elegantly as he has all day long and never backing away from Connor's surgical passing game...and he hits a rather sweetly angled forehand volley to Connor's extreme right. Connors is on the dead run nearly as Panatta puts his racquet on the ball and he chases...and he chases a ball that is moving away from him. From the top of that stadium it looked like forever...time stood still. Connors chases that ball nearly to the doubles sideline once more and just before the ball touches the earth for the second time he gets his trust Wilson T2000 on the ball with only one hand and somehow he manages the most exquisite of shots...he manages to impart sidespin on the ball that causes it to curve from his right to his left to land the ball perfectly on the Panatta sideline. The let cord judge is moving his head out of the way thinking that the ball was possibly going to hit him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTIxobZMzBg

The best "save" at such a crucial point in an epic match that I have ever personally witnessed...and can never hope to again. But wait a minute...what about that save of Lendl's against Pat Cash deep in their fifth set. This was a much more impossible shot. From a top of the stadium there didn't appear that Connor's had a snowball's chance in hell to get that ball before the second bounce. But you know what...there have been better and more dramatic. How do I know that? Because J. Donald Budge himself blessed me with his memory in his epic match against the Baron Gottfried Von Cramm...of his diving "save" on his match point deep in the fifth set to win the Davis Cup for the USA in 1937.

So check it out...it's a memory now. Deep inside the gold mine...of little old don_budge. Thank you Lord...for these moments I have been blessed with.

[bottle]

It was great fun...I can tell you. He invited me to do a television show with him sometime. But of course he was just having fun. He didn’t mean it. I don’t think.

Call him. Say, "I'm ready to do the television show with you."

[don_budge]

Roger Betterer...what a difference a racquet can make

Call him. Say, "I'm ready to do the television show with you."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/08/34/Federer-Was-Scared-Of-Another-Setback.aspx

What a difference a year makes. About ten years ago, it precisely January 28, 2004, the former Steel Division of the Ford Motor Company let me go after 25 years of loyal service without any notice. Why would they...the next day the Russian Steel company called Severstahl (North Steel in Russian) was going to take over as the new owners. The Russians recently resold it as the Russian presence in America has been reevaluated in the "New Cold War" status...reinvigorated by happenings unknown to anyone but the insiders. A crisis in Ukraine...then a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashes from the sky...coincidentally on the same day that Israel invades Gaza. It was the same exact model of Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that "disappeared" six months earlier. What are the odds?

One year to the very day that Ford Motor Company unceremoniously "shit canned" me I was married on the little mountain overlooking the nice little city here in Sweden. A country without it's fair share of social problems...not to say that there aren't any.

I remember talking to my father about the strangeness of what a difference a year can make the morning of the wedding. We had spent nearly an hour chasing our two wolves around the area...trying to get them in before I went to the ceremony. They finally came home so I could go with a clear conscience. My father and I were sitting at the kitchen table...just shooting the shit. Passing the time. Before the ceremony. Little tiny flakes of snow falling softly down from the sky like tiny little diamonds on a fresh winter night on the 28th of January...2005. But what a difference a year can make. The time that it takes for the earth to go around the sun exactly one time. Ford shit canned me...the earth was in the very exact position the very next year and I was starting a brand new life. One door closes and another opens.

What a difference a day makes...stomach flu once again. I would love to recap for you all the gory details. I started to feel it coming on Friday afternoon when I was on the court. When I was almost done I had to leave with five minutes to go in my last hour. I made it to the bathroom at the club...it wasn't pretty. But then I had to drive home and I was going to take a plastic bag just in case I had to vomit...but I forgot it. Lucky for me...or rather lucky for my car...I had some peppermint chewing gum with me and I am convinced that this helped me to avoid having an accident in the car. Did you know that peppermint is good for nausea? I made it home and went straight into the bathroom from which I did not emerge until the next day. Today I ate breakfast as usual...isn't life strange? What a difference a day can make. You can be down one day and up the next...keep your head in the game. It's easier to say when you aren't vomiting or feeling nauseous.

What a difference a racquet makes...see Roger play tennis. I hope that he goes deep...it will give me ammunition for more racquet dialogue.

What a difference a year makes. Last year it was Fafa Nadal beating Novak Djokovic in the finals. This year neither may be around for the finals...with any luck.

[don_budge]

A U. S. Open to Remember: Navratilova and Evert Look Back

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/magazine/a-us-open-to-remember-navratilova-and-evert-look-back.html?ref=tennis&_r=1

After the Stan Smith and John Newcombe senior singles match on that September day in 1984...it was Ivan Lendl and Pat Cash. Two great tennis matches in a row. The match on deck was the best woman's match that I have ever seen. Chris Evert versus Martina Navratilova. From the article you can read what a terrific rivalry these two had until Martina turned on the afterburners or until Martina started medicating...whichever you want to believe. Martina won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4...it was only a warm up for the night match...McEnroe and Connors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/magazine/a-us-open-to-remember-navratilova-and-evert-look-back.html?ref=tennis&_r=1

Tony Trabert and Pat Summerall with the Vicar's daughter...Virginia Wade in the booth. Can you see the trails of the ball in the video? I can swear that at times I was seeing trails that day...it was a long day and my eyes were probably playing tricks on me.

This may be one of the first...if not the first when both used oversized racquets. It would be interesting to know if they faced each other when one was not playing oversized...that would be Chris as Martina went over quickly. Her buddy Pam Shriver was the first person to make the finals of a Grand Slam using a Prince Racquet...maybe as early as 1978.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19830612&id=S1UsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=184EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4947,2679796

From the text of this article it appears that Chris and Jimmy Connors may have been the last to convert. The conversion started from the bottom...and worked its way up. An indication of something being rotten in Denmark...as Shakespeare alluded.

From Marshall Jon Fischer's article entitled..."The Feel of Wood":

In 1982 Chris Evert won the U.S. Open with a conventional-sized racket, but the majority of players at the Open wielded big rackets, and for the first time more than half of all rackets sold were oversized. That was the year Martina Navratilova switched to the big elliptical head of the Yonex R-7 just three weeks before the French Open and won it for the first time. Navratilova became the first player to win a major tournament with a big-head racket (Mats Wilander became the second the following day), and helped to make 1982 the Year of the Switch. "When big rackets first came out," she said at the time, "I thought they should have been outlawed. But since they weren't, why shouldn't I use one too?"

One other thing...you just have to love that lefty service motion of Martina's. It is textbook classic and one that makes a good teaching model. There aren't too many of those.

[don_budge]

Mooon Balls over Manhattan...1978 U. S. Open...Bjorn Borg vs. Harold Solomon

My coach and I used to spend hours practicing the moon ball. We loved it.

The goal was to either pin the other guy against the back fence or hit the perfect moon ball. A ball that would bounce on the baseline and then bounce over the back fence. We would keep score and first to hit 5 perfect moon balls won. Does that sound boring to you?

From John McEnroe's most excellent autobiography..."Serious"...his top ten recommendations for improving tennis in the 21st Century:

"A return to wooden racquets would be a huge improvement for professional tennis. The biggest change in the game in the last twenty five years...the replacement of wood by graphite...has been a bad one. I happen to think that wooden racquets are beautiful aesthetically and purer for the game.

Look at baseball. Kids start with aluminum bats in little league, then move on to Kevlar or whatever in college and then...and only then...if they make it to the majors do they get to use those beautiful wooden bats that require greater expertise for success.

Why not do the same thing in tennis? I think that it looks great to have a little wand in your hand, instead of some ultra thick club big enough to kill somebody with. Wood...to me...has glamour. You need strategy and technique. Tennis, these days, is sadly lacking in all these things.

It's all (as David Bowie says) wham, bam, thank you ma'am." ...the great John McEnroe.

Seconded by the not so great...don_budge.

I do believe the the term "moon ball" was originally coined to describe a variety of play that was used by one player named Harold Solomon. Harold was not to be taken lightly at 5'6 and 130 lobs. His record on tour was a whopping 567-321 with 22 titles to his name.

If he had never played Bjorn Borg his record would have been 567-306. Borg beat him 15 straight times and only lost three sets to him in the process. I was privileged to witness beating number eleven and a good old fashion ass-whipping it was. The likes that I have rarely witnessed and I am certain that Harold might second my opinion.

In 1978 I saw Borg beat Solomon 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 at Flushing Meadows at the U. S. Open in the round of sixteen. It was the same round of play that I saw Jimmy Connors beat Adriano Panatta...but it was an entirely different match.

Harold could do virtually nothing against the Swedish backboard so he was doing his best to slow down the rhythm of the Swedish Maestro by taking the air out of the ball and using the moon ball whenever feasible. But Borg was having none of it and it seemed to me that day that Borg just stood as comfortably behind the baseline as he wanted to and returned everything that Solly threw at him that day as if he was hitting a baseball with a baseball bat. The sound of his contact was so sweet and the connection was so pure...well the score certainly tell the story. The comment by John McEnroe about baseball bats brought this match back in my memory.

It was the only time that I had seen Borg play in person...except for the exhibition that he played against my little buddy Aaron Krickstein when he turned pro and signed with IMG. That was at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Borg had already retired and it looked to me as if he threw 16 year old Aaron a bone as he beat him in three sets.

[stotty]

I do believe the the term "moon ball" was originally coined to describe a variety of play that was used by one player named Harold Solomon. Harold was not to be taken lightly at 5'6 and 130 lobs. His record on tour was a whopping 567-321 with 22 titles to his name.

If he had never played Bjorn Borg his record would have been 567-306. Borg beat him 15 straight times and only lost three sets to him in the process. I was privileged to witness beating number eleven and a good old fashion ass-whipping it was. The likes that I have rarely witnessed and I am certain that Harold might second my opinion.

In 1978 I saw Borg beat Solomon 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 at Flushing Meadows at the U. S. Open in the round of sixteen. It was the same round of play that I saw Jimmy Connors beat Adriano Panatta...but it was an entirely different match.

Harold could do virtually nothing against the Swedish backboard so he was doing his best to slow down the rhythm of the Swedish Maestro by taking the air out of the ball and using the moon ball whenever feasible. But Borg was having none of it and it seemed to me that day that Borg just stood as comfortably behind the baseline as he wanted to and returned everything that Solly threw at him that day as if he was hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.

Back in the day this was the problem against Borg. He couldn't be out rallied. Vilas, Solomon, Dibbs...they all tried it but failed quite miserably.

You simply had to have a very good net game and something a little special to bring to the table.

[don_budge]

My favorite U. S. Open memory of all time...John McEnroe at the 1976 Championships

I actually saw John McEnroe play one of these tie-breaks in what is now an infamous match. He was qualifying for the U. S. Open for the first time...I believe that he was 17 so it must have been 1975. The match was against one Zan Guerry who was a really tough nosed competitor in his own right.

The match came down to 6-6 in the third set and 4-4 in the tie-breaker...double match point. Somehow...I cannot remember the exact circumstances but I believe that McEnroe indeed writes about this particular match in his memoir, "You Cannot Be Serious"...but the match point is played and McEnroe believes that he has won the match. But Guerry sought for an overrule from the umpire and received it so the match point was replayed and to McEnroe's great dismay (if you can imagine) Guerry won the replayed match point and the match to boot. Not only that but he had entry into the main draw at the Open played at The Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills. This was one of the two years that the tournament was played on Har-Tru.

This match was being played at some Tennis Club outside of the main event and we were in the parking lot when a clearly upset young John McEnroe came by himself past us. He was kicking at the gravel just a bit and I said to him..."you got robbed." He then realized the monumental clarity of what I said to him...to my words to heart and proceeded to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

My favorite U. S. Open memory of all time comes down to the infamous match between John McEnroe and Zan Guerry. The one where the double simultaneous match point was played twice. Young McEnroe thought that he had won the first one but the point was replaced at the behest of Guerry. Guerry won the ensuing double simultaneous match point and the match. In his book "Serious" McEnroe describes going into the locker room and bursting into tears.

Sometimes in the moment of our deepest darkness, a resolve is born and kindled and then forged. John for all of his fallible's that make up his human if not arrested development of a spirit went on to become perhaps the greatest tennis player of all time...he was the bridge between the classic and the modern eras. Not necessarily the best mind you...although he could play with the best certainly...but the greatest. He may be...of all people, more responsible for the popularity of the sport than anyone. He gave the sport a face. An angry rebellious face...one that Nike founder Phil Knight certainly identified with. It was the face of America. I was there when his star was born...at the U. S. Open in 1976. The bicentennial year.

[don_budge]

From 1984...to 2014 The U. S. Open Championships (Roger and his racquet)

1984...

What a year. George Orwell wrote about his prognostications in 1948 regarding the status of our society 36 years later...in 1984. That day in tennis still looms large in the history of tennis annals. I had a coaches pass for that event and made my way around the grounds unobtrusively. Just moseying around a bit...trying not to be a nuisance to anyone. Just observing what was going on. Behind the scenes even.

I remember being in the locker room before the John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors...Connors was repeating like a broken record to his rather large black African American Negro buddy...Where's Patty?...Where's Patty? At first I suspected trust issues but after reading his autobiography "Outsider" I think it was more security issues. It was funny that Connors had his "posse" thing going on way back when.

Bud Collins, the great American tennis journalist and historian, claimed that this day was the "Greatest Day of Tennis" ever. It was great, there is no doubt about that. But I wonder if he too wasn't somewhat mislead by the play of the new racquets...much as everyone else seemed to be sleep walking through the transition even though the four greatest players in the game were obviously dead set against them...they thought that they should be illegal. They only switched because of necessity...the game being what it is. Dog eat dog. Man to man. One on one.

So here we are...thirty years later. On that September afternoon in 1984 a majority of the commercials on the CBS broadcast that day were selling guess what? Go ahead...guess. Computers...of course. You should have seen the computers of those ancient days. So big. So cumbersome. I guess anyone would be embarrassed to be caught dead with one of those nowadays. Afterall...we carry one zillion times more power in our pockets with our modern, hi-tech Iphones. We have come a long way...baby. But don't forget...with every invention comes a curse.

In 2014...we have the power in our hands to do things. Our government has the power in their hands to do things. Tennis players have the power in their hands to do things. Things that were thought to be impossible thirty years ago. We are thirty years deep into 1984. We have come a long way baby. Or so we are led to believe.

So now it is September 25, 2014...and what a difference a year makes. What a difference thirty years makes. We are on the brink of the beginning of the 2014 U. S. Open Championships. The draw is set...the players are ready. Let the games begin.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/ms/index.html?from=atp

In the top quarter there are three players that can be considered possible influences on the outcome of the tournament. Novak Djokovic based on his years of performance but certainly not upon his recent performance...Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the basis of his Toronto performance if he didn't peak to soon...and Andy Murray who has tasted the victors honor once upon a time.

In the next quarter down there is a good chance that Stanislas Wawrinka and Milos Raonic may meet to settle the score in that portion of the draw. Although Stanislas may be well advised to not take his eye off of the ball against his first opponent...Jiri Vesely.

Going further down the draw it looks as if Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer might meet in the other quarter but don't count on Berdych. His performance has been oddly inconsistent as of the past six months or so. In spite of high hopes here on the forum in deference to our very own klacr he hasn't been cutting the mustard. It is my contention that he is playing a style that is not compatible with his potential strengths and physical makeup...he doesn't make the trip to the net except to shake hands...as Stotty puts it.

But the story of the tournament once again rests on the shoulders of "The Once and Future King" of modern day tennis. The only true link to classic tennis if there is indeed one. There isn't really...the size of the racquets precludes any viable comparison to the players of the past. A virtual shame considering the rich history of the sport...up until 1984 is seems. John McEnroe outrageously suggests a return to wooden racquets for the professional game. Ironically...it will be this tournament thirty years down the road where the story will once again be about the racquet. The size of the racquet.

For a couple of years I have been strongly recommending that Roger Federer has not been playing on a level playing field with his competition because of his equipment. At 33 years old he is set to start the tournament...unwittingly in a quest to prove that I was right. But it doesn't matter either way...in this matter I am right. I have been all of these years.

In the bottom quarter final lies a very potentially emotionally charged match in the quarterfinal. A match up of Grigor Dimitrov (Baby Fed or Kid Galavant) against the mentor and the man himself...Roger Federer. The moment might just be to big for Dimitrov at this point and of course both players need to win several matches for this to happen.

So there is the draw. A little discussion about some of the possibilities. I prefer to let the action unfold without too much speculation. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle. To my knowledge...in the world of sports entertainment...it doesn't get any better than the U. S. Open in Flushing Meadows. Every time I have been there it has been a magical experience. It wasn't time playing tricks on me either.

[don_budge]

Interesting first round matchups...

In the top quarter...perhaps somehow Benoit Paire versus Julien Benneteau qualifies as they are both French...the mysterious Parisian Hour. The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Nothing strikes my fancy in the second quarter.

In the third quarter Tomas Berdych and Lleyton Hewitt catches my eye. Berdych seems to be adrift and Hewitt seems to have resurged...somewhat. Berdych is a prime upset candidate due to his high seed yet lack of recent results. High seeds have a target on their backs a mile wide.

A little further down there are two players that I would like to see face each other in the second round...Dominic Thiem and Ernests Gulbis. Bernard Tomic and Dustin Brown might have some entertainment appeal.

In the bottom...it's always going to be Federer and anybody.

[don_budge]

Foreplay...a recap of the action. Venus...the goddess.

The literary biographers were not sufficiently interested in tennis and so gave short shrift to the first tennis court in Russia.

Why isn't there a Russian Open anyway?

Good question. Here's an idea...let's play the U. S. Open in Moscow next year and see how it goes. If all goes well we can alternate the Open between New York and Moscow every other year. You know...sort of a good will venture. Never mind...it's not a very good idea. It doesn't promote enough hostility. We need Cold War mentality now. That's an order!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2175991-novak-djokovic-vs-diego-schwartzman-score-and-recap-from-2014-us-open

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 61 62 64
[3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) d. Jiri Vesely (CZE) 62 76(6) 76(3)
[5] Milos Raonic (CAN) d. Taro Daniel (JPN) 63 62 76(1)
[8] Andy Murray (GBR) d. Robin Haase (NED) 63 76(6) 16 75
[9] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Juan Monaco (ARG) 63 46 76(2) 61
[16] Tommy Robredo (ESP) d. Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 64 63 64
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d. [21] Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 75 76(4) 26 76(1)
[22] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 62 76(3) 63
[23] Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d. Albert Montanes (ESP) 62 30 ret. (right wrist)
Benoit Paire (FRA) d. [24] Julien Benneteau (FRA) 76(4) 57 64 46 64
[30] Jeremy Chardy (FRA) d. Alejandro Falla (COL) 67(5) 62 75 64
[31] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. Blaz Rola (SLO) 63 36 75 16 64
Blaz Kavcic (SLO) d. Donald Young (USA) 75 64 64
Matthias Bachinger (GER) d. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 63 62 62
Simone Bolelli (ITA) d. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 26 64 62 36 63
Michael Llodra (FRA) d. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 64 63 75
Andreas Seppi (ITA) d. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 63 61 64
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) d. Gilles Muller (LUX) 67(7) 75 76(6) 67(5) 61
Peter Gojowczyk (GER) d. Benjamin Becker (GER) 62 64 62
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) d. Bradley Klahn (USA) 64 46 63 75
Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) d. James McGee (IRL) 46 62 61 76(3)
Matthew Ebden (AUS) d. Tobias Kamke (GER) 64 63 76(2)
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) d. Andreas Beck (GER) 63 46 62 76(0)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) d. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 76(4) 64 61

What an interesting first round of action...or not depending upon your knowledge of tennis. Your acumen. There is the one reporter who saw fit to attempt a piece on Novak Djokovic's first round match. It would be tough to say anything of interest happened during the course of that contest...unless you had a deadline to make. So it goes right on down the list of first round of results. For the most part you just substitute the name for the A (designated winner of the match) or B (for the designated loser of the match). Try not to take to many liberties with the verbiage.

"Player A hit the ball harder than Player B did until Player B missed. Player A hit the ball past Player B more times than Player B did...because he hit the ball harder. Little attention was paid to any subtlety or nuance because everything was happening too fast." I guess that sort of sums it up.

Andy Murray was clutching and grabbing at everything. Everything hurt...but he isn't certain why. Maybe he is coming down with a fever. Stan Wawrinka outhit the young Czech Jiri Vesely. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Juan Monaco as Monaco could not sustain the power of Tsonga...although he did for a while. Nick Kyrgios beat the classy Russian Mikhail Youzhny as speed trumps class any day of the week. Benoit Paire and Julien Benneteau had an interesting see saw match that went back and forth...as I predicted. Both players play very similarly...in fact for all intents and purposes you can substitute one for the other. It doesn't matter which one advanced...you have a French player who hit just as hard as the other. These are the matches that I watched...more or less. To be honest I was doing other things too. Multi tasking it is called these days.

So it goes right on down the list almost without the slightest deviation in description. Sure there were a couple of minor glitches...Sergiy Stakhovsky lost badly to an Italian Andreas Seppi who hits very hard and consistently from the backcourt. I assume that Stakhovsky tried to make his way to the net...not that he is such a great volleyer or approach shot artist but mainly he doesn't have the consistency or firepower from the backcourt. He is not destined to have any meaningful impact on the serve and volley aspect on the modern game...sorry anybody that hoped that he will. Radek Stepanek also lost to somebody named Matthias Bachinger, whom I am assuming hits it very hard with a very powerful racquet. The rest of it...who cares?

Side note on the tactical side of things...Michael Llodra through defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Save us Michael...too much to ask? No doubt.

But to be fair...for a change...there was one match that was mildly interesting. I know that this is going to come as a surprise to you guys (any girls out there?)...and that match was curiously enough between Venus Williams (not sure if it is a boy or a girl) and Kimiko Date-Krumm. Date-Krumm took the first set 6-2 and Williams looked a little like her sister did when she defaulted her doubles match at Wimbledon this year...but Venus came bouncing back to take the final two sets 6-3, 6-3. She was up 5-0 in the third but Kimiko made a game of it...bless her nearly 44-year old heart.

Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Enough said.

[stotty]

But to be fair...for a change...there was one match that was mildly interesting. I know that this is going to come as a surprise to you guys (any girls out there?)...and that match was curiously enough between Venus Williams (not sure if it is a boy or a girl) and Kimiko Date-Krumm. Date-Krumm took the first set 6-2 and Williams looked a little like her sister did when she defaulted her doubles match at Wimbledon this year...but Venus came bouncing back to take the final two sets 6-3, 6-3. She was up 5-0 in the third but Kimiko made a game of it...bless her nearly 44-year old heart.

I saw these two play on centre court at Wimbledon 2011. I was was forced to watch their match because it was raining and the roof was on; played suspended everywhere else. I was glad I did as the match was entertaining, with Date-Krumm narrowly losing 8-6 in the third. She is a player who makes the most of what she has. Her "shove" forehand is really consistent. Williams thought she could blow her away as Steffi Graf did at Wimbledon 1996 (she was just Date back then...without the Krumm) but neither player could. Date-Krumm knows how to make herself difficult...which is important when you're out-gunned.

I guess what I am trying to say is I have a lot of time for Date-Krumm.