2017 U. S. Open Championships...ATP 2000...New York, New York, U. S. A.

[don_budge]

The tournament within the tournament. The qualifying matches this year highlight the prospects of two highly regarded Canadian players that are sure to have a big impact on professional tennis in the near future. Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime participated and Denis "The Menace" remains in the final round of contention for a spot in the main draw. He only needs to beat a seven year journeyman professional by the name of Jan Satral of the Czech Republic. Denis is old enough and savvy enough to know now to not take anyone lightly. He is a highly touted eighteen year old who has taken down a couple of big names and everyone has him on their radar now.

Rafael Nadal is the number one seed from what I understand and I look forwards to his departure from the tournament already. At the hands of anybody...it doesn't matter. Perhaps it would be best if it were Roger Federer doing the honors.

The draw is to be made very soon but here are the top seeds for the men's side. If you are interested in the women's side...start another thread. They are playing best of three sets...another universe.

Men’s Seeds

1. Rafael Nadal
2. Andy Murray
3. Roger Federer
4. Alexander Zverev
5. Marin Cilic
6. Dominic Thiem
7. Grigor Dimitrov
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Roger Federer is in the house. This is a tournament. What an amazing difference it makes to have him in the draw. Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori have all made it know that they will not be participating. That really changes things and all signs are pointing to Roger Federer. Federer withdrew from the Western and Southern last week. A meaningless tournament. He tanked in the Rogers Cup in Montreal. He put a little tiny feather in Zverev's cap. Just to give the kid the idea that he can possibly beat him. It will be interesting if the two meet in the real thing. The only real thing for Federer these days are Slams. Grand Slam tournaments. He has bagged two this year. Two more than anybody gave him a chance for in the beginning of the year. But we are seeing a pattern emerge. He disappears. He plays a meaningless event where he gets "bagged". Then when the real things comes along he is lights out on his game. Can he do it again? I certainly hope so because if nothing else he validates my tennis teaching paradigm.

William Tilden is the book. Richard Gonzales is the model with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman is the coach. Roger Federer is the Living Proof.

[klacr]

I hope its going to be a great tournament! Another chance for Federer to add to his total. Raonic and Nishikori weren't going to win this title to begin with so no big deal with them out. Djokovic and defending champ Wawrinka presents an opening an opportunity for someone. Perhaps a Berdych sneaks through, after all, Berdych gave Federer his toughest match at Wimbledon and is physically capable of handling 5 sets.

Big question mark is the young Zverev. He has the attitude, he has the game, he has the look to go deep and possibly win...but can he physically handle the best of 5 set format. Its a difference maker.

Not sure who Nadal could possibly lose to, but I'm sure he will. And If Federer is healthy, why could he not win?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Fed is the favorite per oddsmakers followed by Nadal, Zverev, Murray, Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Thiem, Del Potro

[don_budge]

Gentlemen...Start Your Engines!

Fed is the favorite per oddsmakers followed by Nadal, Zverev, Murray, Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Thiem, Del Potro

Ladies and Germs (bottle)...the draw is in. The draw is in a word...weakened. The MIA's have added up and while they may not have been favored to win the title they surely may have wreaked some havoc. Djokovic, Wawrinka, Nishikori and Raonic. Four top ten players not playing. Forty percent of the upper echelon. That is what you call a depleted draw.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/score...open/560/draws

Perhaps the person most effected by the MIA's is Alexander Zverev and it is a double edged sword for the young fellow. Here he is seeded number four and conceivably he may have been seeded number eight. That is a huge difference if only in the way that it sounds. Being seeded that high in a Grand Slam might not necessarily be a positive thing for Zverev as it might just add to some escalating pressure in the way of expectations. He has been the profiteer of a lot of hype the last couple of years and one can not underestimate the effect this can have on one's psyche. He seems to have been handling it pretty well judging from his results in Montreal but once again these results might be a little questionable given the circumstances. A Grand Slam is another universe of tennis...it is best of five sets. On the world stage no less.

Zverev to me is a questionable entity. It seems to me that a lot of his attention has been hyped by the powers that be that are trying to fool not only the tennis public but quite possibly themselves into believing there actually is a "Next Generation" after Roger Federer. Did anyone else notice how the air went out of the tournament last week at the Western & *!#€;^%? "Southern" being a bad word these days with racial overtones. Didn't know that? Now you do. But once Federer was gone so went the tournament. Who won that tournament anyways? Oh yea...Dimitrov. "Baby Fed". It's only fitting.

There is lots of cat food in the draw this year and the top players still have to be on their toes for each tender morsel and get it done without wasting any undue energy. I only see Roger Federer though...and his path to the tournament. First of all Roger is in the same half as Fafa Nadal. This doesn't mean hill or beans. If they both get through...they both get through and we get to witness the resulting spectacle. Both have a tremendous amount of work to do.

Federer meets Frances Tiafoe in the first round and hopefully he dispatches this one touts suite. Tiafoe just happened to take out the media darling Alexander Zverev last week and his confidence must be soaring. He is asking himself..."I can do the impossible, can't I?" He answers himself in the affirmative. But assuming Roger is who he claims to be....The Living Proof in don_budge's teaching paradigm...he gets through. No muss...no fuss. Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez may be waiting in the round of 32 for Roger. But once again...assuming Federer is Federer and he is once again honing and peaking for this tournament in a carefully orchestrated preparation lead up including a somewhat spotty performance in Montreal...he gets by. Which leads us to the thriller we might just get a chance to see...Nick Kyrgios versus "The Man". Kyrgios has the monumental task of keeping his nose to the grindstone and grinding out several matches of his own but should this match happen to happen...it might very well be a very exciting match and a key to Federer's success this couple of weeks.

The top two seeds in the bottom half are the aforementioned Zverev and the worlds most recent former number one. Boy...that didn't last too long. Thank God. Andy Murray? A bunch of question marks followed by a loud resounding dud. He was a real dud as the number one tennis player too. Once he got there what did he deliver? Answer...nothing. For Andy it was all about getting there and enough is enough. He simply doesn't have the balls to stay there. Staying power. I wonder if his feminist leanings have anything to do with his lack of the necessary cajones. I wouldn't doubt it. Nobody can talk like that and expect to strike fear in the hearts and minds of your opponent. I would want to kick his ass just because of that nonsense.

Good luck Murray. I am very much looking forwards to somebody laying you out flat. But the problem is...there is absolutely nobody home in his section of the draw. At least on paper. Maybe Thanasi Kokkinakis might man up to the job. He's another of those Australians...the "new normal" Australians without the Harry Hopman shine to them. Murray has one of the best draws he could possibly have but there all sorts of question marks hanging over his stupid Scottish head. That dumb look on his face is going to turn into a whining, grimacing expression if I am not mistaken. He isn't match tough and he is not in the same league as Roger Federer in pulling off magic acts. Such as now you don't...now you do. Know what I mean? I hope so.

[don_budge]

U. S. Open Memory...John McEnroe vs. Ivan Lendl 1982 Semifinal


Interesting third set tie-break between two titans of classic tennis. These were among the last days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-EYkuNBtgs

Just a snippet of what tennis used to be. In these 16 minutes you see clearly how much more interesting the tennis used to be. McEnroe with his Dunlop "Mac" Maxply...made especially for him.

[gzhpcu]

I hope Roger wins the US Open, but even if he doesn't he has won the Australian and Wimbledon, which makes his year a success. Funny how quickly the past is forgotten.... It's always about the next tournament...

[stroke]

Tomic plays Muller 1st round. Tomic has not played since his Wimbledon blunder. He is now ranked # 146 and I read somewhere he is using some kind of ATP rules that allow him to get in these late season tournaments based on his previous year results. He could very well be out of tennis if he does not get it going with some quality wins. It will be interesting to see his effort level vs Muller, a very good player.

[bottle]

Tomic plays Muller 1st round. Tomic has not played since his Wimbledon blunder. He is now ranked # 146 and I read somewhere he is using some kind of ATP rules that allow him to get in these late season tournaments based on his previous year results. He could very well be out of tennis if he does not get it going with some quality wins. It will be interesting to see his effort level vs Muller, a very good player.

And you compared him to me. Really!

[stotty]

I cannot say I'm looking forward to the US Open. More tennis on these detestable, soulless hard courts. Some say speed the courts up. I say get rid of them. Around 70% of the world tour is played on these monotonous, shot-stifling, boring courts.

I can see the attraction. They are low maintenance and alter little whatever the climate is doing, but that is exactly what makes them soulless and downright boring. Grass is a living court...literally. It changes throughout the day never mind throughout a fortnight. Clay is an interesting surface if you have a artist playing on it, an artist with feel and touch and imagination.

Get rid of those horrible, acrylic hard courts. Turn 'em into parking lots. Reduce the number used for tour events down to 20%. Better still, banish them altogether.

I heard a rumour Roger is still impaired, and Murray too for that matter. It won't be easy for Nadal as he has couple or more nasty obstacles in his way...Fognini being the first up. I have a feeling we might get a new US Open champion.

[klacr]

Good news for Roger and other attacking players, courts are playing fast.
Mischa Zverev, I'm talking to you. This is your moment.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Murray is out of the Open. Bottom half of Draw is Zverev's if he can be a big boy and step up.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Good news for Roger and other attacking players, courts are playing fast.
Mischa Zverev, I'm talking to you. This is your moment.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Those acrylic hard courts are all over the place here. Sure you can make them slightly quicker than medium paced but you can't make the ball do much off the bounce like you can off grass or clay. It's taken a player of gargantuan genius to make like acrylic courts look they are an all round surface that entertaining tennis can be played. Way too much of the tour is played on these types of courts and it's tough to understand why that's come about given the money in the game. Everyone loves grass yet a mere month is given over to grass court tennis, and virtually all except Wimbledon are merely limbering up events for Wimbledon itself. It's completely bonkers when you think about it.

Murray is out of the Open. Bottom half of Draw is Zverev's if he can be a big boy and step up.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes that is one of the rumours I was talking about in my previous post. A rumour that came true.

The other rumour is Roger. I can't see Roger pulling out as slams are all he's playing for and time is running out. No Djokovic, no Murray, no Wawrinka, no Nishikori. Roger must be pleased about those names not being present. Nevertheless his draw looks less than straight forward.

[klacr]

Yes that is one of the rumours I was talking about in my previous post. A rumour that came true.

The other rumour is Roger. I can't see Roger pulling out as slams are all he's playing for and time is running out. No Djokovic, no Murray, no Wawrinka, no Nishikori. Roger must be pleased about those names not being present. Nevertheless his draw looks less than straight forward.

Perhaps with grand slams, we can only look at the previous one for a true barometer of a player's grand slam level. The two best players at Wimbledon, dare I say, were Federer and the player that gave him his toughest match, Tomas Berdych. Berdych in top half with Nadal and Fed...but you never know. Hope to see Berdych when I go up to the tourney on Thursday.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Yes, that was the Stak match I saw (read later he lost 3rd round). Felix has a great future ahead of him! Based on the first 8 games, really expected him to win the match. But he had a few break points, and he just got a little tight / tentative and couldn't convert. In the 1st set tb, Stak immediately got up a mini break, then a few more - Felix leveled the breaker, but just couldn't close it out. It was really a match that demonstrated how essential the maturity / comfort aspect is; Stak has a lot more experience in all these situations, and that made the difference. Felix has all the shots, a great all court game, but needs that all-important comfort to not get tense on the critical points. He will get there....

You might be right about the grip. Only thing I could tell for sure is that Gasquet in particular was just driving the ball with the 1hbh harder than I've ever seen him drive, and it really looked to me like his shoulders were getting just a bit more open through the finish. His beautiful form now looks to me more powerful as well. Very interested to see how he does....

Ok faultsnaces...thanks for the observations. Felix Auger-Aliassime (first time spelling correct unassisted) has been on our radar here on the forum for some time. Too bad that Stakhovsky was eliminated in the next round. It would have been interesting to take a peek at his "beefed up" backhand. The qualifying matches at the U. S. Open can have great bearing on the future of tennis. I know...I watched the great John McEnroe lose to Zan Guerry in 1976 I think it was. McEnroe was so pissed off in the parking lot...it was at some country club outside of the main tournament site. Watching Auger-Aliassime you may have gotten a sneak peak into the future of tennis. McEnroe was actually 16 or 17 at the time...same age as Felix.

Back to Gasquet...great backhand. His serve and forehand are somewhat less than formidable by modern tennis standards but Richard is playing a different game. Most players are running around the backhand clear to the opposite side of the backhand alley. I don't think Gasquet sees this to be in his best interests as his backhand is so tough pound for pound compared to the rest. Your observation about the shoulders being more open tells me that his body is "fitting" to his racquet incrementally differently which to me indicates where the player meets the racquet. The grip. The all important grip...you cannot overemphasize the importance of the grip. Just a small incremental change can make a big impact on a stroke.

Gasquet plays Leonardo Mayer in the first round...an Argentine with an excellent one hand backhand as well. To go along with his somewhat unorthodox service motion. In the second round Gasquet will get the winner of Yuichi Sugita (which means "you suck" in Japanese) and an unknown French player named Geoffrey Blancaneaux who is barely 19 years old. See how we are educating ourselves on the basis of your Gasquet/Stakhovsky observations...connecting the dots. If Gasquet plays his way into the third round he will most likely be facing Fafa Nadal which will be the ultimate test of that backhand and what you see is an adaption to Gasquet's game. An excellent litmus test.

Don't be a stranger faultsnaces. Always some good stuff from your keyboard. I will never forget the "straw man" comment that was so perfectly timed...like a flat serve up the "T". Ace!!!

[don_budge]

Fed is the favorite per oddsmakers followed by Nadal, Zverev, Murray, Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Thiem, Del Potro

With the state of the draw there has to be a good pick in there somewhere. One that will pay off. Federer has a potentially tough draw and if he isn't 100% it may be tough going for him. Perhaps a dark horse...or a "sleeper". Like Marin Cilic a couple of years ago. Do you see something in this?