US Open

[stotty]

It is tough to win without a good second serve. It came back to haunt him. If he really wants to fix it, he should. Thiem was hitting 93 mph first serves in the tiebreak because his legs were gone. His first and second are much more similar and so its not an issue for him. Kind of like Rafter and even Sampras. Federer is just a great server but he uses that huge lift to create his serve and so he can just modify it a bit to serve well.

It is amazing to see that the issues that affect amateurs affect pros.

Pinpoint vs. platform. Kick vs. flatter serves. Advanced vs simple serve. To me, Zverev has got a great hold of the advanced first serve but has not managed to be able to create a good model of the advanced second serve.

Winning a match under pressure without a reliable second serve is impossible. The fact that Zverev almost pulled it off is a testament to the rest of his game.

I also feel that he retreated back to the baseline under pressure. His best bet was to keep going to the net and make Thiem pass him. Thiem did pull off some amazing passing shots but there was not enough consistent pressure on him to make it stick.

It showed how hard it really is to win the first slam. Think about Roger vs. Djoker back at the US Open where Djoker kind of gave it away and Roger played poorly. I never saw Fed vs. Philopousos (sorry for the misspelling). Did Roger play incredibly in that one. My guess is that he was a nervous wreck.

The truth no one has had to win a GS in 15 years without playing one of the big three. The fact that none of them was there just added pressure. It is a situation unlike any other. A pandemic, a default that was stranger than strange, being sequestered in such a small place that players were hanging out and watching the other players for fun, no crowds.

The pressure was palpable. Even though the quality was not great, it was so dramatic and so real. Tennis players are not robots. They are people and it was nice to see them fighting to the end for something that seemed impossible just a few months ago. A US Open trophy!!!!

Zverev had the match in the bag despite a weak second serve. He just lacked the gonads to complete the job.

Roger dissected Philippoussis in an easy final. Roger came of age during those two weeks at Wimbledon and became the finished article just prior to the final. He just suddenly became the best player in the world...albeit in a void.

When Novak was disqualified just about everyone's eyes lit up. The tournament became wide open. The pressure on Zverev and Thiem must have been huge. I felt for them both but had an inkling Thiem would have the stronger character on the day. I think most of us thought that actually.

[arturohernandez]

Zverev had the match in the bag despite a weak second serve. He just lacked the gonads to complete the job.

Roger dissected Philippoussis in an easy final. Roger came of age during those two weeks at Wimbledon and became the finished article just prior to the final. He just suddenly became the best player in the world...albeit in a void.

When Novak was disqualified just about everyone's eyes lit up. The tournament became wide open. The pressure on Zverev and Thiem must have been huge. I felt for them both but had an inkling Thiem would have the stronger character on the day. I think most of us thought that actually.

My prediction was Thiem in 4. I was wrong about how many sets but I agree with you. He is too tough and has too many weapons. The fact that he had fought to the end with Novak and Rafa in other finals speaks volumes. I knew that he would fight to the end and had seen Zverev cave too many times to think he could put the match away.

I don't think Thiem will be a dominant force but he may be the Hewitt or Roddick of this era before the next big champion appears. I could see him winning multiple FO's and maybe getting 3-5 GS titles all together.

Meanwhile, we wait for the next big champions. Zverev will probably be like Murray. So this leaves Shapo, FAA, Tsitsipas, Berretini, Medvedev and Rublev as the most likely candidates to rise to the occasion.

Using my heightcentric view of great champions, leaves FAA, Shapo and Rublev as the only true contenders.

To me Shapo has the offensive minded and aggressive game to be the next great champion. FAA also has all the weapons and better defense than Shapo. Rublev just hits the ball hard and that does not work against the best players.

There is something about Tsitispas that does not quite convince me yet. He is just a bit too tall at 6'4". And he has not been able to break all the way through to the later rounds.

Or maybe there is some 19 year old out there that will rise out of nowhere.

The real question is whether Thiem is just a blip or the beginning of the end for the big 3. And if Thiem is not a blip can he turn this into a run of GS titles. With the added confidence and having overcome his nerves he may finally be able to believe he can win.

Paraphrasing uncle Toni, "You can't beat the greatest player of all time. But if you can make him doubt..."

Can Thiem make Rafa and Novak doubt?

That is the question.

[postpre]

My prediction was Thiem in 4. I was wrong about how many sets but I agree with you. He is too tough and has too many weapons. The fact that he had fought to the end with Novak and Rafa in other finals speaks volumes. I knew that he would fight to the end and had seen Zverev cave too many times to think he could put the match away.

I don't think Thiem will be a dominant force but he may be the Hewitt or Roddick of this era before the next big champion appears. I could see him winning multiple FO's and maybe getting 3-5 GS titles all together.

Meanwhile, we wait for the next big champions. Zverev will probably be like Murray. So this leaves Shapo, FAA, Tsitsipas, Berretini, Medvedev and Rublev as the most likely candidates to rise to the occasion.

Using my heightcentric view of great champions, leaves FAA, Shapo and Rublev as the only true contenders.

To me Shapo has the offensive minded and aggressive game to be the next great champion. FAA also has all the weapons and better defense than Shapo. Rublev just hits the ball hard and that does not work against the best players.

There is something about Tsitispas that does not quite convince me yet. He is just a bit too tall at 6'4". And he has not been able to break all the way through to the later rounds.

Or maybe there is some 19 year old out there that will rise out of nowhere.

The real question is whether Thiem is just a blip or the beginning of the end for the big 3. And if Thiem is not a blip can he turn this into a run of GS titles. With the added confidence and having overcome his nerves he may finally be able to believe he can win.

Paraphrasing uncle Toni, "You can't beat the greatest player of all time. But if you can make him doubt..."

Can Thiem make Rafa and Novak doubt?

That is the question.

If Tsitsipas can figure out that serve (no small task), improve his slice backhand, he will be formidable. He moves excellent for his height. I don't think he is too tall. He's a better mover than Zverev, for sure.

[stroke]

If Tsitsipas can figure out that serve (no small task), improve his slice backhand, he will be formidable. He moves excellent for his height. I don't think he is too tall. He's a better mover than Zverev, for sure.

He is very good. I exoect he will win 4 or 5 Majors and a few Masters 1000's. The thing is the bar to greatness has been raised so high by Roger, Rafael, and Novak that all these other players just look not so good.

[stroke]

Yahoo Sport Australia: Naomi Osaka caught in 'disgusting' photo controversy.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/us-open-2020-naomi-osaka-disgusting-photo-controversy-204907180.html

[don_budge]

The Quote of the Thread...As Life Metaphors Tennis (The Reciprocal Properties)

A filmed battle of giants exhibiting racket skill and guile, with steely determination for victory, but cloaked in genteel regard for each other and for the game. A game of life played out in front of fan behavior that required that they respect and understand that what they were witnessing was bigger than tennis. They were witnessing the end of an era represented by human examples of the best ideals of Western colonialism. We all know the shortcomings of elitism and Western colonialism, but if sport reflects society, we seem to be aspiring to reach “regression to the mean of baser instincts”.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ucA95M8kZHw

Thank you for your thoughtful post doctorhl...Hans. The words glow like the white light of inspiration. The whiteness of the tennis balls and the players clothes. Their impeccable manners that were the rule rather than the exception. Strictly enforced by the spirit of Harry Hopman who lived on in these two beautiful sportsman long after their mentor and coach was out of the picture in their reality on a daily basis. They simply marched on. Inspired. Harry Hopman...the coach of don_budge's tennis teaching paradigm. "William Tilden II is the book. Richard Gonzales is the model with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman is the coach. Roger Federer is "The Living Proof". Warning...Roger's career is in its waning moments.

The human race (as is tennis) is devolving. It has been for some time. Artificial Intelligence has accomplished in destroying in 36 years what it took nature thousands of years to build. Yes...it's true that it is the one that adapts the best that survives. Not necessarily the strongest or the most intelligent. But the ones that will adapt to what is going on now will only lead to a single catastrophic event. Talk about the evils of Western civilization. I prefer to think of the ideals. How does God think? Dream about it even. But it is dead. At least it is on life support. What are the chances of resuscitating the patient? Tennis? Life? What are we talking about here? Tennis for sure is dying. Gasping for breath. Sorry folks...this tournament was a watershed moment. It's all over except the crying.

Modern tennis...modern life. The problems are too complicated to have any viable solution. Applying bandaids to stop the haemorrhaging. Somebody call 911. What...they are busy? Putting out the fires.

[don_budge]

Yahoo Sport Australia: Naomi Osaka caught in 'disgusting' photo controversy.
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/us-open-...204907180.html

Thank you stroke. I'm getting around to Naomi Osaka. It isn't going to be pretty.

[stroke]

No it is not pretty

[hockeyscout]

Yahoo Sport Australia: Naomi Osaka caught in 'disgusting' photo controversy.
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/us-open-...204907180.html

I showed that to my daughter and she went holy crap - she said, “omg ... wow ... if some guy did that around my (ukraine/russian) uncle alex, eugene and donald would go full gangster mode, and he’d be sleeping with fish.” These guys have been through the fall of communism, gangsters, wars and a few revolutions - and I would bet you this kid would never do that with one of our daughters. Times are changing I guess. Well, they aren’t for us - I would have taken that kid outside and kicked his punk ass. I dated this Armenian girl once - her brother/dad meet me on second date - and her brother gives me gift of knife and dad shows me all his guns. The message was pretty clear about how things would proceed. The brother was cool guy - I taught him about mixed martial arts fighting and showed him a sport I am passionate about - knife throwing. He had 100’s of knifes and he’d never gone out in the woods and thrown - my uncles used to knife throw a lot in the basement and head to the woods and shoot beer bottles. My mama had 19 brothers/sister's - not 1 of them married a bastard. Probably because my moms brothers weren't guys to be messed with, and if you treated a sister with disrespect their would be a price to pay.

[stroke]

There is just so much wrong with this whole sorry episode(tournament long) with Osaka it is really impossible to chronicle it.

[hockeyscout]

Thank you stroke. I'm getting around to Naomi Osaka. It isn't going to be pretty.

Can not wait to read this one ...

[arturohernandez]

He is very good. I exoect he will win 4 or 5 Majors and a few Masters 1000's. The thing is the bar to greatness has been raised so high by Roger, Rafael, and Novak that all these other players just look not so good.

I don't expect there different players to win over 15 majors for a while. But in terms of multiple majors, we have several contenders.

Tsitipas does move extremely well. But if we go based on biomechanics and the advantage of being in the 6-6'3" window, then he falls just outside of it. What player that is 6'4" has won multiple majors?

Tsitsipas would have to be an outlier to do so I am not saying he cannot just that his height makes it a lot less likely. Shapo is starting to get closer. He is almost ideal in height.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[don_budge]

Thank you stroke. I'm getting around to Naomi Osaka. It isn't going to be pretty.

It is with great passion that I will reply to the U. S. Open tennis tournament allowing itself to be pirated into the hands of the culprit Black Lives Matter. What a disgusting display of ignorance and allowing the sport to be commandeered in a direction that is not only not fitting it is totally inappropriate. For years I have been starting threads with my own style of writing and now that tennis has reduced itself to this low brow level of expression...they are canceled just like the rest of professional sports.

The first time I realised that this tournament had been commandeered by the rogue Black Lives Matter group was on a flashing electric sign next to the court which kept showing the Black Lives Matter logo along with sponsor's logos. At that point I experienced a revulsion that compelled me to cancel the tournament from my existence. It's hard to believe that the sport could be fooled into following this rogue, anarchist group down the path of destruction. But that is exactly where it is headed and there is good old Kaspernick or whatever the hell his name is leading the band.

"The Devils"...Fyodor Dostoyevsky 1871

"I have already hinted that all sorts of low-class individuals had made an appearance among us. In troubled times of uncertainty or transition all sorts of low individuals appear everywhere. I am not talking about the so-called "progressives", who are always in a greater hurry than everyone else (that is their chief concern) and whose aims, though mostly absurd, are more or less definite. No, I am speaking only of the rabble. This rabble, which you will find in any society, usually rises to the surface in every period of transition, and is not only without any aim, but also without an inkling of an idea, merely expressing with all its strength unrest and impatience.. And yet this rabble without realizing it itself, almost always finds itself under the command of the small crowd of "progressives", who act with a definite aim, and it is they who direct this scum where they like, provided they themselves are not composed of utter idiots, which, however happens, too." Fyodor Dostoyevsky…”The Devils”, Part III Chapter 1

Isn't it amazing that the game plan hasn't change in all of these years. The so-called "progressive" movement has gotten a hold of the black community and made this anti-police charade their mantra. Defund the police. Abolish the police. Sure...great idea. Why though? Because of people like George Floyd? Convicted of crimes multiple times. He held a gun to a pregnant woman's stomach and threatened to shoot her while his comrades were ransacking her apartment for drugs or money. These Black Lives Matter thugs start burning and looting for this "hero"? This stone cold idiot who played "Urban Roulette" all of his adult life and was still playing right to the very end as he was caught passing counterfeit money and was detained by the police doing their job and he proceeded to go full hysterical instead of following their instructions which escalated to the point where he had to be physically restrained. After all...what were the police supposed to do at that point? Let him go? Not in this world. His behaviour warranted his restraint and the jury is still out on the actual cause of death. Understand? The police in this case are innocent until proven guilty and I will bet just about everything that when the full story comes out Floyd will not be exonerated but they will find than the onus was on him. If he had followed instructions none of the following events would have had a reason to occur.

Last night there was another round of riots for another of Naomi Osaka's role models. Is it Breonna Taylor? Here is another character who played the game of "Urban Roulette" that got herself tangled up in a drug syndicate that was pushing and selling drugs on a very large scale. The Louisville police had this group under surveillance for several years. It all started when a dead body showed up in a car that was rented out in Taylor's name and it culminated in enough evidence for the police to go in for the climactic simultaneous bust of multiple locations as they were about to squelch this crime syndicate when Taylor's apartment was being targeted. The police knocked on her door and a man in her apartment opened fire on the police which only triggered the most predictable of responses...the police fired back. Taylor was hit in the cross fire and she had only herself to blame. Her years of involvement with this crime syndicate was here venue of "Urban Roulette" and a bullet found her with her name on it. She cheated the odds for many years without getting a scratch and in the end the odds caught up with her. I am not certain what exactly the grand jury in Louisville ruled or found but from what I gather there were no murder charges because there was no murder. It was the police acting in the line of duty.

Every single one of the names that were on the masks of Naomi Osaka had similar stories. Every one of them died playing that game of "Urban Roulette". You play the game for a period of time. You skate the law and think that everything is going along just fine. Repeatedly breaking the law and cheating chance that the police or the authorities are on your trail. But then it comes down to the moment of truth and somebody gets hurt. So predictable. So repeatable. Do Black Lives Matter? They don't if the individual insists on playing the game of "Urban Roulette". If you have to ask...how could they matter. In the black community there are far more killings and brutal treatment of black on black than any list of police offences could compare to. After all...they don't make the news. They don't cause riots and anarchy. It's a way of life. Not that it isn't horrible...but why doesn't it change? Who is responsible? In the end it is obvious...everyone is responsible for their own fate. All of this is avoidable. But why doesn't it change in the black community and this is the question that stops everyone cold in their tracks. Everyone is afraid to touch it. You cannot talk about it because the answer isn't pretty. It isn't about the police hunting down innocent people and executing them. This is about the mitigating circumstances and the reality of the truth. What actually happens in these events? How many similar events do the police somehow avoid in the line of duty in the course of their jobs? What a job. I wouldn't want it.

So the first inkling of what young Naomi was up to came up early in the tournament and it was Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander that broached her stunt of wearing the names of black people who were killed playing the game of "Urban Roulette". Barbara just couldn't get over it. She was wetting her pants that Naomi was pulling this stunt in front of everyone. She had seven masks for the seven rounds of tennis she was going to potentially play in the tournament. But Mats was a little less enthusiastic about the stunt. He asked the obvious question...what about the sponsors? Good point Mats. Is this what the sponsors want to be identified with. I for sure would never buy a single product associated with Osaka's stunt. Never. stroke's article sort of struck at this very point and the sponsor's were pretty careful to tiptoe around it because they too are afraid of Black Lives Matter. I'm not. This organization doesn't matter. They don't count. You know who does count? The good responsible and respectable black people that are out there following the rules and trying to feed their families. That's who counts. Not this scum that is masquerading as a social justice group. This group is bought and paid for by the group that Fyodor Dostoyevsky identifies in his quote from the novel "The Devils". You notice how many of this Black Lives Matter isn't black. These are the instigators. White progressives using the black plight for their own political agenda to cause confusion and raise the level of chaos in their four year temper tantrum since President Donald Trump was elected. All in the guise that somehow all of this mayhem can somehow be pinned on Trump. Not in a million years.

[don_budge]

So Naomi wins the tournament...which was the worst tournament ever as far as I could tell. There was simply no interest without a packed stadium. This in of itself is worth thinking about when you realize that professional tennis itself doesn't really matter. It too falls under the category of distractions that the average Joe or Jill is faced with on a daily basis. Professional sports in general. You would be surprised how well you can do without them. There are more important things in life. But Naomi wins and then this boyfriend of hers shows up flipping the bird at anyone stupid enough to be watching. This act of defiance of all that is good and moral in society is the ultimate tell all of what the reality is about things. A young black thug somehow in the corner of the young and apparently not so innocent Osaka. There to make the ultimate statement. Fuck you. A big fuck you to everything that is good and just. Just a simple act of showing the middle finger and making the statement "burn it down"...it's being played out in all of America's big cities now. The black community has become a pawn of the political agenda. It is fanning the embers of hatred and it is heading for a train wreck. This is Naomi's choice. She has free will and this is how she has decided to express herself. Such an ignorant young person. I would never use the word Lady in association with her. This is modern tennis. It has metaphor'd life now on a parallel course for the chaos and destruction that lies ahead. A Supreme Court nomination can trigger it. A "not guilty" finding can trigger it. Donald Trump winning the election will set the ball in motion. This is the progressive. It is the way it has been forever. As Dostoyevsky wrote. Naomi Osaka made a conscious decision and it was a very, very poor one. Her boyfriend is in her ear. Whispering. Racial injustice. When really it is all intellectual laziness. "Black Lives Matter" doesn't matter. Not now or ever. This is some serious disconnect on a very large scale. It isn't going to end well.