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Time to pivot: Frances Tiafoe & Leylah Fernandez are upset winners

September 4, 2021 by
Lylah Fernandez

There are times when Frances Tiafoe was erratic. He would be frustrated and knock the balls way out. But, on Friday right, at the US Open, he was spectacular when he really needed to be.

It was a marathon at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and very late at night, he pulled it off, upsetting  Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 4-6 6-1.
 
“I love these matches. This is why you work,” Tiafoe said. “This is why you put the time in, to play the best guys in the world. These are the matches I get up for. I want these guys. I want to put it on my resumé. I came out today and I was like, ‘I’m going to beat him.’ I grew up with this guy, I don’t fear any of these guys. Let’s keep going.”

Yes, the American Tiafoe has lost a lot of five setters. But, as the years go by, a player learns and can becom smarter. Tiafoe has a massive first serve, and a gigantic forehand. His backhand is pretty good, too. However, he is ranked outside of the top 50, so he has a tremendous work to do. Including advancing at this year’s US Open.

 “I’ve lost a lot of five-setters. My five-set record isn’t great,” he said. “[But] I can’t not bring it. I’ve lost a lot of tough matches on this court. … I wasn’t going to leave this court without a win tonight.”

TOP WOMEN FALL
Naomi Osaka has won four Grand Slams, but this year, she seems perpetually downcast. She lost against the very good young player, Leylah Fernandez, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4. The Japanese is a huge hitter. The reason why she was No. 1 was because she was so focused. Not anymore, as in the match. She missed some easy swings. She was foiled and she actually smashed her racket to the ground.

The 18-year-old Fernandez is coming up strong, with some impressive forehands and backhands.

Yet on Friday, Osaka was depressed again. She does not know when she will return this year.

“I feel like for me, recently, when I win, I don’t feel happy, I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad,” Osaka said. “I don’t think that’s normal. This is very hard to articulate. Basically, I feel like I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match. I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while.”

But how about Fernandez, who on court, she is already clever. “Finally, I found a pattern to her serve,” Fernandez said. “I just trusted my gut and hit the ball.”

Ash Barty took a big fall in the third set. Up two breaks to Shelby Rogers, the top seed lost 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5). Statistically, the Australian had a slight lead in winners/unforced errors, aces and just about every category. But, she made too many mistakes in a final-set tiebreak while the American crowd propelled South Carolina’s Rogers to victory.

How about Garbine Muguruza is getting substantially better, beating Victoria Azarenka in three sets. Muguruza likes to ram it, side to side, and she can be excited and totally into it. But Azarenka let herself be dominated. While she did win two Slams, her second serve can be almost awful. When she lost match point, she double faulted. Ugh.

How about the 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who stunned No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 4-6 7-6(2) 0-6 7-6(5)? Alcaraz could be one of the best players for the next 15 years. The Spain is athletic, he changes the shots, he can shatter it. Alcaraz can hit it softly, well-placed drop shots right over the net. He is coming hard.

NOTES
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was pumped up in the fifth set and then he can inhale, then run, very hard. At the end, he knocked off Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3. Another one, who is gaining ground. …   Former No. 1 Simona Halep came up big, and maybe she won’t go far in the second week, but she is so steady. She beat Elena Rybakina 7-6(11) 4-6 6-3.

Jack Sock’s marvelous forehand was zipping past Alexander Zverev in the first set. But, he had a medical timeout on his right leg after the first game in the second set. The injury stalled Sock’s revival and he resigned in the fourth set.

In one of the best matches of the year, Angelique Kerber beat Sloane Stephens 5-7 6-2 6-3. The German was spot on and super steady. Stephens looked good, over the first two sets But, in the third set, she became nervous and lost her control. Maybe Kerber will continue to be so smooth. Then she will have a real shot to win her fourth Grand Slam. But she has to continue to pivot.

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Sharapova ousts Ostapenko; the picks, US Open, day 7

September 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Jelena Ostapenko
FROM THE US OPEN – Maria Sharapova went on the court and she knew that she had to focus all the time, or she would lose. She didn’t, and she was very smart, beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.

It appeared this could be a close contest. In fact, it should have been, because in Madrid in May, Sharapova outlasted her 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-5. Both of them are huge hitters, from the forehand and the backhand, down the line, deep, and right on the lines. They are incredibly powerful, but this year, both of them have produced a lot of errors. On Saturday, Ostapenko had a ton of errors, and that is why she lost. She lost her concentration, and she sunk.
  
Believe it or not, Sharapova has won the night sessions at the US Open, 22-0, and counting. She has only won the title just once, in 2006, defeating Justin Henin. Since then, she has had a few chances, but she didn’t convert.

 
Can the 31-year-old do it again? Perhaps, but this year, I would be pretty surprised if she grabbed it. She has been hurt a lot this year and, while there are days when she looks very good, but there are also events when her serves are surprisingly weak, with many double faults. But she was fairly clean on Saturday night. She can nail her forehand and backhand, but she still can be erratic, and a little bit slow. 
Sharapova always practices; she loves the sport; she wants to add to her game. Maybe she will, but her right shoulder is sore. It has been for years, and she cannot use a lot of spin when she is serving. But once the rallies begin, she can rake it.

Ostapenko swings away, blasting her strokes, crosscourt, extremely hard, and down the line. The Latvian has won one at a Slam, at the 2017 Roland Garros, but now the 21-year-old makes so too errors and she insults herself. Eventually, though she can calm down and she can return to the top 5 very soon. 

Sharapova was pleased after she won and now she will face Carla Suárez Navarro<, who topped Caroline Garcia 7-6 in the third. The Spainard has lots of topspin with her heavy, one-handed backhand. However, Sharapova can hit threw her, and knock her onto the wall. Sharapova will win in two sets. 

More picks
American Madison Keys rose up when she had to, and she jumped over Aleksandra Krunic in three sets. Last year, she reached the final. Keys has not played extremely well this season, but now, she is forceful. She will face Domi Cibulkova, who overcame Angie Kerber. That’s a toss-up, but I think that Keys will take a breath in the third and win it.  

On Sunday there are two tight matches: Ash Barty versus Karolina Pliskova, and Sloane Stephens against Elise Mertens. Pliskova is totally unpredictable, but she can hit a little hard against the Aussie. However, Barty can grind her, but Pliskova will out together a number of huge first serves and win in two sets.  

Mertens is very steady, but Stephens rarely misses the ball, that is why she won the US Open last year. She will pound Mertens into the ground.

Here are two fine contests: Kevin Anderson vs. Dominic Thiem, and John Isner versus Milos Raonic. The tall Anderson is mentally stronger now, all the time. Thiem is battling, trying and push himself forward, but I am not sure that he can return frequently. Anderson will win in four sets.

Do you want a fifth setter? Well, here it is, with Raonic versus Isner. Neither of them return well, but they can serve hard and smoke their forehands. Isner will pull it off, 7-6(7) in the fifth.   

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The heat is on as Cilic, Djokovic, Kvitova triumph

August 28, 2018 by Leave a Comment


FROM THE US OPEN — Yes, we all know that the heat was stifling. It was very hot and super sticky. It happens in August, everywhere in the United States. Plus, each year, throughout the world, it will continue to become hotter and hotter. Not very quickly, but it is coming and all of you should know that. So if you like to exercise outside, get up early so you can avoid the hard sun.

Even though six men retired today, they should be used to dealing with the weather. So even if it felt brutal, as Marin Cilic (who won, BTW) said, if you want to play tennis, you have to realize that some days, it is going to stink. But in many others days, on court, it is somewhat comfortable.

Novak Djokovic won today, beating Martin Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. In the second set, and in the third set, he was down 4-1. He looked tired and slow; he was missing everything. Then all of a sudden, he picked it up and ran again. He drank as much as he could, he was fast and powerful and then, Fucsovics faded, he began to be sick. Djokovic crushed him, quickly. Djokovic is confident and he can be thoughtful. He is back, and he believes that he will improve even more.
 
“It’s a process. After surgery I actually thought that I’m ready to compete on a high level, which I wasn’t,” Djokovic said. “Surgery is quite an aggressive way to eliminate the issue that you have. But, it was inevitable. When you say ‘aggressive,’ that means it takes quite some time to actually recuperate all the confidence and comfort on the court, of striking the ball the way you did before that. I could feel that firsthand actually how long it takes to bring back that flow in the game.

“It took me about three, four months really to start playing consistently well match after match. I struggled in those three, four months. I’ve never faced this particular situation before, so for me it was something new but something I had to face. I’ve learned a lot in the process. I managed to grow and understand, what it takes really to get to the desired level. So last couple months have been really good for me on the court. Wimbledon win was a huge relief, more than anything else, because I just personally put a lot of expectations and pressure on myself. I’ve usually done that in the past. I think it also taught me a lesson to be more patient, to be less hard on myself and understand that some things take time. You just have to accept that and embrace it.”

He should win in three sets against American Tennys Sandgren.

Petra Kvitova won, beating Yanina Wickmayer. She has won Wimbledon twice, and she has gone deep in the semis at Roland Garros and the Australian Open, but she was never rose up at the US Open, only reaching the quarters in 2015 and 2017. But, as she says, in August in New York, she can get tired pretty quickly. 

However, even though she was disappointed when she lost in the first round at the 2018 Wimbledon, she continued to work and strive. On the hard courts, the No. 5 looked decent, but not spectacular. We will see if she gets better and better this week. And next week, if she gets there.
    
“Wimbledon was just kind of disaster for myself. But always when you’re lost, you are trying to learn something from it, and of course it’s not that easy,” she said.

“But luckily I played good in the tournaments before, so I think the pressure kind of fell down a bit. I know it’s not the strongest part of the year and still I played good tennis. I think that’s maybe it can help a little bit free here. But, of course, that as a seeded player, the pressure is always there. So far I had a great season, so of course that everyone is watching, but I don’t really feel it here.”

She will face against Yafan Wang, and Kvitova will win in three long sets.

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