Not following tennis closely but looks like on the Men's side there aren't any competitive American players anymore. When I was growing up a lot of American men dominated the tennis. Is this because more American kids play popular sports like football basketball etc or is it just bad luck?
No. So we had Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Then Andy Roddick showed up. While he will be remembered as a one slam winner, he was a great player that just couldn't get past Federer. He also was overachieving in my opinion because he never really had a complete game, but managed to put himself in a lot of positions to win Grand Slams, only to lose to Fed. Then we had Mardy Fish, James Blake, and others like that. Mardy Fish is basically retired/done. James Blake got injured and never reached his full peak, but he didn't seem to be on path to reach anything historically great. We also have Donald Young, John Isner, Jack Sock, Sam Query and etc as the younger generation that was supposed to take over. None of them have had great GS success, but Isner has had ranking success because of his big serve.
It's been a while since Americans were really relevant on the ATP tour. You have to go back to 2003. Americans were also dominant in the '70s and '80s. Connors and McEnroe, and then it was only a few years until Sampras took over. None of the current guys will ever be elite, IMO.
Sad but true. Since Sampras, Agassi, Courrier and Chang, it's been zilch. Donald Young was supposedly going to be the next big thing, unfortunately his too-Svengali-like parents didn't loosen up their control and put him under the guidance of some real coaches. His parents imho stunted his growth (game) and his work ethic later came into question when he wasn't getting the results. Today, Sock: a forehand, weak backhand, so-so wheels. Sam Querry: the best of the bunch - big serve and forehand, but has problems with his consistency which is why he's the perpetual #24 'blah' seed who imho should be ranked higher. Ryan Harrison: talented, and who made a splash beating Raonic 2 years ago in a "battle of the up and comers." A petulent brat who pretty much hasen't done squat since. There's a guy who's pretty much winding down his career, but a guy whose "always bringing the lunchpail" grit and professionalism would serve as a worthy model for these American milquetoasts of late: Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. Always respected this guy's body of work. Not the top shelf tier (did get to #13 in the world) but you'd always see him playing the top guys consistantly tough; that consistency you see lacking from today's Yanks (comfort zone?).. They seem to lack the spirit of "sisu" : Sisu is a Finnish word generally meaning determination, bravery, and resilience. However, the word is widely considered to lack a proper translation into any other language. Sisu is about taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity. Deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision against repeated failures is Sisu. It is similar to equanimity, except the forbearance of Sisu has a grimmer quality of stress management than the latter. The noun Sisu is related to the adjective sisukas, one having the quality of Sisu.
Big upsets today. 8th seeded Ivanovic (-800) lost in straights to unseeded Pliskova 27th seeded American Madison Keys (-662) lost in 3 sets to qualifier Aleksandra Krunic (never even heard of her). Keys is one of the only real prospects in American tennis (Stephens too). She's 19 and ranked 27th. She won at Eastbourne this year, beating Jankovic, Wozniacki, and Kerber on the way to the title. 11 of the 32 women's seeds are already out, including 3 of the top 12.
Venus -335 falls to Errani 0-6 6-0 7-6 classic women's tennis. Opposing bagels followed by a third set tiebreak. 2nd seed Halep (-1300) lost to Lucic-Baroni in straight sets. The Croat playing very well. She took a bunch of years off from tennis after revealing that her father abused her. She's now 32. 6th seed Kerber (-280) lost in straight sets to Bencic. The top women's seeds keep falling.
15th seeded Suarez Navarro (-220) led Kanepi 5-3 in the first set and she could've served the set out there. Instead, she lost 8 straight games. 7-5 6-0 final. Third seed Kvitova (-1700) lost in straight sets to Krunic. Top women's seeds left: #1 Serena, #5 Sharapova, #7 Bouchard, #9 Jankovic, #10 Wozniacki 2-4 all eliminated. On the men's side, the top 10 seeds are still intact.
First men's high seed loses. 4th seeded Ferrer (-400) lost to Simon. Sharapova and Wozniacki currently battling on CBS.
Lengthy rain delay, sounds like the interrupted matches will be pushed to tomorrow. edit: Federer match has resumed
Too bad it did rain, I wanted to see the Federer match or at least part of it. Looks like the rain really helped him though since he was actually getting smoked in the first set and he's been destroying this poor Spaniard since they came back.
Rumor has it that Roger Federer may actually play someone ranked in the top 1000 by the time of the semis….well, maybe. What a cakewalk draw.. Shreikapova knocked out by Caroline "le grand forehead" Wozniacki - I can now turn the 'mute' button off. To her credit, after Rory McIllroy broke off their engagement, Wozniacki focused on ramping up her fitness and game and she's had a very good summer to show for it (she's taking off time from the WTA tour in November to run the NYC marathon). Nice win for her.
Bouchard loses. Her and Sloane are supposed to be the future, both knocked out earlier than expected.
Azarenka pulls out a tough win. 3 setter and she was not playing very well. Fun match to watch. Will face Makarova now in QF
tennis at 2 AM? Must be the Australian Open. anyway, it looks like raonic is finished he just got broken again nishikori, who was blowing smoke before the tournament about how he was seriously injured, was obviously lying.
Latest finishes ever at US Open 2014 Raonic vs. Nishikori 2:26 AM 2012 Kohlschreiber vs. Isner 2:26 AM 1993 Wilander vs. Pernfors 2:26 AM 2002 El Aynaoui vs. Ferreira 2:14 AM 2008 Nadal vs. Fish 2:11 AM
Very true. Fed easily cruises past another tomato can 6-4; 6-3; 6-2 en route to the quarters without having to break a sweat.
men's side getting messy #6 Berdych about to go out getting pummeled by Cilic. Cilic serving out of his mind. Only lost one point on serve. Wawrinka and Raonic (3rd and 5th) lost to Nishikori, who was obviously lying about his fitness Murray due to missed time (back injury) was seeded 8th and got screwed. Had to face Djokovic yesterday and lost.
