US open prediction game: Day 7

Shapovalov (33) VS busta (12)
Sevastova (16) vs Sharapova (33)
Suarez Navarro (33) vs Venus (9)
Querrey (17) vs Zverev (23)
Muguruza (3) vs Kvitova (13)
Pouille (16) vs Schwartzman (29)
Lorenzi (33) vs Anderson (28) 
Goerges (30) vs Stephens (33)

Shap, Shara, Venus, Querrey, Mug, Schwartzman, Anderson, Stephens

busta (12)
Sharapova (33)
Venus (9)
Querrey (17)
Muguruza (3)
Schwartzman (29)
Anderson (28)
Stephens (33)

Shapovalov blowing this.

2-0 down

Shap plays instinctive tennis, just reminded me of Fed in the last game.
Although more robust, his game is also quite finely tuned.

Problem is those with legs retrieve everything on those slow conds. It;s actually a bit annoying!

Yes and he is having to go for too much as a result...same old story!

Well, not really. Shap is making it possible for C-B by not placing his potential winners very well. He's making a lot of very poor decisions. I think the courts shouldn't be so fast that unintelligent hitting wins.

Federer would easily have been off here and it wouldn't be arduous.

He has more powerful shots than Federer. Maybe Fed woudl have had this power had he learnt the game with today;s racquet.

With a 85in racquet one cannot swing too freely.

bogbrush wrote:Well, not really. Shap is making it possible for C-B by not placing his potential winners very well. He's making a lot of very poor decisions. I think the courts shouldn't be so fast that unintelligent hitting wins.

Federer would easily have been off here and it wouldn't be arduous.

There is a lot of balls which came back and really shouldn;t have. Watching Rublev yesterday against Dzhum was quite similar. On those courts/balls one can retrieve almost anything and that is not normal.

Tenez wrote:He has more powerful shots than Federer. Maybe Fed woudl have had this power had he learnt the game with today;s racquet.

With a 85in racquet one cannot swing too freely.

Absolutely!
regardless, Shap is a true Baby Fed.

I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

You coudl see again....2 great risky shots from Shap and both came back..he had to finish it at the net. That's puts unnecessary pressure to the attacker.

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

CB played a good TB though.

CB a 1/4F at the FO....and now at the USO! says it all.

Tenez wrote:CB played a good TB though.

Good and boring.

Shap choked a few points with DFs.

I've seen him do the same in one match recently, which he won in the end.
TBs are not his speciality. (yet?)

At least Pouile will have an easier job vs Busta.
That's if he gets past Schwartzy, will be a tough one.

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

You mean the 60UEs of Shap? that's many games.....and sets.

Lucas playing well.

funny point...but that lob from Shwartz looked wide to me.

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

You mean the 60UEs of Shap? that's many games.....and sets.

No, the ground strokes he hit through him. You said his only weapons were his legs.  

As I said, Shapovalova played unintelligently. He'd have won with an average volley.

Lucas hasn't played so safely last year.
My wi-fi is bad but Pouile's tb was even worse.

As you said before, plays gutsy shots when he doesn't have and when he needs to - he goes safe.

He's 18.  Inexperienced. Lots of time to improve.  As I told you days ago.

Daniel wrote:He's 18.  Inexperienced. Lots of time to improve.  As I told you days ago.

oh thanks! we had not noticed!

noleisthebest wrote:Lucas hasn't played so safely last year.
My wi-fi is bad but Pouile's tb was even worse.

As you said before, plays gutsy shots when he doesn't have and when he needs to - he goes safe.

Shwartz played more gutsy actually.

Pouille had knee injury before the USO and pulled out of Cincy because of it. he is not moving very well.

Tenez wrote:

Daniel wrote:He's 18.  Inexperienced. Lots of time to improve.  As I told you days ago.

oh thanks! we had not noticed!

No, you hadn't.  You were too swept away with hype to notice.

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

You mean the 60UEs of Shap? that's many games.....and sets.

No, the ground strokes he hit through him. You said his only weapons were his legs.  

As I said, Shapovalova played unintelligently. He'd have won with an average volley.

Sevastova defends details Sharapova

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Flushing Meadows
.... The Latvian's ability to keep getting Sharapova's heaviest blows back was something to behold and forced the Russian to go for too much - 17, 16 and 18 errors across each of the three sets.
=====================
Exactly what we keep noticing.

wow Pouille completely collapsed when he realised Schwartz was injured.

Djoko has a daughter btw (Tara), hope she will not be as fake as her mom or easy manipulated like dad.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Lucas hasn't played so safely last year.
My wi-fi is bad but Pouile's tb was even worse.

As you said before, plays gutsy shots when he doesn't have and when he needs to - he goes safe.

Shwartz played more gutsy actually.

Pouille had knee injury before the USO and pulled out of Cincy because of it. he is not moving very well.

That's a shame. He's been carrying it all of 2017.
Still, his approach shots were useless, with or without the injury.
That's the area for improvement.

Tenez wrote:wow Pouille completely collapsed when he realised Schwartz was injured.

Didn't see .

How do you explain it?

Jahu wrote:Djoko has a daughter btw (Tara), hope she will not be as fake as her mom or easy manipulated like dad.

Hehe, here comes No 1 "Djoko" fan with the updates.

Yes, "Djoko" is now officialy "buried".

You wanna get buried too I guess? 

Duchess of Cambridge preggo too, wtf is going on with these rich fucks, getting pregnant just by thinking of it? or long live IVF 

Is this the Everything Else thread 

Despite his total lack of X factor, the shotmaking skills of Sam Querrey may not be underestimated. Can he go all the way? Why not? I guess a fit Federer would be too much for him but he can beat every other player left in the draw. He even has a decent change against Nadal (remember Acapulco?)

Shame about Shap. The boy needs to up his tennis IQ. Going to the net without positioning himself to what shot he was going to play there was embarrassing at times.

Thought Petchey's insight was interesting stating that he spoke to his coach and he revealed that only 3 months ago Shap couldn't play a BH slice!

He is far from the finished article, but without question the most exciting prospect for a long while.

There was some poetic irony that Sharapova was knocked out by a player from the country where Meldonium originated from

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

You mean the 60UEs of Shap? that's many games.....and sets.

No, the ground strokes he hit through him. You said his only weapons were his legs.  

As I said, Shapovalova played unintelligently. He'd have won with an average volley.

Sevastova defends details Sharapova

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Flushing Meadows
.... The Latvian's ability to keep getting Sharapova's heaviest blows back was something to behold and forced the Russian to go for too much - 17, 16 and 18 errors across each of the three sets.
=====================
Exactly what we keep noticing.

What's womens tennis got to do with it?

My point is stop pushing the slow courts agenda. Shapavolov lost because he placed shots poorly and his volley is tragic. C-B played well and when he had the upper hand in rallies he was more effective with his closure of the point.

gallery play wrote:Despite his total lack of X factor, the shotmaking skills of Sam Querrey may not be underestimated. Can he go all the way? Why not? I guess a fit Federer would be too much for him but he can beat every other player left in the draw. He even has a decent change against Nadal (remember Acapulco?)

I agree in terms of the bottom draw...he is the most dangerous player out there. I doubt he can get all the way though. But certainly the most likely to beat Nadal from that bottom draw.

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

Tenez wrote:

bogbrush wrote:I don't think it's decisive myself.

His volleying is quite tragic, you can't expect the court to absolve you of responsibility to make good decisions and hit accurately. I think he's obvious future #1 potential but he's very immature right now.

of course he is immature on some of those decision...nonetheless the conds are dead slow and make it easy for guys like C-B who have no weapons besides those legs.

And the ones he used to frequently hit through Shap.

You mean the 60UEs of Shap? that's many games.....and sets.

No, the ground strokes he hit through him. You said his only weapons were his legs.  

As I said, Shapovalova played unintelligently. He'd have won with an average volley.

Sevastova defends details Sharapova

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Flushing Meadows
.... The Latvian's ability to keep getting Sharapova's heaviest blows back was something to behold and forced the Russian to go for too much - 17, 16 and 18 errors across each of the three sets.
=====================
Exactly what we keep noticing.

What's womens tennis got to do with it?

My point is stop pushing the slow courts agenda. Shapavolov lost because he placed shots poorly and his volley is tragic. C-B played well and when he had the upper hand in rallies he was more effective with his closure of the point.

My point is the conds are slow, especially after the bounce. This is something I observed on every match and sorry but you will not change my mind on it. It might not be the only reason Shap lost but it certainly forced him into more UEs than he woudl have had otherwise.

I get that they're slow but I think it can be overplayed.

I like fast conditions but I never endorse tilting the balance so far that a player is excused from strong shot placement skill. Indeed, our mutual favourite player wouldn't want it either as it places a premium on skills rather than letting a mindless power hitter win through.

bogbrush wrote:I get that they're slow but I think it can be overplayed.

I like fast conditions but I never endorse tilting the balance so far that a player is excused from strong shot placement skill. Indeed, our mutual favourite player wouldn't want it either as it places a premium on skills rather than letting a mindless power hitter win through.

I don;t think there is such a thing as "mindless power hitter" in top pro tennis. The closest that come to mind to that definition are Soderling, Delpo and maybe nadal in a different category (spin) who clearly use their power to break their opponent skills. Yet I don;t think many see them as mindless.

Shap lost a very close match yesterday and from what I saw he certainly tried to overpower CB...but that to me was essentially due to slow conds as quite a few of those shots came back...instead of either get him a winner or giving him an easy ball to put away. It was even more obvious in that match between Rublev and Dzumhur. And it seems it is also there in the women game.

Again, I completely agree with Shap going for too much at times unecessarily but I cannot overlook the ridiculous slow conds of this USO. Even Federer mentions it...though of course in a more "balanced" way.

My favourite from bottom half is Schwartzy.

He has everything: serve, consistency, great movement, soft hands, very tough to put away...he is a mini version of Delpo.

As for Shap, let's not forget he played qualies, too.

The little I saw of him yesterday he did look like he was running out of steam.

It sucks he lost to such an average player.

Schwartz injured himself yesterday and is not going to be able to play his game from now.

Tenez wrote:Schwartz injured himself yesterday and is not going to be able to play his game from now.

Yes, I read you mentioned he was injured and Lucas still lost.
That's why I thought it was maybe just a precautionary MTO (I am assuming there was one).

I think he really got injured but did not feel it much due to adrenalin. But Pouille seemed to think it was fake. It certainly troubled him.

Tenez wrote:I think he really got injured but did not feel it much due to adrenalin. But Pouille seemed to think it was fake. It certainly troubled him.

Interesting.

We'll see if he was right tomorrow.


Pouille is unfortunately quite capable of collapsing mentally, now that you mentioned his perceived fake injury of Schwartz it makes sense.

He collapsed twice like that vs Murray. He really didn't like his winning ugly yelling etc.
He needs to toughen up a bit if he can, asap.

Tenez wrote:Schwartz injured himself yesterday and is not going to be able to play his game from now.

 Another injury.

Daniel wrote:

Tenez wrote:Schwartz injured himself yesterday and is not going to be able to play his game from now.

 Another injury.

You mean another one that you did not notice! Oh dear...I'll call you score-reader Dan from now on.