US OPEN MEN´S FINAL

What is new for the final? Neither Fed nor scratching epileptic torreador, that is not bad
I am glad to see Nole and Andy in the final, it was my original wishful final. These two have worked so hard recently that both surely deserved it.

Nole played Delpo and Ferru, both who play very good groundstrokes level and both had no chance. While Andy played Berd in a windy weirdy match which surely helped him and struggled with Cilic. But both these matches showed that he has improved his move and his mental strength.

What can we expect in the final. Despite Andy is hungry to win a slam as never I believe in Nole. I still see too much tensions and hidden frustrations in Andy´s face. In addition to that Nole shows briliant move on this surface and gradually improving his net game. He has cards in his hands.

Looking forward to the brutal final, Come on Nole!

I am glad to see Nole and Andy in the final, it was my original wishful final. These two have worked so hard recently that both surely deserved it

---------------------------------------------------

Thanks Paul totally agree with you. Let's hope that best player wins tomorrow.

Come on Andy!

WOW: for you

US OPEN ATP FINAL: Novak Djokovic (2) vs Andy Murray (4)

4 Times the Brit has reached the finals of a Grand Slam Major Championship. 4 Times Murray has left the stadium dejected, with only a runner's up plat to console him.
But this could be it. This time could be different. Maybe this time, Murray will finally seal glory and silence his doubters who have claimed that Murray isn't good enough at the highest level.
But it could all come crashing down.

There was indeed another man, by the name of Ivan Lendl, who lost his first 4 Grand Slams. He was also on his way to a fifth defeat, up against the great John McEnroe, 2 sets down and out of the match.
But, from nowhere, Lendl summoned inspiration. The French crowd were murmuring, the doubters were getting louder 'Ivan Lendl the man who couldn't win a slam' 'Ivan Lendl, the man who always lost in the finals.'
He shut them up.

Murray has another chance to do the same here, the parallel is uncanny. Lendl now works as Master Yoda mentoring the Young Jedi Andy Murray. Can Murray emulate his master?

The force it seems, is with Murray. Last year in 3 slams Andy Murray was stopped in the semi-final by Rafael Nadal. But now Nadal is injured.
In 3 of his 4 Grand Slams Finals so far, Murray has been out-hit by 17-time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer. But the Swiss is out, slumping to a defeat inflicted by Tomas Berdych.
Only one obstacle remains: Novak Djokovic.

The two have been rivals since they were very young, even in the junior circuit. But now, the stakes are greater than ever. The scheduling arguably favours the underdog Murray, but Djokovic was quick in his dismissal of David Ferrer today.
And Djokovic is a physical beast.

This is judgement day. This is the day of destiny. Murray won the Olympic Gold medal, but now he could be on the verge of creating history, and becoming the first British male Grand Slam winner since Sir Fred Perry in 1936. Djokovic has won his last 27 matches on Hard Court Grand Slams. 27 matches.

That run could come to an end this Monday.

Amritia3ee
The past means nothing, the present and the future holds key.

Nole, The Best All the way

Hey Paul, what will Andy Murray be dreaming about tonight?

Amrit, barring one thing I mostly agree with you.Yes force is with Andy, imo Andy will win it. He just needs to take inspiration from his AO sf 2012.

noleisthebest wrote:Hey Paul, what will Andy Murray be dreaming about tonight?

Hey Nitb, Andy will be dreaming about having a hunt for buffalos together with Ivan, both riding fast horses

paulcz wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Hey Paul, what will Andy Murray be dreaming about tonight?

Hey Nitb, Andy will be dreaming about having a hunt for buffalos together with Ivan, both riding fast horses

And they'll be doing in in darkness, going in circles. When the sun rises in the morning they'll realise they had been riding all night around this:

http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/blog/djokovic-uso11-trophy.jpg

Amritia3ee wrote:

The past means nothing, the present and the future holds key.

[/quote]

Paul, do you think Lednl has prepared any special tactic for Murray. Stg like volley into Nole at the net...
I noticed he did it to Fed during the Olympics

noleisthebest wrote:

paulcz wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Hey Paul, what will Andy Murray be dreaming about tonight?

Hey Nitb, Andy will be dreaming about having a hunt for buffalos together with Ivan, both riding fast horses

And they'll be doing in in darkness, going in circles. When the sun rises in the morning they'll realise they had been riding all night around this:

[url=http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/blog/djokovic-uso11-trophy.jpg

http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/blog/djokovic-uso11-trophy.jpg[/quote[/url]]



I was surprised when reading that Ivan said that he has so much fun with Andy. Is he funny sometimes? I have not seen him jokking or only missed it.

noleisthebest wrote:Paul, do you think Lednl has prepared any special tactic for Murray. Stg like volley into Nole at the net...
I noticed he did it to Fed during the Olympics

I have caught from news that Lendl works for Andy mostly as his mentor to advise him how to concentrate on key points, what to play in them. Ivan always played as hard as it was possible without regrets or excuses to hit somebody at the net. Yes, I think that that could be an advice for Andy from Ivan. Nitb, good observation

I have noticed this for a long time, Murray chokes when he needs to attack, he just does not have a clue what to do. He starts to panic and instead of putting the ball away, like Federer does so well for example, he pushes it back into play.
It is so unnatural for him to attack,that's his make-up. Lendl is from what you said probably working on patterns of play, one by one. It works in football, but tennis is so much quicker and needs super quick thinking, so it's a long road for him.
I noticed he started using his CC forehand under Lendl aggressively, but players' will have already worked all that out, it's just who can get to those balls and retrieve them. We know who's the best defender on hard-courts

noleisthebest wrote:I have noticed this for a long time, Murray chokes when he needs to attack, he just does not have a clue what to do. He starts to panic and instead of putting the ball away, like Federer does so well for example, he pushes it back into play.
It is so unnatural for him to attack,that's his make-up. Lendl is from what you said probably working on patterns of play, one by one. It works in football, but tennis is so much quicker and needs super quick thinking, so it's a long road for him.
I noticed he started using his CC forehand under Lendl aggressively, but players' will have already worked all that out, it's just who can get to those balls and retrieve them. We know who's the best defender on hard-courts

For sure

When you play against the complete player as the best one is, you just do not have a clear clue what to play. You can practise patterns, but mental strength is more difficult to get. Everything can be practised and got improved for sure, but sometimes that does not have to be still enough

noleisthebest wrote: We know who's the best defender on hard-courts

Yeah, but who wants a boring defender to win? Muzza's a bit of a defneder too, but at least he has all round court craft - a tennis brain, as they say.

mikeyM1000 wrote:

noleisthebest wrote: We know who's the best defender on hard-courts

Yeah, but who wants a boring defender to win? Muzza's a bit of a defneder too, but at least he has all round court craft - a tennis brain, as they say.

Why boring?
Because Murray-media machine says so? C'mon Mike, I thought you could enjoy talen when you saw it....

I don't mind Djoko - but like you say he's a bit of a defender. I mean doing the spilts is impressive but Monfils does it with more flair. I think that's what Djoko lacks - flair. Very workmanlike - like Ferrer but better

You could say the same about Murray I guess, but he;s got more variety, more shots and he;s Brit and I don't give two hoots about he's a Scot. Pity he's a mental nutter on court or he'd have won more

Mikey,
unlike a lot of people here, I genuinely don't see Novak as a defender.
Yes, he defends great, but his tennis is not defensive.
Murray's tennis is.
Nole is not a pure attacker like Dolgopolov or Blake, he has all the options in his game, he has almost all the shots and fantastic on both wings.

He is a baseline player and those players are not exclusive attackers. If your aim is to boss the base-line, which Nole's is, you have to defend that position on the court.

Other players return balls he sends into corners, like Ferrer did today for example and Murray will do even more tomorrow. That's part of slowed playing conditions.

I think his game is beautiful and very attractive, esp when he plays his A game.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Nole´s game is built on his ability to transfer from counter-punching to dictating rallies. If you saw his matches with Nadal, Nole tried to move him around while Nadal was standing 3 metres behind a basic line. That Andy is not able to do it or so far he could not do it. Nole has the best defense, but if anynbody gives him a little space he tries to use this and as we could see goes to the net. He is gradually improving this transition.

Well said Paul

I think Nole is showing a more controlled game than Murray, he was very impressive today. He is a counter-puncher but imo a much better one than Muuray. Despite being less rested I think he will win tomorrow if it's not too windy. Murray will have to play his A game. Anything else will be punished.

Is anybody looking at Se(i)renes match? Belorusian sirene does not play a bad match. Do you think it will be enough to win it? I think that if she wins the second set then she has a big chance. Olala, confirmed break

paulcz wrote:Is anybody looking at Se(i)renes match? Belorusian sirene does not play a bad match. Do you think it will be enough to win it? I think that if she wins the second set then she has a big chance. Olala, confirmed break

I just asked the same question over on the SF thread.Yes, Azarenka is not rolling over for Serena.
Glad Serena kept her cool on being called the foot fault

paulcz wrote:Is anybody looking at Se(i)renes match? Belorusian sirene does not play a bad match. Do you think it will be enough to win it? I think that if she wins the second set then she has a big chance. Olala, confirmed break

Serena vs Sirene, nice one, Paul!

Utterly scary power from both women. To me, women's game has moved more away from the original package than men's. At least the men have a bit of variety.

Tenez wrote:I think Nole is showing a more controlled game than Murray, he was very impressive today. He is a counter-puncher but imo a much better one than Muuray. Despite being less rested I think he will win tomorrow if it's not too windy. Murray will have to play his A game. Anything else will be punished.

Although Nole won easily, I saw that he could do it still much better. To be honest I saw that he was not able successful just in that transition to the net. His FH was not as sure as used to be or could be, but it was enough to go through Ferru. I still see that Nole´s potential is not used as much efficient as it could be. But he tries and that is quite positive

I must admit that Fed´s slice is played with a higher swing and from high height, so here is still space for an improvement, but as I said very nice and very good. Variaty is always an advantage.

I absolutely LOVE seeing fired-up Serena!

I am not sure if umpires like so burning Serena around them

paulcz wrote:I am not sure if umpires like so burning Serena around them

that's why they are not making so many mistakes now

Where is ROTLA's pick the winner game?

Once again, Monday final, so once again I will not be able to watch

Nevertheless, looking forward to it. Nole is finally approaching something like the form of last year, and Andy has been playing some of his best tennis ever this summer. Let's hope they both bring their A games tomorrow, which could make it quite close.

Have no idea who will win - it is almost 50/50 for me. Andy is better than he was at almost any time in the past and Nole is not quite where he was last year.

Still, if I were forced to pick one, I would probably go with Nole.

Good luck to both, but a little more of it to Andy

Well, here's my pick for the final...Nole

laverfan wrote:Where is ROTLA's pick the winner game?

Nitb is the winner for this edition. Its no way anyone can catch her. Nothing much exciting for getting any other spots.

But you can predict your winner any ways.

It was a fun and well organised rotla. Thanks.

I think we could consider a change in the scoring system in the future cause predicting a win between #1 v #2 is typically more exciting and often much harder than predicting a #25 v #55 for instance. Plus it woudl keep the race alive longer.

Tenez wrote:It was a fun and well organised rotla. Thanks.

I think we could consider a change in the scoring system in the future cause predicting a win between #1 v #2 is typically more exciting and often much harder than predicting a #25 v #55 for instance. Plus it woudl keep the race alive longer.

Thanks tenez. I'll work on improving the points scoring system. Next prediction game shall be for the Shanghai Masters..

Tenez wrote:It was a fun and well organised rotla. Thanks.

I think we could consider a change in the scoring system in the future cause predicting a win between #1 v #2 is typically more exciting and often much harder than predicting a #25 v #55 for instance. Plus it woudl keep the race alive longer.

I second that!

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
Nitb is the winner for this edition. Its no way anyone can catch her. Nothing much exciting for getting any other spots.
.

OK, since this is my official announcement as a winner I'll eat my hat and do this speech ( )

This is the second time I've entered prediction competition.
The first time was during Roland Garros.

As a proper Nole fan, I retired in round 3, having to go on a holiday. Naturally, I must have ended up last.
That took a lot of pressure off me this time

I never even read the rules on how the points work, just dived into it with my eyes closed, hoping I don't land on the rock bottom.

I was happily sat in the back seat having fun observing others voicing their competitive pride and frustrations.

I enjoyed the tournament with a new dimension because of who I voted for, I ended up cheering for players I otherwise NEVER would have (Andreev who won his match btw, springs to mind).

Then suddenly I ended up getting 6/6 one day and somehow, totally unplanned remained at the top till now .

I really wanted to make you all look good, so apologies for stuffing it up

Which now brings me to having to thank those who have put me into this silly position

Big thank you to the tournament organiser ROTLA who worked hard every day and provided this lovely fun corner for us all to enjoy. I know it was hard having to balance us with your daily job and that horrible boss and useless workmates who you had to cover for in order to meet the deadline last week!

Huge thanks to my box, Novak Djokovic, whose fiery tennis and character kept me sleepless and thrilled almost every night during the last fortnight

I would like to congratulate Sphair, who I believe is the runner-up. I believe you are a multiple slam prediction game holder, so I'm sure you'll have many more tournaments to celebrate at

Friendly tap on my racquet for everyone else who took part and better luck next time

Thank you to the crowd who did not take part but read those threads, I hope you all join next time, if I managed to win, anyone can!

Finally, last but not the least, a very special thank you to Tenez who I have learnt so much from over the years ,whose thoughtful, knowledgeable, and patient posting as well as great passion and love for tennis, and without whom I would never have won this trophy

To Our Tennis Forum and many more nice times like this

Excellent speech!!! That's clearly a well polished one of someone used to winning!!!

It was certainly worth tanking to let the most eloquent OTF poster do the talking at the end.

Indeed well done also to Rotla and his hard work and SPhair for coming 2nd best.

Oh and thanks for the compliments though my results at this very game are a bit in contradictions your kind words.

Bravo!

Oh thanks, Tenez

for the tanking bit!

The weather looking good for tonight's match!

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US

What a speech nitb. Loved every line reading it.

thanks rotla , look forward to Shanghai

noleisthebest wrote:The weather looking good for tonight's match!

[url=http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US[/quote[/url]]

13mph is quite windy.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:The weather looking good for tonight's match!

[url=http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US[/quote[/url]]

13mph is quite windy.

But when it was over, after 3 hours and 58 minutes of high-wire anxiety, it was Murray who thrust both of his index fingers to the sky after surviving Berdych and the 20-mph wind gusts 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7) to advance to tomorrow’s U.S. Open final.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/difficult_conditions_suit_andy_demeanor_ofiUWH6CXy6tZd7mJzi30O#ixzz265O5uQws

[quote="Tenez"]

noleisthebest wrote:The weather looking good for tonight's match!

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US[/quote]

13mph is quite windy.

Didn't see the wind bit, just saw the sun and 10% rain. I hope it subsides....

[quote="laverfan"]

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:The weather looking good for tonight's match!



http://www.weather.com/weather/today/New+York+NY+10007:4:US[/quote]

13mph is quite windy.

But when it was over, after 3 hours and 58 minutes of high-wire anxiety, it was Murray who thrust both of his index fingers to the sky after surviving Berdych and the 20-mph wind gusts 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7) to advance to tomorrow’s U.S. Open final.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/difficult_conditions_suit_andy_demeanor_ofiUWH6CXy6tZd7mJzi30O#ixzz265O5uQws

What do you mean with ?

Murray on tonight's match:

"I know how tough it is to beat the top, top players in big matches,"
Murray said. "I have had some tough losses against him, but also had
some big highs against him, as well. So obviously it will be an
unbelievably tough match. He moves very well on the hard courts. He's a
top, top player, one of the best players that's played...I know it's
going to be a very, very, very, very tough match."

Djokovic:

"Most of our matches that we played against each other were very close,
and only small margins decide the winner," Djokovic said. "That's
something that is expected in a way, because we have similar games. We
are big rivals and we have been in top of the men's game for a long
time, so we know each other really well."

because we have similar games.

see?

The fight is coming in a while and the more I really like to see them both in the final. It is a space for another brutal match. Take some good wine if you are fan of Nole or high quality of branded whisky to cheer up Andy and prepare some cheese or crackers and just let us enjoy it.

Come on Nole!