US open 2012: Matches of the Day: Day 8

This is where it starts to get real serious.

1. Andy Murray (GBR)[3]
vs.
Milos Raonic (CAN)[15]

2. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[11]
vs.
Tomas Berdych (CZE)[6]

3. Marin Cilic (CRO)[12]
vs.
Martin Klizan (SVK)

Can Klizan create any more upsets?


----------
WTA:

4. Angelique Kerber (GER)[6]
vs.
Sara Errani (ITA)[10]

5. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
vs.
Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[12]

more serious but less points!

1. Milos Raonic (CAN)[15]

2. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[6]

3. Marin Cilic (CRO)[12]

Can Klizan create any more upsets? good question

4. Roger Federer (SUI)[1]....only one point for that?

----------
WTA:

5. Angelique Kerber (GER)[6]

6. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Tenez wrote:more serious but less points!

Guessing the winner in a match of unseeded players is much more difficult. Hence more points at stake.

Tenez wrote: 4. Roger Federer (SUI)[1]....only one point for that?

Is it a difficult guess? I was thinking of not putting this match at all.

I'm actually removing that match.

My picks:

1. Milos Raonic (CAN)[15]
2. Berdych
3. Cilic
4. kerber
5. Ivanovic

WTA!

Phew... I'm glad a I saw a few matches, still it's women, so you can never be sure

Murray, Berdych, Cilic, Kerber, Pironkova.

OH, just 5 matches today?

Found it hard with Klizan, as I don't even know what the guy looks like let alone how he plays ....anyway, this pressure of being number one is beginning to burden me , can someone come to the rescue please! ...

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:I'm actually removing that match.

Please keep it..it makes me nervous now!

noleisthebest wrote:...anyway, this pressure of being number one is beginning to burden me , can someone come to the rescue please! ...

Only Sphair is close enough to trouble you in time. From now on, prediction shall become easier and the less points at stake. If you have survived the first week at the top, very likely you'll end with the win ( unless you screw up bad ).

noleisthebest wrote:....anyway, this pressure of being number one is beginning to burden me , can someone come to the rescue please! ...

This from a Djokovic fan?

Murray (Raonic may cause a flutter though), Berdych, Cilic, Kerber, Ivanovic.

Raonic, Berdych, Cilic, Kerber, Pironkova

1. Andy Murray (GBR)[3]
2.Tomas Berdych (CZE)[6]

3. Martin Klizan (SVK)

Can Klizan create any more upsets?


----------
WTA:

4.Sara Errani (ITA)[10]

5. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

OK! Rotla I can see you mean business as I would normally always put Murray or Djoko to lose but on this one can really Raonic win? I had put him to lose too on all my previous picks, +nitb also is putting Murray to win and it is getting too close between us to make bad picks on those matches between seeds... Here are the winning picks of the day:
1. Murray
2. Berdych
3. Klizan
4. Kerber
5. Pironkova
But why are we starting WTA just now? I was thinking either it would be ATP from start to finish or combined from the start, oh well... Rotla you're the boss on that one, so can't complain!

Fish withdraws.

That's not good! Really annoying! Good for Fed though as at 31 he can do with a bit of rest.

Let's see how Federer handles the Fognini effect.

Tenez wrote:Let's see how Federer handles the Fognini effect.

I think this is really good for him at his age,Berdych will be tough looking at how well he was striking the ball today.Berdych can cause Roger a lot of problems

Yes, though I'd be very surprised if Fed were to lose v Berdych. To me most of his losses to Berdych have had a kind of an * with it. A bit like v Roddick.

Just reading though that brings back a few memories,and yes I agree Berdych's biggest win over Roger was when he was injured

Sarah Errani on fire...looks like shes been visiting Dr Luis Garcia again

Surprised to see that no one else picked Errani

wow3 wrote:Surprised to see that no one else picked Errani

I don;t like her game. Another moonballer.

Tenez wrote:

wow3 wrote:Surprised to see that no one else picked Errani

I don;t like her game. Another moonballer.

She is the Nadal of female game.

Klizan Cilic's match is pretty violent. Ball bashing at its best. Fun to watch though. I can't believe some went with their babies to watch teh match....mind you in happened a few rows from me in last WTF final.

Order of play out for tomorrow

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/schedule15.html

Cilic
Saw just the last few games,and couldn't draw ANY conclusions. At least I know what Klizan looks like noow and that he is a lefty with nice loose shots.

Saw Cilic from close up at Boodles, he was far off from his top form from a few years ago, so he must be getting close to it now.

He used to be good to watch as he moved forward so lightly and well with his height, but then since the injury he played exclusive base-line tennis.

Looking at the stats, he seems to have visited the net a few times, so if he is where he left it two years ago, he could be tricky in the quarters.

Anyone staying up for Murray Raonic?

tempting but I really can't. I need my sleep.

I've had my sleep. Just collapsed on the sofa at 8 PM

Plus, I got to see almost zero tennis today, so I've got an excuse....

noleisthebest wrote:I've had my sleep. Just collapsed on the sofa at 8 PM

Plus, I got to see almost zero tennis today, so I've got an excuse....

LOL! I wish I could sleep that easily. Had they started it at 12 I would have made the effort to watch the first set...but no way I'll wait for that womens double to finish.

I've got some typing to do which has been hanging over my head for the last 3 months!
That will fill in an hour nicely, glad I remembered it.

Tenez wrote:Had they started it at 12 I would have made the effort to watch the first set...but no way I'll wait for that womens double to finish.

I think they reshuffled the schedule and the latest plan is to start at 12:30am your time, with doubles moved to Armstrong.

thats a good news! I will check now.

summerblues wrote:

Tenez wrote:Had they started it at 12 I would have made the effort to watch the first set...but no way I'll wait for that womens double to finish.

I think they reshuffled the schedule and the latest plan is to start at 12:30am your time, with doubles moved to Armstrong.

AH! That changes the deal a bit. Thanks for that....or should I really thank you?

Matchstarting!
Raonic serving &volley8ing on the first point, Murray passing him on the run!
And now the serve fest begins 2 aces followed by a serve winner!
Scary
will be interesting to see how Murray reacts and how long it takes him to crack that serve.

This is where mental game shows itself well: how someone else's briliant serving affects yours. they are both fragile in that department, Murray more than Raonic, but Raonic is not immune, either.
Whoever loses the serve loses the set even just a few points. Raonic is now experienced enough to know how to carry on under that kind of pressure.
Still!

Did you know that Murray won 2004 USO for juniors by beating........?




Strakhovski!

Crowd - cold , dead and undecided.

noleisthebest wrote:Did you know that Murray won 2004 USO for juniors by beating........?




Strakhovski!

Interesting....this Stark is really talented.

I am impressed by the pace of rallies here.

Tenez wrote:I am impressed by the pace of rallies here.

I had a similar thought in a different form: "Anyone missing Nadal?"
You can see how Nadal's presence makes everyone else look worse than they normally are. He really drags tennis down across the board because everyone (except Rosol) was able to beat him (or try to beat him) almost exclusively by outnadaling him and playing his game.

yep.

Rao throwing 2 double faults and gets broken..

They hit so hard...not really caring about the placement of the ball.

Tenez wrote:They hit so hard...not really caring about the placement of the ball.

you don't have much other choice from the baseline if you don't want the ball to come back....Raonic appears agile enough to move in the court much, much more often. He'll NEVER beat Murray from the base-line.
Also, he lacks guile in his make-up. Very honest , plain kind of tennis, just like Laura Robson. They both need to inject some inner spice into their games, not just hard-hitting, however "brave" it looks.

The overhead miss classic example of Raonic's hot head. I have seen it so many times!

lack of experience and nerves showing. Its was never going to be easy for Raonic, but he isn't even in the right direction.

Raonica can lay really well when fired-up and angry a bit. Anything but the nice-happy kid he's being most of the time!

It's not a question of overhead, did you see the ball Murray got back? Rao did not expect to see it over his head in the first place.

Murray moves better than Nadal and Ferrer combined now despite his 1m90.

Sure I got that match wrong cause clearly Murray is reaching new heigth (essentially physically) I had not seen before.

Tenez wrote:It's not a question of overhead, did you see the ball Murray got back? Rao did not expect to see it over his head in the first place.

I knew you'd say that !

Yes, Murray reminds me a lot of Nadal with sprinting all over the court recently; only moonballing was missing!

Murray does look extremely cardio fit. I'd love to see Fed take time away from him.
I'm sure he'll be a lot more motivated than at the Olympics where he looked half-interested.