US Open: The Fourth Day

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

There are certain times that are special in sport. The Super Bowl is one, the soccer World Cup is another, the Olympics, of course -- those few golden weeks where you watch swimming and love it -- and these times are rare. For me, personally, the most special day in sport in the entire year is the second Monday at Wimbledon. I love it. So much tennis that I almost feel ill afterwards. Singles matches between top tenners, doubles matches, mixed doubles and junior action, too. It is simply awesome. Being at Wimbledon is so so special, as well. It is so old world and I love that stuff, though it is not to everyone's taste. They have a guide to queuing because in Britain queuing is a sport. It is an event that is worthy of celebration. The strawberries and cream should be expensive and you should sit on the grass on a picnic blanket at Henman Hill rather than on a bench because, quite simply, that is the way it is meant to be. The matching outfits that the officials wear and the all white rule I also love, and I wait for Wimbledon the same way a child waits for Christmas. But then once it concludes, to what do i look forward to?

Why the US Open, of course.

The crowd may be loud and raucous, but whereas Wimbledon applies to the orderly, neat side of me, the Open really sings to the rough and tumble side of me. The crowd dynamic and the way the matches are played is incredible. It is almost gladiatorial in its nature. It is sheer physicality, muscling shots from the baseline rather than playing delicate slices and coming to the net at Wimbledon. Wimbledon is like an old fashioned English village with thatch cottages and Maggie Smith-type people, but the US Open is more like a mining town. Old world in a different way. More in your face, and I mean that in a good way, and more enthralling in some ways. These two events capture my imagination and the imagination of many others.

There are eight former champions left in the draw if you include defending champ Murray. Del Potro plays Hewitt, which means that one way or another there will be seven tomorrow. Although seven is quite a large amount still. Hewitt, Federer, Delpo, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have all one this event as have [S] Williams and Kuznetsova. I think the men's champion will be a former winner and on the women's side it is possible for Sveta and Williams to meet in the final but the odds on that are quite long. But I have gone on for too long and must now focus on yesterday's action.

Blake is finished now as he and Sock lost in three to second seeds Peya/Soares 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The Bryans beat Argentines Delbonis/Mayer in straight sets but eleventh seeds Gonzalez/Lipsky lost to an Israeli pairing of Erlich and Ram.The eighth seeds also went out in straight sets to Stakhovsky/Youzhny whilst Nestor/Pospisil won and so did fourteenth seeds Mahut/Llodra.The fourth seeds Paes/Stepanek came through in straights against Tursunov/Nieminen. The seventh seeds Benneteau/Zimonjic cruised but third seeds Granollers/Lopez were in trouble before coming back to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-1. The ninth seeds Marrero/Verdasco lost to Murray/Peers in straight sets. The sixteenth seeds were pushed but came through 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 against Knowle/Melzer. Also, the fifth seeds Qureshi/Rojer won despite losing the first set to Janowicz/Kubot.

And now some singles...


BLOCKBUSTER BUST-UP: Isner def. Monfils, USA/FRA
...One of those classic night matches that the US Open specialises in except that it wasn't. It didn't go five and it was only two hours and fifty five minutes long in the end. Isner finished 60-55 and 23-2 in the winners and aces ratio. Monfils was 35-29 and 7-3 in the aces. The crowd was so set on getting their magical fifth set that they got on Monfils side, which Isner was obviously disappointed by and he said so later. I would have been disappointed, too, if my home crowd didn't back me and I was the number one for that country. Monfils, of course, had the two shots of the match but overall he wasn't as focused as perhaps he should have been. Monfils break dancing was good, though, so perhaps that makes up for it. Isner was very happy with the win and the warm handshake was also nice to see. He plays Kohl next, who put him out of the US Open last year. It looks as if the epic Isnadal match in the fourth round is going to happen, and probably under the lights, too. I am hoping that happens, I really am.

Perhaps Isner could channel his inner Vader and tell Kohl this: "When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master."
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ROSOL MOMENT: Murray/Peers , GBR/AUS
...The Aussie/Brit combo was too good for the Spanish duo of Marrero/Verdasco, the eighth seeds. Perray were 4-3 on the aces and winners ratio. The Spaniards were 5-5 on those same ratio. There was just one break in their 7-6 6-4 upset win, though they had 6 break points and their opponents had two. Perray also won 73 points, just three more than their opponents in the 81 minute contest. They will play the winners of [7]Benneteau/Zimonjic and Baker/Ram in the third round, after they won their second round doubles match earlier today.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Huey/Inglot (PHI/GBR) & Knowle/Melzer (AUT/AUT)
...Doubles again, as we had no five setters in the men's singles. In fact, we have been short of really epic mens' matches, but I watched the Peng/Kuznetsova match, which lasted about 2 and three quarter hours, and was one of the most frustrating things I've ever watched. Peng decided just to hit moon balls and loopy ones midway through the second set. Kuznetsova never really applies brain power to matches as her A-game usually works. Unfortunately, just bludgeoning her way through Peng wasn't working so she tried, yep you guessed it, hitting it harder. On more than one occasion I found myself with my head in my hands. And as soon as Sveta decided to mix up the play with slices and angles you'll never guess what happened- she made progress (to nobody's surprise).

Anyway, stepping away from my slightly related tangent, the Filipino/Anglo pairing of Hunglot beat the Austrian pairing in an epic three setter to move through to the next round. It took them 2 hours and five minutes to go through courtesy of two breaks to none and 106 points to 99. They were 12-9 in both the aces and winners count whilst their opponents were 5 apiece in both of those ratios. I've seen Hunglot in an interview and they seem like really nice guys, though of course that does not matter at all in sport. They play Guccione/Tomic or third seeds Granollers/Lopez next.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Nadal/Dutra Silva, ESP/BRA
...It took Nadal 92 minutes to completely dismantle Brazilian Dutra Silva. He was 3-0 and 30-15 in the ratios while his opponent was 2-5 and 9-22. Nadal won 84 points to his opponent's 46 in this 2, 1 and love drubbing, smashing, annihilation, massacre. In fact, the ballboys had to clean the blood off the court once Nadal had finished with his victim. Complete and utter dominance. Spank you very much for coming, see you later.
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HOME GROWN HERO: Jack Sock, USA
...It took Sock two and a half hours to finally beat Gonzalez of Argentina in four sets. He won 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. He was 7-9 and 48-39 as opposed to his opponent's more modest ratios of 3-4 and 23-24. The numbers don't lie-Sock was the aggressor with that forehand of his that can be so devastating. He won 12 more points than his opponent and served well. Gonzalez benefited from the injured Janowicz to come through, but Sock was too much on this occasion and he will now go on to face Tipsarevic, which is a winnable match. After that, should come Ferrer which will be more difficult but I think Sock has a really good chance against Tipsy, though only time will tell.
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