US Open: Day 8

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

I welcome you to a change of format as we get into the latter stages. From here, I will just review each match in the singles and in the doubles, plus going through the boys singles and doubles. Unless told otherwise by the powers that be, I will leave the mixed doubled for now. Anyway, there was a lot of action during yesterday's play and it also looks like the end of an era right now. Gasquet actually won a fourth round match, which means he is now 2-15 in fourth rounds but does have a hundred per cent record in quarterfinals. Raonic has yet to make it to the quarters of a slam, but his ranking may still rise after this event.

Oh, speaking of Gasquet, here are two tennis footwear related videos for you to enjoy:




Also, rain cut short happening during the US Open and that may affect the following report somewhat.

In the boys singles:

The Mexican Villasenor beat Aussie Mousley 6-4, 6-2 in 55 minutes to move through to the second round where the lucky loser will take on top seeded Zverev of Germany. Despite hitting nine doubles, the top seeded German still came through 6-3, 7-6 in an hour and a half. Garin, the third seed from Chile, came through in three sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-0. Apparently the second set took 175 minutes according to the US Open match stats, but that may have something to do with the rain delay. He will face Ymer of Sweden next and then probably the thirteenth seed Geens of Belgium. Janvier is January in French, but it is also the surname of a French junior and that junior thrashed Brazil's Hocevar 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes. He will play Mcdonald of America next in the second round.


Doubles: BRYANS d. FLEMING/MARRAY USA/GBR
...If Bob gets injured right before a slam, would Mike then be allowed to go and play doubles with someone? If I was Bob and injured then I would let Mike, and then go and watch him play. Anyway, the Bryans needed 97 minutes to see off the Brits 7-6, 6-4. The Brits only had one break point and they failed to break on it. The Bryans had eight chances, breaking once, and they ended with good stats of 3-2 and 34-11 whilst their opponents were 3-4 and 44-15, which was even better. The Brits had their chances, losing 9-7 in the breaker, and they had a couple of set points but the Bryans are through to face a big seed next. But which big seed is yet to be determined.
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Doubles: QURESHI/ROJER d. LU/SHARAN PAK.NED/CHI-TPE/IND
...It took them two hours and five minutes, but Qureshi and Rojer finally prevailed 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 against the surprise duo of Lu/Sharan. The fifth seeds ended with very good stats of 10-1 and 39-17, especially compared to their opponents' 0-7 and 31-13, although they actually won just eight more points than their opponents with 102-94. They played a solid match on serve and broke twice, as did their opponents. But in the end they were too strong and they will play the fourth seeds Stepanek/Paes then the Bryans if they win that match, which they might.
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Doubles: DODIG/MELO d. STAKHOVSKY/YOUZHNY CRO,BRA/UKR,RUS
...The surprise run of Youzhny/Stakhovsky has come to an end at the hands of tenth seeds Dodig/Melo, though not without a fight. It took the tenth seeds two hours and nine minutes to come through 6-7 [7-9], 6-4, 6-4. With respectable stats of 4-3 and 4-3 overall, they outdid their opponents, who had 1-4 and 1-4 overall. The tenth seeds will now play Inglot/Huey the sixteenth seeds.
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Doubles: (HUEY/INGLOT d. GRANOLLERS/LOPEZ, PHI,GBR/ESP)
...The third seeded Spaniards have looked out of sorts since after Wimbledon and they struggled here, too, although maybe that is due to Granollers exhausting run in the singles. Anyway, they were not at their best during this loss. Despite not being broken once in the opening set, they still went down 7-6, 6-0 in an hour and 15 minutes in what was a rather flat performance. The Spaniards were 1-2 and 21-8 in their stats, but their opponents were an impressive 6-3 and 42-13. The Brit/Filipino pairing was also not broken once and they eliminated the third seeds, although the second seeds still lurk, likely awaiting them should they win their quarterfinal match.
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Doubles: PEYA/SOARES d. CUEVAS/ZEBALLOS BRA,AUT/URU,ARG
...The South American duo had a nice run here, winning a couple of matches, but the second seeds were too strong and they won 6-3, 7-6 in an hour and 32 minutes. They had stats of 5-3 and 25-14 which were better than their opponents' 4-5 and 20-15. They also broke twice, losing serve just once. The second seeded team now have an easy route through to the final as they will not face a top eight seed again until the final.
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Singles: NADAL d. KOHLSCHREIBER ESP/GER
...The much talked about match is not going to happen. Federer crashed out against Robredo, but more on that below. The top seed in this half, Nadal, came through a stern test in the German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Nadal was bested 7-4 in the opening set breaker but from there he was too strong as he took the next two 6-4, 6-3 before bludgeoning his way through the final set 6-1 to win the four setter in three hours and twelve minutes. Nadal has been ultra-aggressive since his knee injury has started to worsen because, quite simply, time is no longer his ally both in the rallies on court and in his career. Kohl had to play big and he did, compiling big stats of 12-1 and 49-47 overall, but Nadal matched him in the winners if not the aces with very good stats of 3-0 and 48-29. Kohl had just one break point, which went unconverted, whereas Nadal was five breaks of serve from 21 opportunities, though it sounds as if it was a tightly contested match for the first three sets before the Spaniard ran away with the match. After a testing, high quality fourth round match, Nadal goes on to play another one-hander, but not the one we thought it would be.
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Singles: ROBREDO d. FEDERER ESP/SUI
...In the upset of the tournament, Federer was sent packing. It took Robredo just 2 hours and 24 minutes to come through 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fed has respectable statistics of 5-0 and 45-43, which were much better than his opponent's 6-4 and 31-26, but where the match was lost was the fact that Federer has 16 break points but ended up winning just two of them, which is 13 per cent. His opponent had seven chances and 4, which is 57 per cent. That is 44 per cent better than Federer. Robredo also won nine more points than Federer did and was just way more solid. He has made his maiden US Open quarterfinal with that effort, where he will face off with Nadal. And I think he will be a top sixteen seed for the Aussie, as well, if he can have a decent Autumn swing..

* - I think that retirement is an option. God knows I have wanted him to retire before, too, but for now let's let Federer decide what he wants to do.
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Singles: FERRER d. TIPSAREVIC ESP/SRB
...Last year they had the match of the tournament -yes the final was good, but aggressive tennis is always better to watch than passive tennis- and it ended in a fifth set breaker. They got a standing ovation afterwards and they had earned it, as well. This match was also a high quality affair, though there were a few mistakes from both, and it was hard fought because Tipsy came in playing his very best tennis, which meant Ferru had to raise his game, which he did. They had long rallies and fabulous rallies and the defense from both was immense. Ferrer had stats of 13-4 and 46-53 overall, which are not great but not awful, either. This was the area Tipsy lost the match as he had stats of 8-5 and 39-58. Ferrer took three hours and fifty-seven minutes to finally win 7-6 [2] , 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 [3]. He dominated in the breakers, but the fact it was a four hour, four set match shows just what a struggle it was. Ferru will play the winner of the match of the tournament next.
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Singles: GASQUET d. RAONIC FRA/CAN
...Last one, I promise. Gasquet reached his second career quarterfinal yesterday. Last time he edged Roddick in five epic sets after being down two sets to none. He has a 100 per cent record at this stage, but a dismal record in the fourth round. He saved a match point and needed four hours and forty minutes to finally beat the Canadian 6-7 [4], 7-6 [4], 2-6, 7-6 [9], 7-5. He finished with respectable stats of 6-9 and 46-36 overall, but his opponent had stellar stats of 39-11 and 102 -yes 101- to 80 overall. He won 207 points whilst Gasquet won just 195. He also won 30 games with Gasquet winning just 29. It was one of the longest US Open men's singles matches in the Open era, probably top ten if not top five. It was high quality throughout and even saw Gasquet throw a hilarious temper tantrum. Gasquet has finally ended the promising canuck's run, but it took some effort and he will now face Ferrer against whom he has a losing record. But anything can happen at the Open.
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