US Open: End of Days

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Well, our final slam of the year has concluded with Nadal the victor. He was the best player all tournament and dropped only one set. The Spaniard is now just four slams behind Roger Federer and he should overtake the Swiss. He could do it at the 2015 Australian Open. I don't think he will, though, because his knees are so temperamental. If he stays injury free, he overtakes Fed, but if not he will struggle to do so. I also don't quite think he has five more French Opens left in him, so if he is going to overtake he has to win slams off grass but that clearly is not a problem. Also, if Roger wins just one more slam I think Nadal is going to find it difficult to overtake the Swiss superstar. Anyway, the Spaniard was really too good for Gasquet and Djokovic despite both playing good tennis.

But what are the next big events on the calendar? We have the Davis Cup. This week, in fact. This Friday through Sunday. I will predict the Serbs to win 3-2 if Djokovic is playing, and lose by that score if he decides not to play. Del Potro is not playing, but Berdie is and so is the 2013 US Open doubles champion. I pick the Czechs 4-1.

In a few weeks, the China and Japan Opens begin. They run from the twenty-ninth to the sixth but the China Open technically starts on the 22nd and runs through to the sixth because it is both a WTA and ATP event. The top eight women's seeds are Williams, Azarenka, Sharapova, Radwanska, Li, Errani, Wozniacki and Kerber, but those seeds are subject to change. The men's are Djokovic, Nadal, Ferrer, Berdych, Gasquet, Wawrinka, Haas and Janowicz. In Japan, Murray leads the seedings followed by Tsonga, Raonic, Nishikori, Simon, Almagro, Anderson and Tipsarevic. All seedings are subject to change. Last year Nishikori defeated Raonic 7-6 [5], 3-6, 6-0 while Djokovic beat Tsonga 7-6 [4], 6-2 in the Japan Open final. There are a few Asian 250s like the Malaysian Open before those two 500's. We also have some Masters in October, Shanghai and Beijing off the top of my head.

As interesting as the future is, we aren't there yet and as I don't own a DeLorean I shall now focus on the present.

Sithole concluded his excellent tournament with another upset victory over top seed Wagner. He went unbeaten to get to the final and he beat Wagner there 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in exactly two hours. He had stats of 4-7 and 4-7 overall whilst his opponent had stats of 6-5 and 6-5 overall. They both broke 5 times, though the South African had more opportunities to do so. Sithole won six more points than Wagner, who won 90. Peter Norfolk was not at the US Open in 2013, but the Briton apparently has the nickname The Quadfather.

Good news for France in the Wheelchair men's singles final. Houdet beat Kunieda 6-2, 6-4. He was seeded second, but he was too good for the top seed on that particular occasion.

In the Boy's singles, Croat Coric won his match by breaking six times to his opponent's three times. He won 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and fifty-five minutes. He won 80 points, fourteen more than his opponent, and came away with 6 aces and 6 total winners to no unforced errors.

Right, the last three matches of the men's singles...

NADAL D. GASQUET ESP/FRA
...Gasquet hit 33 double faults during the tournament, the most on the men's side, but Vika did hit 38 on the ladies' side. He did a double match point down and one to open the breaker in the second set. Both were costly. He lost to Nadal in two hours and twenty-one minutes 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. It was a competitive high quality match until Nadal broke Gasquet in the third. Once that happened, you could literally here Gasqy's will snap with a twang. The match was the equivalent of a Davis Cup dead rubber after that. Reechard had mediocre stats of 6-4 and 26-32. He got frustrated against Nadal and tried to go for too much a few too many times. In fairness, he played a good match and did not disgrace himself out there. But enough of the vanquished, what of the winner? Nadal has won 40 break points this Open which is bested by only Djokovic's 41. He had more consistent stats of 3-1 and 35-24 overall. He lost his serve for the first time but the Frenchie did have six break points. Nadal had four break points and converted all of them. Nadal also won 102 points, eighteen more than his opponent. Despite a test, Nadal had all the answers to Gasquet's questions much like Batman has all the answers when it comes to the Riddler.

Good highlights here, but quick before the USTA takes them down :


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DJOKOVIC D. WAWRINKA SRB/SUI
...He faced two surprise opponents with one-handed backhands in a row on his way to the final. Indeed, both he and Nadal faced flashy Central-European players with lots of game and lots of unique qualities, but the top seeds both came through. Djokovic struggled more, though, as he and Wawrinka both won 165 points. The Serb eventually won 2-6, 7-6 [4], 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. in four hours and sixteen minutes. Wawrinka and Djokovic had pretty similar stats. The Swiss finished with 8-7 and 57-69 overall. His opponent was more conservative with 9-6 and 38-46 overall. Wawrinka broke five times from nine whilst the Djoker broke four times from nineteen and the Swiss also won 25 games, one more than his opponent. They played an incredible match and it has been quite the tournament for Wawrinka as he beat the fifth and third seeds before severely testing the top seed. He and Gasquet insured their positions and should Tsonga stay injured, he will fall down to 11 because Stan and Richie are just behind him. If they were to overtake him, then Gasquet would be one away from his career high ranking whilst Wawrinka would be at his career high.
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NADAL D. DJOKOVIC, ESP/SRB
...I did not watch this as I was regrettably busy and that means I can't really pass judgment on it. It sounds as if it was high quality and filled with long rallies. It took the Spaniard three hours and twenty-one minutes to come through 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Nadal had seven opportunities to break and broke five times while his opponent had eleven chances but could take only three. Djokovic was aggressive and had stats of 6-2 and 46-53 whilst Rafa opted for the conservative route with 1-1 and 27-20 overall. Nadal won 121 points, his opponent 102 in this tight four setter. It isn't often a 6-1 set lasts forty minutes. Nadal will be world number one at some point this year for sure. Unfortunately, I can't say much more about this match but it was a very good one and it did not disappoint on quality.

Ummmm fifty-one minute highlights package here:




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