US Open Halfway Awards

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

We started out with 128 players all wanting to win one of the most prestigious sporting trophies there is. Some of them had more realistic title aspirations than others, while some of them just wanted to win a few matches. After seven days, we have gone from 128 to just 16, just one-eighth of the players we had last Monday. So the time is now ripe for some awards, although one should bear in mind these awards are in no particular order, some are much more prestigious than others and some I have stolen from Todd's awards, too, but tweaked a little.

Afterwards I will rank or seed the remaining competitors from 16 down to 1...

Best Match : HEWITT/DELPO, AUS/ARG
...The Aussie vet literally rolled back the clock and had what was the performance almost of his career. I still think the way he dismantled Nalbandian in the Wimbledon final is very impressive, but his performance against Del Potro was incredible, especially considering his age, his injuries and the fact that he hasn't looked like winning a big match for ages. Del Potro was considered the dark horse for the title and his early loss means he will lose ranking points and it will definitely knock his confidence, what with being two sets to one up before crashing out. Hewitt and Delpo played awe-inspiring tennis of very high quality in an electric atmosphere. Hewitt hit 10 aces and 42 winners whilst his opponent hit 11 aces and 41 winner, though perhaps the Argentine's 70 unforced errors were the reason he lost.
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Player of the week : FEDERER, SUI
...This award was so tightly contested and it goes to Federer based on the stats, but only just barely. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all looked ominous but the quality of Federer and Nadal's opponents were of slightly higher caliber than that of Djokovic, and Federer's stats just barely shade Nadal's. Federer and Nadal have both dropped just 21 games each. Federer has won 18 return games and hit 106 winners. He has also hit 26 aces and been broken just twice. He is unlikely to win the tournament, but in the first three rounds he has been the most impressive player. Although the fact it had to go down to stats and the calibre of opposition shows how well Fedalovic are playing right now.
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Most entertaining player: LLODRA, FRA
...This award seemingly always goes to a Frenchman and this year it is the turn of Llodra, and being entertaining for him is second nature. He played drop serves and lobs and dropshots, not to mention the usual chip and charges he executes so well. It's hard to describe all the was he is entertaining, but below is a highlights reel of Llodra which is worth watching.

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Most disapointing player: NISHIKORI, JPN
...Before the tournament, I thought the Japanese would dominate his section and cruise through to the quarters. He didn't, though. Evans, the British number two and outside the world's 200 beat him without any trouble 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. He hit just 3 aces and only 24 winners, double faulted 8 times and missed 38 times. He didn't turn up, and quietly thus opened the door for Robredo.
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Oh, he did better than expected: TIPSAREVIC, SRB
...Tipsarevic was in dreadful form coming in, but maybe now he has recovered some of that form. He has dropped a few sets and he hasn't played excellent tennis but he has ground his way into the fourth round. Defending quarterfinal points from 2012 -- though he made the quarters in '11, too -- he knew he had to do well here lest he fall even further down the rankings. He plays Ferrer next and though he probably will not win that match he may just have found some form. He lost the middle set in his opener against Cuevas, but when leading two sets to one the Uruguayan quit. He eased past Sela 6-4, 6-4 and 6-1. He then came back from a set and a break against Sock 3-6, 7-6, 6-6, 6-2. He has not played pretty tennis, but rather the tennis he needs to play.
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Oh, wow, that guy's still around? Where's he been hiding?: BAGHDATIS, CYP
....Baghdatis is still here. This surprised me actually as I'd forgotten he was here. I don't think I even mentioned him in my preview. Well, he smashed Anderson before giving it a real go against Wawrinka, though he eventually fell short 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6. He has been in a huge slump as of late and again this may rekindle his form into a burning fire, but honestly who knows with Bagman?
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Glass Slippers: EVANS, GBR
...The British number two eased past the Japanese number one, then the Australian number one before finally going down to the Spanish number four. It was an incredible odyssey. He came back well against Tomic and even looked to be starting a comeback against Robredo before going down 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. He had stopped partying and instead decided to really concentrate on his tennis career. It is clear he has a big game and he imposed it on several world class players before a consistent, wily veteran figured out how to beat him.
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Zombie King : GRANOLLERS, ESP
...The Spaniard will be marrying the Zombie Queen from WTA Backspin! He has had an incredible tournament, but he must be exhausted by now. I have a horrible feeling Djokovic is going to slaughter him. Granollers was two sets to one down against Zopp but won 6-1, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. He really was down and out but, no, he came back and won. Then in the next round, he found himself two sets to none down and surely this time he was finished. Well, no, because, much like Adam West's Batman, he seems impossible to kill. Finally, though, Tim Smyczek got to 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 up against the Spaniard. Now, surely, it was time for the Spaniard to exit. He had just been bageled and his opponent was playing exceptional tennis. The American was riding a big wave of confidence. Yet again, though, he produced some kind of Houdini magic and won the match 6-4, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5. He should have been ousted thrice and thrice he has come back from the dead, making him our Zombie King.
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Stephen Kiprotich : GRANOLLERS, ESP
...The man above is Ugandan and he won the men's marathon at the Olympics. It is back to back awards for Granollers as he has been on court for 9 hours, 44 minutes... or 584 minutes. That is a long time. That is around the same time as a flight to Vietnam from London, I think. That is London to San Francisco, too, I'm pretty sure. It is also less then the amount of time Serena took to win Wimbledon back in 2010. I don't think I can watch Djokovic play the Spaniard because it will be brutal.
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Best American Award : SMYCZEK, USA
...I did not predict Tim winning this award but, honestly, the less said about American men the better at this year's Open.
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Man of many aces : ISNER/RAONIC, NORTH AMERICA
1. J.Isner, USA - 3 matches (65)
1. M.Raonic, CAN - 3 matches (65)
3. F.Lopez, ESP - 3 matches (51)
4. I.Karlovic, CRO - 2 matches (50)
5. S.Querrey, USA - 2 matches (49)
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Best lefty not named Nadal: MANNARINO, FRA
...The "Best Lefty Not Named Nadal Award" is a very prestigious one. Despite losing 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 to Roger, the flashy Frenchie still picks up an award. He beat Zeballos in four, coming back from a set down, and he also beat Querrey 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. He had ratios of 70- 67 and and 25-10. He was also the last lefty standing who wasn't Nadal, so he picks up this particular award.
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Olympics Award:
...I will be ranking countries now. USA is the "Nation of Poor souls" this year.

1) Gold- Spain. A quarter of the players left in are Spanish, and Nadal is almost a dead certainty for the final. I think there is a good chance of there being two Spanish semifinalists.
2) Silver- Switzerland. Federer and Wawrinka are still here. Spain were probably always going to get gold, but silver is a respectable finish for the Swiss.
3) Bronze- Serbia. We expected Djokovic, but not Tipsarevic, to be here. They edge France to the bronze because France have had a fairly disappointing tournament.
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Righteo, I shall now rank the remaining contenders as to how likely they are to win the US Open from here, though, of course, this is just my opinion based on the form they are in now and also on the stats they each have so far:

#16 Denis Istomin UZB
#15 Marcel Granollers ESP
#14 Janko Tipsarevic SRB
#13 Philip Kohlschreiber GER
#12 Tommy Robredo ESP
#11 Mikhail Youzhny RUS
#10 Stanislas Wawrinka SUI
#9 Lleyton Hewitt AUS
#8 Milos Raonic CAN
#7 Richard Gasquet FRA
#6 David Ferrer ESP
#5 Andy Murray GBR
#4 Tomas Berdych CZE
#3 Roger Federer SUI
#2 Rafael Nadal ESP
#1 Novak Djokovic SRB

All for now. So thanks and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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