US Open: Seventh (Day) Heaven

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

...'Tis raining outside and if you were wanting something to do whilst the rain -hopefully- blows itself out then perhaps you could check out this list of songs about rain*.

* Rain Songs

The forecast looks quite bad for the next two days until Wednesday, which is a pity, but then again they have scheduled the Open to finish on a Monday. Of the past three men's and women's champions, four are still left in the draw. Stosur crashed out to Duval and Clijsters is no longer with us** -I know, I'm enjoying giving links at the moment, but it is raining at a slam so we have to do something till the rain goes away- but Narayovic and a certain S.Williams are still very much alive in the draw.

** WTA Backspin: The Best of Clijsters

But enough of the past, what of the present?

The boys singles has started -a sign that we are truly in the middle of a slam now- but I'll just whip through the seeds quickly -I can be more in-depth when there are less matches- before proceeding to the doubles, and then I shall dispense with some regular awards. #6 seed Tatlot won his opener 3 and 1 and the tenth seed Medvedev of Russia cruised, too, winning 4 and 2. Britain's Norrie crashed out in two sight sets 6-4, 7-5 to Onishi of Japan, but in boys singles that isn't really an upset as anything can happen really. Croatia has the fourth seed -Borna Coric- and he smashed Paul of the USA 6-2, 6-1. Fifth seed Kozlov of the USA lost to Miedler of Austria 6-1,6-2 and the Chilean seventh seed Nunez suffered a similar fate as he led by a set but lost in three to McDonald of the USA. Seeds 12 (Russia's Khachanov) and 13 (Geens of Belgium) needed three sets to come through.

Now we go on to the prestigious men's doubles third round. The Bryans were a set and a break down with an upset very much in the cards before the mighty brothers came back and won 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 against Nestor/Pospisil. Despite being out-hit by their opposition, they were 11-8 and a whopping 68-15 with regard to their ratios, the Bryans still came through though with more modest stats of 4-3 and 33-3. The Bryans also broke 4 times and were only broken once.

And the Bryans will play Fleming/Marray, the 12 seeds who beat sixth seeded Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin in an hour and 21 minutes. They were 5-4 in both their stats whilst their opponents were 6-3 in both of theirs. They won 73 points in their 6-4, 6-4 victory. The winner of their quarterfinal will play the fifth or fourth seeds most likely.

The fourth seeds edged past the fourteenth seeds 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Steps/Paes beat Llodra/Mahut in 2 hours 12 minutes. The fourth seeds were 7-4 and 35-18 but their opponents could only manage 1-1 and 33-17. It was a high quality match and the fourth seeds will play either Lu/Sharn or Qureshi/Rojer. The Open does not necessarily organise the doubles by halves or even sections. Go figure.

On the other half of the draw, Murray and Peers, the unseeded Anglo-Aus combo won an epic match 5-7, 7-6, 7-6. It took them two hours and forty-four minutes to do so however. They were 3-8 and 56-32, which are very so-so stats. Their opponents were 3-2 and 36-25. They defeated the American pairing of Baker/Ram, winning 125 points to 121 in the process. There was also exactly one break point in the match. Peers/Murray were nought from six on break point opportunities whilst their opponents were one from three. It was a good match and they will play the second seeds most likely.

There has also been a lot of action elsewhere, too.


BLOCKBUSTER BUST-UP: Wawrinka d. Baghdatis, SUI/CYP
...A pair of birds who have flown and flapped under the radar thus far. Wawrinka was not really talked about and neither was Baghdatis, but they lit up Louis Armstrong for a few hours last night. They both play exciting tennis and last night was no different. I remember a match they played at the Aussie a while back that was amazing before the Cypriot collapsed. Anyway, Bagman had respectable stats of 16-8 and 47-48 but his opponent had perhaps slightly stronger, though they were fairly even overall stat-wise, ones of 11-5 and 53-50. Winning 151 points to his opponent's 132 Wawrinka moves on to play Berdman in a winnable match. I think Berdie is the heavy favourite there, but Vavsy can win. Either way I am looking forward to it and I think most tennis fans are, as well.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Denis Istomin, UZB
..Istomin is unranked but dangerous -Side note: I saw him live at Queens- and he can turn it on at any moment. He even had Djokovic on the ropes in Canada before going down. He can play on any surface and he is the sort of player that other people find uncomfortable to play. Anyway, he posted strong stats of 24-6 and 54-57, outgunning his opponent's 10-5 and 38-43. He won 138 points, which is four more than his Italian opponent Seppi. He won despite throwing a lead, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1. He now plays Murray and that match might be a step too far. He has a career run here but to be honest he has had a few career runs and I would not be surprised if he were a low seed at the next slam even.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Granollers/Smyczek, ESP/USA)
I'm gonna wish Jimmy Connors happy sixty-first here and give you another link -- yay!*.

Righty, -or should that be lefty? - now where was I? Aha, yes. Marcy picked up two awards today from me, one of which was the Marathon Man award. This match was only three hours and 24 minutes long, which is quite short for Granollers comparatively. He and his opponent were both 10-3 with the ace ratio, but Marcy was just 32-29 where his opponent was an impressive 73-64. In fact, Smyczek won 146 points, just one less than the Spaniard. He has come back from the dead more times than Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have had comebacks this week and he must be running on close to empty surely. Granollers will now face Djokovic and I fear that match is going to go as well for Granollers as cheese does when faced with a sharp grater.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Berdych/Benneteau, CZE/FRA
...I don't remember the last time Benny was handed such a whipping. Berdych mastered him in one hour and 53 minutes. I picked this match because it is so one sided and it is so one sided between two very good players. Berydch had strong stats of 11-1 and 36-14 whilst his opponent was 5-6 and 23-28. Berdych won 30 more points than his opponent, with 93. Berdych broke his opponent six times whilst being broken not once. He had an average first serve speed of 122 and his hardest serve was 134. I think he will have no difficulties with Vavsy if he can serve like this. In fact, I think he is semifinal bound once more.
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ELVIS AWARD: Marcel Granollers, ESP
...I will be repeating myself, so I won't -- but I think you know why he wins this award. In fact, I am getting a little annoyed with his hoggin' of this award.
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HOME GROWN HERO: Mackenzie McDonald, USA
...I mentioned him above. He beat the seventh seed in the boys singles 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in two hours and two minutes. Nunez is a talented player but he was not at the races it seems. Mackenzie was 2-1 in his stats while his opponent was 1-7 in his. Mackenzie also won 101 points to the Chilean's 96. I won't pick the Bryans for this because home grown hero implies that they aren't as well known. It says something that I've had to go to the boys singles this early, frankly, but no matter because as surely as I sit here today grumbling about the weather Sloane Stephens will win slams.
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