US Open: Kei and Milos Take on Europe

Hey Y'all. Galileo here .

“You know, the problem with being the last of anything by and by, there be none left at all.”
- Captain Barbosa

Europe has dominated this sport. No finalist this year at any slam has been from out of Europe. In fact, I struggle to remember the last slam finalist not from Europe. Del Potro, Gaudio and Roddick are the last non-European winners of slams. There will be seven European quarterfinalists. There are eight Europeans in the top ten. The two that are not face each other for a quarterfinal place. The dominance of Europe is an incredible feat. Nothing like it has been seen in tennis for some times -- it has always been a global game.

Raonic and Nishikori have a god rivalry going. Nishikori leads it and that includes a final in Japan a few years back. They are the future hope of the world against Europe along with Kyrgios. If they cannot win a slam, I cannot see an end to the dominance of Europe. Home advantage does not mean as much as it once did. It has been a long time since we had even three players win their home slam in a year on either side. In the ladies game the European dominance is not so pronounced, although once Williams retires [which, let’s face it, is sooner rather than later] it will be.

Those two have a blockbuster clash in the fourth round with the winner not only going through to a maiden US Open quarterfinal but also becoming the last player not from Europe left standing. Kevin Anderson bowed out and so is also not in contention, with the same going for Kyrgios. Kyrgios is the future, however, and not the present so there is still room for improvement there. I think Australia is on the comeback trail. After a miserable Olympics and a miserable few years in sport, they are starting to comeback. But for now, Europe is dominant.

Well I shall now get back to what happened in New York...

ARTHUR ASHE: FEDERER d. GRANOLLERS
...Rain interrupted the great one. Luckily it also gave the great one a respite. The rain assisted him, though he would likely have come back and won anyway. Federer has been in many holes in many different events. He knows the standard procedure used to get out of holes. He has been down so many times and has managed to stay not out. Federer showed his class against Granollers by simply rising to a level the Spaniard does not have. Granollers did challenge Federer as I predicted [ I GOT SOMETHING RIGHT!] but he went down fairly easily as the match progressed. Federer could win a record sixth US Open title here. Yes, Bill Tilden won six titles in the twenties. But that was close to a hundred years ago now and as impressive as that is the sport was a different game back then. Change makes me sad. Federer hit thirteen aces and no doubles on his way to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory. Down 5-2 in that first set, Federer would only go on to lose four more games. Fed hit a total of 57 winners and just 27 errors. It was a pretty much perfect match, though that error count should be lower. Federer won 52 per cent of points he was receiving and 66 per cent of his service points. He also managed to break 9 times although he shouldn’t be getting broken twice. Federer and Granollers served at similar speeds pretty consistently throughout. Next up is another solid Spaniard who likes clay the best. Agut has won a grass court title, though, unlike Granollers. Federer is unlikely to drop ten games against Bautista-Agut or a set like he did against Granollers. Federer has a very open path to the finals now.
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ARTHUR ASHE: SIMON D. FERRER
...And with that stunning upset Federer has an open section. In matching his best result here, Simon has ensured Federer will be in the final; for surely none now remain who can challenge Federer in this half. Of course, Ferrer was never really a threat. Could this be Simon’s last big win? He snapped Ferrer’s sixteen match win streak in this slam round. Simon could be having his last hurrah. He missed a slam this year for the birth of his second child but he is back. It took Simon two hours and fifty minutes to come through 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Ferrer hit 62 errors. That is inexcusable. Simon hit 9 aces and 30 winners in total, but the 30 errors could do with being cut. Simon has returned and suddenly has a big serve. Simon broke the Spaniard's serve seven times. That is almost unheard of. Ferrer never loses his serve that much. Ferrer was a mess and he is going to drop down the rankings for this, In fact, this loss may move Raonic into the top five. Simon played well and struck the ball brilliantly, but Ferru was all over the place. Simon plays Cilic and he is aiming for his second hard court slam quarterfinal. In 2009 he lost to Rafa in Australia at that stage. Cilic is looking for his third quarterfinal here. It is a big opportunity for both men. Simon will try to be too solid for the fiery Cilic. Whether that will work remains to be seen. The winner is likely to get to Berdych.
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LOUIS ARMSTRONG : BERDYCH D. GABASHVILI
...Berdych had too much power and too much game for his Russian opponent. Berdych was always going to cruise through this match. Gabashvili has now made the third round at a slam for the third time, with a fourth round appearance at the French [2010] being his best effort. Berdych beat him 2 and 2 in Bastad in 2011. Thirteen aces and thirty-one winners overall in the near two hour match were enough to see Berdych through. He never looked troubled in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory. Worryingly, the Russian hit ten doubles faults and lost his serve four times. Berdych also managed to win 57 per cent of his opponent's second serves. Tougher tests await but Berdych was suitably dismissive toward the Russian. Berdych gets to play Thiem now. And the winner is most likely to face Simon. Thiem has looked very good so far and he has a shot at the upset. He is a different proposition to anything that Berdych will have faced so far. He has more variety and a lot more weapons.
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LOUIS ARMSTRONG : MONFILS D. GASQUET
...The number one spot in the disappointment rankings belongs to one man and one man alone. Richard Gasquet disappoints me. It feels like he has tailored his career to disappoint me. He disappointed me when he threw away all that talent. He disappointed me when that cocaine scandal occurred. He disappointed me every time he blew two sets to none leads. He disappointed me when he didn’t even take a set in either of his semifinal appearances. He disappointed me yesterday when he put no effort in at all. He just didn’t care. He just let Monfils win. It was pathetic. His entire tactic was to come to net. He approached forty times and won the point just 24 times. He hit no aces, no faults. He went 18-20 on the winners front. It was Monfils hitting 50 winners in the one hour fifty-six minute match that really did it for Gasquet. Gasquet did not even try to do anything to stop Monfils in the 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 decision. Monfils won 51 per cent of receiving points and 74 per cent of serving points. He was utterly dominant against an uninspired Gasquet. Gasquet is going home to think about what he’s done and rightfully so. In fact, he should just quit the year right now and come back next year. Monfils gets to face Dimitrov in the battle of the talent. Dimitrov lost to Monfils in a classic back in 2010 or so. This time Dimitrov will win in four sets. Well, so long as he doesn’t go away as easily as Gasquet did.
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Grandstand Selection: THIEM D. LOPEZ
...Sometimes one will watch a match and it is so one sided it sticks out. Thiem blasted the Spanish veteran clean off the court. Thiem was hitting shots so big Lopez could not even predict where they were going, let alone do anything with them. Lopez was comprehensively outplayed from the start to the finish. Thiem hit that level. It is the level Nadal can hit and Federer can hit. It is the level that Laver decided to build his career upon. I think he would have taken out a lot of guys on that day, Thiem. Usually the difficulty of staying at that level undoes players but Thiem managed to keep it up. The Austrian won 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and fifty minutes. Lopez made 43 ‘errors’ and Thiem hit just 13 winners. That sounds misleading to me. The stats do not back up the match I watched. It was not the cleanest match from either, but Thiem was imperious for the last two sets. Thiem needs to recapture the magic he had then but also make it consistent. If he does then he should have a real shot against Berdman. Thiem gets Berdych next. The question is how hot is Thiem’s fire? Is it still burning? Is it hot enough to burn Berdych? I think he will surprise Berdych for two sets before going down in four.
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OUTER COURT SELECTION: LIPSKY/RAM D. NESTOR/ZIMONJIC
...Continuing with our doubles theme, I bring you the first real upset in the doubles tournament. The American pair are already proven as a strong pair in both men’s doubles and the mixed event. They have won several titles together and have been playing together for a while. They know how the other operates and they know how to coordinate their games. That makes them dangerous and so it proved to be. They hit 27 winners, with six aces thrown in, too, on their way to a 6-3, 6-4 win. They made just ten unforced errors in the 75 minute contest. They got broken just once but managed to break three times themselves. They also won 40 per cent of points on their opponents' serve. It was a well played, efficient display from the unseeded surprise pair. The surprise package gets to play another surprise package. They have Butorac/Klaasen up next. They surprised everyone and made the finals of the Australian Open. Surely they couldn’t do it again? Lipsky/ Ram are looking for their first slam semifinal. Neither has ever progressed beyond the quarters, but they have made it to the quarterfinals at all four majors.
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Any other notes?

* = Granollers is starting to make this look like his best slam.

* = We have had our first weather interruption. It sure is starting to feel like the US Open now.

* = Serena makes sure the Americans have their singles slam quarterfinalist.

* = I have another unrelated tennis note. We are half way to the next Olympics. That feels strange. That also means we are halfway to the next US Election. The real world tennis gods decided to put the two together for some reason.

* = The Bryans may finally win a slam this year but they left it a bit late. Are they just number ones permanently now? You know, to save time and all.

* = Be wary of Sveta. She has the Radwanska on her side.



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