U.S. Open Day 10: The One Where Nothing Happened

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

In the television show "Friends" they would name episodes something like “The One Where They’re Up All Night.” And if this was an episode it would be called, "The One Where Nothing Happened." In fact, you should go straight over to WTA BACKSPIN because so much happened on Todd’s side. And literally nothing noteworthy happened on this side.

It’s actually a little insulting to have two such poor quarterfinals, but there was good reason for both the blow-out losses. And the AFC Championship game was 45-7, but the Super Bowl was a classic. So perhaps we should be getting ready for a fantastic final. We have the defending champion, a five times previous winner, the current world number one, a current grand slam holder and the GOAT in the semi-finals. We also have the first ever all-Swiss semi, so there is plenty to get excited about.

And if the U.S. Open had offered this set of semi-finals beforehand who among us would not have taken it? So what if two and a half of the quarterfinals were duds. We are going to have a classic on the bottom half as Federer beats Wawrinka in a classic. And in the other, well, who really knows?

BACKSPIN advice is that if you are going to bet, putting 20 dollars on Cilic to win the semi-final could be the smart pick. And Federer will win in four.

Right, that’s enough filler. Let’s just get this thing done. And then we never need come back and look at these quarters again. And, hey, before you criticize let us never forget that this happened:


US Open 2007 SF Kuznetsova vs. Chakvetadze... by tennismaster8820

And somebody has gone and made highlights. That’s actually impressive. Give that man a medal.

QUESTION: Who won the boys singles in 2014?


ARTHUR ASHE: WAWRINKA D. ANDERSON
...This one at least lasted over an hour and three quarters. The other ‘match’ didn’t make an hour and a half. This was a tough, close best of three match with Wawrinka winning 6-4, 6-4. Sadly this was officially a best of five set match. The last set of the 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 thrashing was just 25 minutes. Imagine paying to see either of the matches. Dellacqua winning in three sets in her doubles was more enthralling. With 9 doubles and 42 errors, Anderson was woeful. He mustered just the one break point during the whole match and lost his serve five times. Wawrinka was only 25-15. Wawrinka hit less than 50% of his first serve points in. Anderson was Abysmal [yes with a capital "A"] but that is understandable given his excellent but tiring tournament. He never had a chance after that four set Murray marathon. But don’t let Anderson’s poor match fool you. Wawrinka is very dangerous, but he is not in great form. We may, though it is unlikely, see very lopsided scoreline betwixt him and Federer. For Anderson a rise up the rankings is in order. He should get to around 12. And that’s a fantastic achievement. He can be proud and this loss is more than excusable, though a few more games in the third set would have been good.
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ARTHUR ASHE: FEDERER D. GASQUET
...It should really say Federer O. Gasquet not ‘D’. The ‘D’ does it no justice. Obliterated is the word that’s probably the most accurate term here. Gasquet has fewer excuses, but to be honest this match was never in his hands. How was he supposed to handle Federer in this kind of form, in this kind of mood? The Swiss won 6-3, 6-3, and 6-1. 50 winners. 16 aces. 21 errors. Gasquet went just 8-14 on the winners. He couldn’t do anything. Federer conceded just 16 points on the serve. He won 62% of points, too. Gasquet at least will rise up the rankings to 11 or so. Just behind Simon. He should finish the year in the top ten and deservedly so. There’s little more to be said here, sadly. In 87 minutes Federer has, well, he has more than blown away the flashy Frenchman. To recap:

* - Not Gasquet’s fault
* - Nobody could live with Federer like this
* - Federer is the GOAT because he can hit 50 winners in 25 games
* - Federer is getting better and better as the tournament goes on
* - Great tournament from both men
* - Watch out Stan!

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And Casey [with Yaroslava] moves on through to the semi-final of the doubles by beating the Russian 12th seeds. She’ll crack the top ten in doubles for sure, though whether or not her partner will remains to be seen. If she makes the final both she and her partner will be somewhere between 6 and 8. The rankings being what they are they won’t advance into the top five no matter what. And they’ll be playing the top seeded Hingis/Mirza in the final, too. But they have to beat Vandeweghe/Groenefield first. Despite being unseeded they have beaten Stosur/Kuznetsova, the tenth seeds, 7th seeds and 5th seeds. Without dropping a set. So it will be no easy task. Yaroslava is 2-0 in women’s doubles semi-finals here. Casey has also never lost a semi in this event [1-0], either, so they are probably the favourites. And that makes it even harder.


ANSWER: Aussie Omar Jasika won the boys singles. He beat Quentin Halys 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.


Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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