U.S. Open: The Middle Rounds

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Before the U.S. Open, four women were in contention for the top ranking. I was two with the losses of Muguruza and Radwanska. For all her positive qualities, Radwanska should never be world number one. She is 0-5 in fourth round matches in New York and 1-4 at Roland Garros. Sure she has made a semi-final at Wimbledon [Ed.note: a final, actually, and two other SF - tds] or in Australia [And two more SF there, too] the last five years, but so what? She missed her shot, she missed the boat. She could have had so much, so many big wins, but she didn’t. Against Konjuh she hit nine winners. The world number four hit nine winners against the world number 92. Nine. That is atrocious. She would have lost to Konjuh at SW19 had she not fallen over, too [Well, Konjuh's three unconverted MP came BEFORE the fall, but that's splitting hairs, I guess.]. The Croat hit 36 winners. And only 27 errors while Radwanska hit 13. She hasn’t done anything this year, she hasn’t done anything for four years now. She has had four prove-it seasons and proved she can win a Premier [Two Premier 5's in Miami in '12 & Montreal in '14 and a little thing called the WTA Finals last year, actually]. Not good enough, not by a long shot.

But, overall, you know who deserves to be number one. Angelique Kerber. [Although, before the '16 season, Radwanska had actually had the better 4-5 year stretch of the two, including a 5-4 head-to-head edge since 2011 it should be noted.] The most match wins, the best at the five major events and the most finals. She has been a model of consistency, she has been almost perfect. Not getting the win with the top ranking on the line is pretty much the only blemish. The loss to Bertens in the French is the other [And the Olympics final.], but Muguruza won a slam and was poor in the rest. Of course, Williams also deserves to be number one, but Kerber feels like the best in the world.

[And with Karolina Pliskova's win over Serena Williams on Thursday night, she IS the new #1, too. Congrats to her!]

And you know the funny thing? Here at BACKSPIN we had the Reverse Sveta Curse. This BACKSPINNER thought Kerber would just stay in the top ten, at about 9 because she always has done. If memory serves, that BACKSPINNER had no faith at all. So we both suck.

[Hmmm, you had Angie in your "Good Bets" for the Top 10, while I had her fighting to stay there... but I did say she'd have better slam results in '16 than '15 and would reach her first slam final, but not do as well on the "regular" tour... and for all she's done, Kerber has still only won one title other than at the Australian Open. So, I think you got her ranking closer to right, while I got the slam part. Close to a push for both of us, I think.]

Also, Murray. Back on form? Who knows?

Well, let’s dive into the middle rounds...

=MIDDLE-ROUND AWARDS - 3rd-QF (Days 5-10)=
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Del Potro
...Forget the Wawrinka loss. Wawrinka has showing a return to the form he had previously. He is a former world number four and grand slam champion with a top five forehand. Not just right now, but of all time. It was better even than Sampras’ forehand. That forehand is a full stop. It says, right, point should be over. And then it is. He can be in a tight position or just bored and bang. Nobody can resist it. And it has that Gonzalez-like quality of surprise. You kind of forget, not to go there, because he can go a game without exploding off it. But when he does. Point is over. And he has not lost a set this whole week, The way he bludgeoned his way past Johnson and Ferrer in almost identical scorelines back to back had a kind of brutal beauty about it. But now he has more dimensions. The backhand is improved and there is more variety in his game. He will be a seed for the French, but this BACKSPINNER thinks he sneaks into Melbourne as a low seed, too. And when that happens, watch out.
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2. Monfils
...What a beautiful tennis player and a lovely guy. So few players are genuinely funny, brilliant people but Monfils is the kind of guy you go on adventures with. He just does whatever he wants. He has managed to retain what makes him so magical dream-come-true fantabulous, but added just enough consistency to make it work. And it really does work. After heart-breaking losses to Federer and Raonic in the most recent hard-court slams he has finally got his dues. And it is good to see. Plus, he knows how to beat Djokovic. But more importantly he knows he can. So please tomorrow cheer, stamp and shout for Monfils. Because we could have our second final in three years without a member of the top four. And wouldn’t that be marvelous?
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3. Nishikori
...The winner of the tournament is coming from this semi-final. This BACKSPINNER does not believe Djokovic has the fitness to win two longer matches. I also think Monfils is good enough to really push him. Can the wrist hold up? If Wawrinka goes on to win we may have to re-evaluate how we rank his career. Regardless of that, Nishikori finally has that career win. He finally has the signature win, one we can look back on. He has the form and momentum to take it all the way. Either the win over Murray has broken the curse or he will be too fatigued to fight on. Hopefully we get two classic semi-finals. You wouldn’t think it because it hasn’t felt like it, but Wawrinka’s had a fine year - a few titles and two slam semi-finals. Not bad, eh? And for Nishikori this is it. If he makes a decent fist of it from here he could save his year. If not he could be turning into the ATP’s equivalent of Radwanska. Well, except he has weapons.
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ARTHUR ASHE: Pouille d. Nadal
...The Frenchman won 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6[6] in four hours and six minutes and fell to the ground before sticking his tongue out. On his fourth match point, given to him by Nadal’s 41st error, he finally took out the match. This was a gripping match of very different styles. The way Pouille plays is so effective - he is like Goffin but with firepower and less accuracy. Both players won 156 points and broke five times. This was a match for the ages. And it might well be only the second of many slam quarters for Pouille. If he can back this up by even making the fourth round in Melbourne that will be confirmation enough that he’s serious. Pouille moves on and makes it three Frenchies from four in the top of the draw’s quarterfinal bracket…
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LOUIS ARMSTRONG: Wawrinka d. Evans
...The slice battles, the forehand battles and the mental jostling gave this match an edge. Neither man would budge, neither would give. This was a fierce battle played out at night. And it took some four hours, just over in fact, but Wawrinka won 4-6, 6-3, 6-7[6], 7-6[8], 6-2. But Wawrinka should’ve won the third and Evans the fourth. So it goes in swings and roundabouts. But the match was gripping from start to finish and Wawrinka’s grit showed through.
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GRANDSTAND: Monfils d. Baghdatis
...We saw what Monfils could do here. We saw the sheer power, the sheer athleticism. We saw him dismiss his opponent roundly. And it was a side of Monfils we don’t see often at all. He was everywhere and he had all the answers. He was confident and knew exactly how to play. This was the perfect performance from Monfils, a performance to be remembered. His forehand, particularly, was on song. It didn’t even take him two hours to win 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Sure Baghdatis hit 43 errors, but Monfils broke 7 times. And that really tells the story.
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**LOOKING GOOD...**
1. Wawrinka
...In true presidential style, Wawrinka is proving it does not matter how you start but how you finish. A good finish for the Swiss, just like if he were Hillary or Donald, could be enough to see him take an improbable title here. He hasn’t lost in a final in over three years, going 10 and 0. So there’s that.
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2. Pouille
...Perhaps the most impressive of the contenders in the top half. Is it a third deep run on the trot?
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**LURKING...**
1. Monfils
...Nobody saw it coming. Neither did this BACKSPINNER. Well I called the fourth round loss to Raonic, which was an error clearly. But Monfils has finally put that talent to good use. It’s just so good to see him doing well. And can you imagine him at the WTF? Oh boy...
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2. Nishikori
...Well, he was lurking and he has now ended Murray’s bid for a fourth slam final this year. Possibly the least talented of the remaining four he is nevertheless in a great position to finally become the bride and have someone else be the bridesmaid.
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**FORGET ABOUT IT...*
1. Nadal
...Might’ve picked the wrong guy, but Nadal got upset in the round of 16. Told you so. Pouille has had a superb tournament and his upset of Nadal in a 5th set breaker deserves credit, but is there anything as un-Rafa-like as losing in that way in a slam match? Retirement beckons now. He is doing nothing but harm to his body. He isn’t going to win another slam. So why is he still hanging around?
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2. Tsonga
...It is a sad way the way his career is going now. The talent, the ability is still there, but it is let down by the body. Tsonga is on the way down sadly. But all the same the Australian Open is coming up and that is probably his last chance. We here at BACKSPIN hope he can take it.
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Additional Notes from the Tournament...
1 - Viva la France. With the top seeds in both men’s and women’s doubles going great guns and making the semi-finals, three men’s quarterfinalists, France has had a superb tournament. Sure the ladies need work, but it is still not a bad outing for France.
2 – Top seeded Herbert/Mahut have dropped just one set, though they have faced no seeds so far. Until now - the fourth seeded Murray/Soares meet them in the loaded semi-final. In the other the big seeds will be the eight seeded Lopez’s (no relation). Only four of the 16 achieved their seeding.
3 – Kiki has had a marvelous ladies doubles tournament, dropping no sets even against Mirza/Strycova and top seeds Hingis/Vandeweghe. They haven’t looked flawless but have hit themselves into form lately. And after that will be Mattek-Sands/Safarova in the final.
4 – Sticking to French themes, who remembers Mauresmo winning the Australian Open via three retirements? Well, the U.S. Open is following that script for Nole. Three retirements now, all of them talented players. We’ve very little idea how good Novak is right now.
5 – And why not finish with the French number one. Monfils may be the most improved player and he could cap it off with a maiden slam final. If Djokovic is not fully fit and La Monf! can drag it out, who knows?

Go to WTA BACKSPIN every day during the U.S. Open.

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