Flushing Meadows comes alive. The 2008 US Open Thread

volfanbill · 08-25-2008, 02:14 PM

The US Open has begun and it's only fitting that we have a thread for it. Many are considering this to be the US "Wide" Open because there are so many twists on both the women's and men's sides.

Women:

Can Dinara Safina capitalize on a great year while all of her strongest foes are down? Can Ana overcome her thumb injury that left her unable to play for over a month to win her second major? Can Dementieva come out as a semi, sort of, almost sleeper and take the whole thing? Can Jankovich shed all her injury problems and finally set her place as the best female player on the planet? And how can we forget the Williams sisters and their flair for the dramatic in New York?

My pick: well I honestly have no idea. With Sharapova out and so many top players nursing serious injury, it really is wide open. Jankovich isn't getting much pub, I don't see my girl Ana overcoming her thumb and I don't see Safina pulling it off, so I'll take Jankovich on the women's side.

Men:

Federer is slipping and some say slipping fast. Nadal doesn't have a good track record in NY. Aussie champ Novak Djokovic is trying extremely hard to break into the Nadal/Federer rivalry. Could we possibly see a changing of the guard on the men's side? Is Federer done? I do expect to see Blake and his fans make some noise here, but let's not kid ourselves, no way is James Blake winning the US Open. And just because I don't want to shun an American I'll put Andy Roddick's name in this paragraph even though it doesn't belong.

My pick: Somewhat sentimental and somewhat unable to comprehend that he can go 0-4 in Majors this year, I'll stick with Federer.

MphsBlues · 08-25-2008, 03:40 PM

Good post, Bill. I think Rafa is gonna be struggling to hang on to his #1 ranking, but will probably lose it to Djokovich before the end of the year or shortly thereafter. I wish Roger would snap out of it. I still firmly believe he's the best player on the planet.

volfanbill · 08-25-2008, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MphsBlues

Good post, Bill. I think Rafa is gonna be struggling to hang on to his #1 ranking, but will probably lose it to Djokovich before the end of the year or shortly thereafter. I wish Roger would snap out of it. I still firmly believe he's the best player on the planet.

thanks blues. I too struggle with the notion Federer is losing it. I didn't realize Djokovich had closed the gap that much. Is it really possible for him to be #1 by the end of the year?

MphsBlues · 08-25-2008, 11:32 PM

Djokovich is at 5105 right now. Nadal is out there at 6700, so probably not. But an open win can do wonders. It also appears that when the two play, it is Djokovich's to win or lose. But it's a VERY thin line between that and Nadal's to win or lose. I just get the feeling that Nadal feels the pressure a bit more when they play. And I can't stand Djokovich. I'm not a huge Nadal fan either, but Djokovich's in-your-face attitude is awful.

MphsBlues · 08-25-2008, 11:35 PM

Safina has really been a pleasant surprise this year. But I think you may be right. The Open might not be her cup of tea this year. We'll probably see a Williams win. Just my .02.

**orange+white=heaven** · 08-27-2008, 11:56 AM

This girl playing Kuznetsova, Cirstea, is quite the looker...

And did y'all get a look at CoCo Vandeweghe last night?

Ah, youth...

doozer · 08-27-2008, 12:04 PM

**orange+white=heaven** · 08-27-2008, 12:16 PM

This is nice too...

LINK

doozer · 08-27-2008, 03:29 PM

this Arvidsson(??)/Jankovic match has been rather entertaining today.

Jankovic might be the best looking worst looking female on the tour (see also: butterface).

MphsBlues · 08-27-2008, 05:04 PM

Sania Mirza

volfanbill · 08-27-2008, 10:36 PM

BPV mentioned this in a previous major thread, but Andy Roddick really does just need to show his awesome display of power and see if anyone can beat him. When he starts getting fancy he screws up his footwork, gets off balance and gives up countless unforced errors. I don't recommend the grip it and rip it approach, but it's Andy's best bet to ever contend again.

doozer · 08-27-2008, 11:46 PM

did he win tonight? i quit watching after he went up 3-0 in the first set.

MphsBlues · 08-28-2008, 12:07 AM

He won at 2, 2 and 2. He did play the power game very well, but Fabrice Santoro is a finesse player and always has been for over 15 years. There wasn't much hope for the Frenchman. The New York crowd was pretty tough on him, too. They can be pretty tough at Flushing Meadows. Andy came through fine in this round. He plays Ernests Gulbis next round. He's young and tough. Santoro is 35 so it won't be near the same.

BigPapaVol · 08-28-2008, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by volfanbill

BPV mentioned this in a previous major thread, but Andy Roddick really does just need to show his awesome display of power and see if anyone can beat him. When he starts getting fancy he screws up his footwork, gets off balance and gives up countless unforced errors. I don't recommend the grip it and rip it approach, but it's Andy's best bet to ever contend again.

looks like Patrick McEnroe has him moving back toward aggressiveness instead of the passive loopy crap we saw under connors.

volsgal03 · 08-28-2008, 12:44 PM

I didn't even realize Connors was no longer with Roddick.