US Open

[stotty]

On paper, Thiem is the believer and the slightly better player. I don't know where Zverev is going to get the belief from to win the final but tennis and life are funny things...you never know. Zverev is certainly going to have to step up to the plate and be bold. He simply cannot afford to be as poor as he was for much of the match against Busta. The first two sets were woefully poor.

The trouble is we have got used to lofty standards. When Novak plays Roger it's an incredible spectacle of matchplay with hardly a mental or technical lapse along the way. This year's US Open final won't be like that. My money would have to be on Thiem because I just don't where Zverev is going to find the gonads to do it. Let's hope he finds them for the sake of a respectable final for us all to watch.

The shirt thing is annoying but doubtless we would all be doing annoying mannerisms if we were in the same boat on international TV and under the pressure these guys are under. For me it's his headband. He looks really silly with a headband on.

[stotty]

I know women's tennis isn't too popular on the forum but, actually, some of it is better to watch than the men's at the moment. If you can get over the dodgy service motions and the type 2 forehands, it's worth a look.

[stroke]

Thiem is a strong favorite at -400, Alex at +325.

[stroke]

On paper, Thiem is the believer and the slightly better player. I don't know where Zverev is going to get the belief from to win the final but tennis and life are funny things...you never know. Zverev is certainly going to have to step up to the plate and be bold. He simply cannot afford to be as poor as he was for much of the match against Busta. The first two sets were woefully poor.

The trouble is we have got used to lofty standards. When Novak plays Roger it's an incredible spectacle of matchplay with hardly a mental or technical lapse along the way. This year's US Open final won't be like that. My money would have to be on Thiem because I just don't where Zverev is going to find the gonads to do it. Let's hope he finds them for the sake of a respectable final for us all to watch.

The shirt thing is annoying but doubtless we would all be doing annoying mannerisms if we were in the same boat on international TV and under the pressure these guys are under. For me it's his headband. He looks really silly with a headband on.

for that matter, I am not digging the Thiem beretta the least little bit, and I like Thiem a lot. But Stotty, I see your point about the pressure thing.

[stotty]

Good performance from Osaka. She saved a match that was approaching a precipice. I like the way she can come back from 0-40 down on her serve similar to how Novak and Rafa do on theirs. She is a good match player and can play to a high level. I enjoyed the match.

[johnyandell]

Here is something my friend Bill Simons from Inside Tennis wrote about Osaka:

http://www.insidetennis.com/2020/09/the-power-and-inspiration-of-naomi-osaka/

[stotty]

Here is something my friend Bill Simons from Inside Tennis wrote about Osaka:

http://www.insidetennis.com/2020/09/...f-naomi-osaka/

Great article...really enjoyed it. Good sports journalism. I haven't seen Osaka play as much as I should but after last night's showing she is right up there with the best of them.

[stotty]

Zverev leads 2 sets to 0

Zverev is playing well so far but Thiem is making him look good, so poor has he been. Just can't help feeling if Thiem can put some kind of comeback together and make Zverev win it...it might become interesting.

Nothing like the slam finals we have become used to it over the past decade...woeful by comparison.

[glacierguy]

This is grim.

[rthodges]

Thiem showing some fight! Sending back that stack of racquets to get restrung before he even won the third set was a psychological power move.

[stotty]

Thiem snatches the third set despite playing like a drain. Still not convinced Zverev can win this unless Thiem hands it to him on a plate...which he keeps trying to do.

You can understand it why the final is so wobbly. The pressure is huge for these two players.

[stroke]

Was not surprised Thiem came all the way back. Obviously, that match could have gone either way. It was going to be a brutal loss for one of them.

[stroke]

Sports Illustrated: U.S. Open Final Provides a Tantalizing Taste of Tennis's Next Generation.

https://www.si.com/tennis/2020/09/14/dominic-thiem-alexander-zverev-us-open-tennis-next-generation

[stotty]

For me a match can almost never go either way. Even if it's by the slimmest of margins somebody has to take it by the horns. Roger just eased up on a forehand he should have killed against Novak in the 2019 Wimbledon final...rest is history. Zverev was always going to struggle to close out and you could sense it all the way through the match. I missed the final set as it was late here but slept knowing darn well who would be the winner when I woke up.

Well done Thiem...he deserved it.

[arturohernandez]

For me a match can almost never go either way. Even if it's by the slimmest of margins somebody has to take it by the horns. Roger just eased up on a forehand he should have killed against Novak in the 2019 Wimbledon final...rest is history. Zverev was always going to struggle to close out and you could sense it all the way through the match. I missed the final set as it was late here but slept knowing darn well who would be the winner when I woke up.

Well done Thiem...he deserved it.

It is tough to win without a good second serve. It came back to haunt him. If he really wants to fix it, he should. Thiem was hitting 93 mph first serves in the tiebreak because his legs were gone. His first and second are much more similar and so its not an issue for him. Kind of like Rafter and even Sampras. Federer is just a great server but he uses that huge lift to create his serve and so he can just modify it a bit to serve well.

It is amazing to see that the issues that affect amateurs affect pros.

Pinpoint vs. platform. Kick vs. flatter serves. Advanced vs simple serve. To me, Zverev has got a great hold of the advanced first serve but has not managed to be able to create a good model of the advanced second serve.

Winning a match under pressure without a reliable second serve is impossible. The fact that Zverev almost pulled it off is a testament to the rest of his game.

I also feel that he retreated back to the baseline under pressure. His best bet was to keep going to the net and make Thiem pass him. Thiem did pull off some amazing passing shots but there was not enough consistent pressure on him to make it stick.

It showed how hard it really is to win the first slam. Think about Roger vs. Djoker back at the US Open where Djoker kind of gave it away and Roger played poorly. I never saw Fed vs. Philopousos (sorry for the misspelling). Did Roger play incredibly in that one. My guess is that he was a nervous wreck.

The truth no one has had to win a GS in 15 years without playing one of the big three. The fact that none of them was there just added pressure. It is a situation unlike any other. A pandemic, a default that was stranger than strange, being sequestered in such a small place that players were hanging out and watching the other players for fun, no crowds.

The pressure was palpable. Even though the quality was not great, it was so dramatic and so real. Tennis players are not robots. They are people and it was nice to see them fighting to the end for something that seemed impossible just a few months ago. A US Open trophy!!!!