US Open tennis tournament

The next PTA tournament in the USA is a minor  tournament in which the highest seeded player is ranked 13 in the world and is in fact of minor consequence insofar as tournaments are concerned.  After that is the US Open Tournament starting on 28 August 2021.

What is already known is that Nadal, Thiem and Federer is not playing in that tournament and in the case  of Nadal - at present ranked 4th in the world and 7th  in the race to play in the EOYT Cup - will be in serious trouble in the rankings and race.    The fact is that Nadal may end up 6th in the rankings and Thiem as 7th - while Nadal would end up being out of the race to play in Turin in November, where only 8 players will play.  

     .      

Race to EOY Championship in Turin 

1      Novak Djokovic                              7 130

2      Stefanos   Tsitsipas                          5 380

3      Danill Medvedev                             4 380

4      Alexander Tserev                             4 195

5      Andrey Rublev                                3  980

6      Matteo Berrettini                              3 595

7      Rafael Nadal                                     2 985

8      Caspar Ruud                                     2 630

9     Hubert Hurkacz                                 2  460

10    Jannik Sinner                                    2 075                                     

The problem is that the battle for the no 7 and 8 position is far from over - especially since Nadal is not going to play in the US Open.     The top  6 can be relatively sure of playing in the EOYT - but the battle for the 7th and 8th position is far from over.      

I can try and figure out the top seedings  - but the main problem will be who may not turn up to play.   So provisionally the top 10 rankings will be:-

1     Novak Djokovic                                        T

2     Danill  Medvedev                                      B

3     Stefanos  Tsisipas

4     Alexander Sverev

5     Andrei Rublev

6    Matteo Berrettin

7    Denis  Shapovalov

8    Casper Ruud

9     Pablo Carrerro Busta

10   Hubert Hurkacz

11     Diego Schwartzman

12     Felix Augur-Aliassime

13     Jannik Sinner

14    Alec de Minaur

15     Grigor Dimitrov

16     Christian Garin

17     Gael Monfils

18    Roberto Bautista-Agut

19     John Isner

20    Lorenzo Senego                                        

21    Aslan Karatsev

22    Reilly Opelka

23     Ugo Humbert

24      Daniel Evans

25     Karen Khachanov

26     Cameron Norrie

27    David   Goffin

28     Fabio Fognini

29     Alejandro  Davidovich  Fokina

30    Marin Cilic

31    Alexander Bublik

32    Filip  Krajinovic

I  tried to sort out the above into Upper and Lower  draw groupings.   It is rather  difficult to do and  I hope I am correct,     I will also start giving opponents to the seeded players after Round 2     

Just for your information Nadal is struggling with an injured foot and is targeting a return to serious tennis at the time of the Aussie Open, so Turin is not relevant.

Thanks  -  I wrote that  before Nadal announced his withdrawal from all tennis  in  2021.   Before  the Aussie Open there is the Team World Cup series in Australia.   There is always the possibility for him to play in that series as a warm up for the  Aussie Open, but I do not think he will -  he did not play in that series this year..   

Looks like it is a difficult one to predict.    In the Top Half of the draw  the favoutird in the semi should be between Djokovic, Sverev and Berretini - in the bottom half between Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Rublev.      

Despite my reservations and the magnitude of the job involved here are the details of the matches in Round 1:-

Top  Half of the draw

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs           Holger Rune

Jan-Lennard  Struff                                           vs           Tallon Griekspoor

Salvatore Caruso                                              vs           Kei  Nishikori

27    David Goffin                                            vs            Mackenzie McDonald

21    Aslan  Karatsev                                        vs            Jaume  Munar

Jordan Thompson                                            vs           Gianluca  Mager

Jenson  Brooksby                                            vs            Mikael  Ymer

14     Alec de Minaur                                      vs            Taylor  Fritz

10     Hubert Hurkacz                                     vs            Egor  Gerasimov

Andreas  Seppi                                               vs            Marcos  Fucsovics

Denis Kudla                                                   vs            Laslo  Djere

20     Lorenzo  Sonego                                   vs            Oscar Otte

28     Fa bio Fognini                                         vs            Vasek  Pospisil

Tennys  Sandgren                                          vs            Ilya  Ivashka

Corentin  Moutet                                          vs            Stefano  Travaglia

6       Matteo Berrettini                                 vs             Jeremy  Chardy

4       Alexander  Sverev                               vs            Sam Querry

Albert  Ramos-Vinolas                                vs            Lucas Poulle

Yoshihito  Nishioka                                     vs            Jack Sock

31     Alexander  Bublik                              vs            Walter  Harfmann

17     Gael  Monfils                                     vs            Federico  Coria

Steve Johnson                                             vs            Maximillian Marterer

Marco  Cecchinato                                      vs            Zachary  Svajda

15      Jannik  Sinner                                   vs            Max Purcell

9        Pablo  Carrero-Busta                        vs            Maxime Cressy

Sebastian  Korda                                        vs            Nikoloz  Basilashvili

Lorenzo Musetti                                        vs            Emilio Nava

22       Reilly  Opelka                                vs            Soonwoo  Kwon

25       Karen Khashanov                           vs            Lloyd  Harris

Pablo Cuevas                                            vs            Ernesto Escebedo

Roberto  Carballes-Baena                        vs            Tommy Paul

7       Denis  Shapovalov                          vs            Federico Delbonis

Bottom  Half of the Draw   

5       Andrey  Rublev                             vs           Ivo Karlovic

Pedro  Martinez                                        vs            James Duckworth

Frances   Tiafoe                                        vs            Chistopher Eubanks

32       Filip  Krajinovic                            vs            Guido  Pella

18       Roberto  Bautista-Agut                 vs            Nic Kyrgios

Emil  Ruusuvuori                                     vs           Kamil  Majchrzak

Feliciano Lopez                                        vs           Bernabe Zapata-Miralles

12       Felix  Augurf-Aiassime                 vs           Evgeny Donskoy

16       Christian  Garin                             vs            Norbert  Gombos

John  Millman                                          vs            Henry Laaksonen

Dusan  Lajovic                                         vs            Benoit  Paire

23       Ugo  Humbert                                vs            Peter  Gojowczyk

26       Cameron Norrie                             vs            Carlos  Alcazar

Miomir  Kecmanovic                               vs            Arthur  Rinderknech

Pierre-Hugues  Herbert                            vs            Adrian Mannarino

3       Stefano Tsitsipas                             vs            Andy Murray

8      Casper  Ruud                                   vs            Jo-Wilfried  Tsonga

Carlos  Taberner                                      vs            Botic van der Zandschulp

Facundo  Bagnis                                     vs            Taro  Daniel

29     Alejandro  Davidovich  Fokina     vs            Marco Trungelliti

19     John  Isner                                     vs            Brian Nakashima

Alex Molcan                                           vs            Cem Ilkel

Jiri  Vesely                                              vs            Kevin Anderson

11     Diego Schwartzman                      vs            Ricardas  Berankis

15     Grigor  Dimitrov                        vs            Sam Riffice

Alexei  Popyrin                                      vs            Radu Albot

Marcos  Giron                                        vs            Antoine Hoang

24      Dniel Evans                                 vs            Thiago Monteiro

30      Marin Cilic                                  vs            Philip  Kohlschreiber

Pablo Andujar-Alba                              vs            Mikhail  Kukushkin

Dominik  Koepfer                                 vs            Quentin Halys

2       Danill  Medvedev                        vs            Richard  Gasquet                  

Round 2 Match-Ups 

Top  Half of the draw

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs           Tallon Griekspoor

Kei  Nishikori                                                    vs           Mackenzie McDonald

21    Aslan  Karatsev                                         vs            Jordan Thompson

Jenson  Brooksby                                              vs            Taylor  Fritz

10     Hubert Hurkacz                                        vs           Andreas  Seppi

Denis Kudla                                                      vs            Oscar Otte

Vasek  Pospisil                                                  vs           Ilya  Ivashka

6       Matteo Berrettini                                     vs           Corentin Moutet         

4       Alexander  Sverev                                   vs          Albert  Ramos-Vinolas                             

31     Alexander  Bublik                                  vs            Jack Sock

17     Gael  Monfils                                         vs             Steve Johnson

15      Jannik  Sinner                                       vs            Zachary  Svajda

Maxime Cressy                                              vs           Nikoloz  Basilashvili

22       Reilly  Opelka                                    vs            Lorenzo Mysetti

Lloyd  Harris                                                 vs            Ernesto Escebedo

7       Denis  Shapovalov                                vs            Roberto  Carballes-Baena 

Bottom  Half of the Draw 

5      Andrey  Rublev                            vs           Pedro Mattinez        

Frances   Tiafoe                                       vs          Guido  Pella                                 

18       Roberto  Bautista-Agut                 vs          Emil  Ruusuvuori

12       Felix  Augur-Aliassime                 vs          Bernabe Zapata -Miralles

16       Christian  Garin                             vs         Henry Laaksonen

Dusan  Lajovic                                         vs          Peter  Gojowczyk

Carlos  Alcazar                                        vs          Arthur  Rinderknech

3       Stefano Tsitsipas                             vs          Adrian Mannaeino

8      Casper  Ruud                                   vs          Botic van der Zandschulp

Facundo  Bagnis                                     vs           Marco Trungelliti                          

Brian Nakashima                                    vs           Alex Molcan  

11     Diego Schwartzman                      vs            Kevin Anderson

15       Grigor Dimitrov                       vs             Alexei Popyrin        

24      Daniel Evans                               vs             Marcos Giron   

Philip  Kohlschreiber                            vs             Pablo Andujar-Alba 

2       Danill  Medvedev                        vs            Dominik  Koepfer

The match-ups have been finalized and the  following is  being pointed out.   

*      12  of the   32 seeds  lost their Round 1 matches - mostly against qualifiers

*      Lloyd Harris  and Kevin Anderson are both going to play in Round 2

*      Of the 64 matches played   -  18 were 5 set matches  -   23 were 4 set matches  and 24 matches were decided in 3 sets.

.             

Round 3   Match-ups

Top  Half of the draw

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs           Kei  Nishikori

21    Aslan  Karatsev                                         vs           Jenson  Brooksby                                    

Andreas  Seppi                                                  vs           Oscar Otte 

6       Matteo Berrettini                                     vs             Ilya  Ivashka      

4       Alexander  Sverev                                   vs            Jack Sock

15      Jannik  Sinner                                       vs            17     Gael  Monfils

 22       Reilly  Opelka                                    vs            Nikoloz  Basilashvili

7       Denis  Shapovalov                                vs            Lloyd  Harris 

Bottom  Half of the Draw 

5        Andre  Rublev                                   vs           Frances   Tiafoe                                 

 12       Felix  Augur-Aliassime                     vs          18       Roberto  Bautista-Agut

Henry Laaksonen                                          vs          Peter  Gojowczyk

3       Stefano Tsitsipas                                  vs          Carlos  Alcazar

Botic van der Zandschulp                             vs          Facundo  Bagnis           

11     Diego Schwartzman                            vs           Alex Molcan 

24      Daniel Evans                                      vs           Alexei Popyrin     

2       Danill  Medvedev                                vs           Pablo Andujar-Alba      

With only Round 1 and half of Round 2 completed there are already 15 seeded players out.   How many will be done by the time round 2 is completed ?    At least 4 of thje Top half of th draw may b in the firing line during the remainder of Round 2.    This despite the fact that in general there were more qualifiers playing in the Top half than in the bottom half. and the opposition to the seeded players being weaker.    

The players I think may not make it are  Opelka, Karatsevc, Bublik and Monfils.      However, all 5 of the Top 10 seeded players in the top half of the draw is still remaining nd I woukld be surprised if one of them go as well.   

Round 4  Match-ups

Top  Half of the draw

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs          Jenson  Brooksby                                    

6       Matteo Berrettini                                     vs           Oscar Otte     

4       Alexander  Sverev                                   vs           Jack Sock

15      Jannik  Sinner                                         vs           Lloyd  Harris 

Bottom  Half of the Draw        

 12       Felix  Augur-Aliassime                     vs           Frances   Tiafoe   

Carlos  Alcazar                                             vs           Peter  Gojowczyk

 11     Diego Schwartzman                            vs           Botic van der Zandschulp

2       Danill  Medvedev                                vs           24      Daniel Evans

Last year I saw Rublev playing for the first time and I was really impressed with what I saw.  He had a stellar year an won five championships - this year he was not even remotely up to standard as a top ten player.    He just collapsed and was never really the player I aw last year,   Still a top ten player - but with his performances this year how long would that last?.   He has beaten a list of player last year against whom he lost this year.   

Watch out for the 18 year old Carlos Alcazar though.       

Quarterfinals Line-ups

Top  Half of the draw

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs          6     Matteo Berrettini       

 4       Alexander  Sverev                                   vs           Lloyd  Harris 

Bottom  Half of the Draw        

 12    Felix  Augur-Aliassime                           vs           Carlos  Alcazar

2       Danill  Medvedev                                   vs           Botic van de Zandschulp

Will be updated as results come in.

I think the bottom half semi will be between Medvedev and Alcazar  or lets hope so.    That teenager will be the best tennis player ever sooner rather than later. .   Being in the semi-final will result in Alcazar moving into the top 30 players this year and another few top results will push hi into the Race to Turin in November 2021.       

Semifiinals  Line-ups

1      Novak Djokovic                                        vs                 4     Alexander Sverev

2       Danill  Medvedev                                  vs             12    Felix  Augur-Aliassime

Can’t say Alcaraz was was very impressive …..Aliassime pretty much dominated him. But if Alcazar(sic) was out there it might have been more of a match.

Sure Augur-Aliassime dominated a player that went into the match carrying an injury.   Alcaraz's  service pace was down by at least 25% and that says it all .   .   

The worst quarterfinal by a distance was the one between Djokovic and Berrettini.   I did not get the unforced errors of Berrettini for the fourth set, but after the third set it was 45 - looks a disaster to me - probably more than 55 - so that decided the match.    All that Djokovic had to do was the hit balls over the  net and the response of Berrettini  was strings of unforced errors.       

You missed the whole thing. Berretini hardly made an error in the first set and his serve was up at 75%. But Joker got more and more of those bombs back and gradually wore down the Italian and 3/4s of the crowd who seemed to be Italian. It was a classical Djokovic demolition of an opponent.

The worst Quarter by a mile was Aliassime schooling the clueless seuntjie.

The fact is that I watched  all the Quarters and  you did not even know of the over 50 unforced errors of Berrettini and missed the fact that  Alcazar carried an injury  and  could not play his normal game as a result.   The commentators even commented on it. and he game ended in the second set in game one because the coaching staff did not want to worsen the injury when it was clear that continuation would be futile.   .       

So that  is not a norm at all.   The over 50 unforced errors by Berrettini is a fact  which only a blinkered person like you will ignore.   It was in fact a very poor performance by Berrettini that spoiled the match totally.   So please wake up to facts.  

Sverev has beaten Djokovic in the past and there is nothing more than a 20%  chance that Djokovic will beat him in the semifinal. Djokovic aside from the 8th  ranked Berrtini thus far played nobody else in the top 30 ranked players in the series and two of his opponents  were below 100 in ranking of players.    

\My forecast is that the final would be between Medvedev and Sverev.   

.   

Final Matchup

1    Novak  Djokovic         vs         2      Danill Medvedev

Wonderful game by Djokovic against an opponent who hardly made an unforced error until the end of the third set and served huge. How the Joker got some of those serves back boggles the mind. Zverev played exceptionally well, which makes the win under this kind of pressure even more impressive.

Medvedev deserve thoroughly his victory today and a win in three sets is really  very .impressive.   In the end the 6 setter win against Sverev took a lot out of Djokovic and he really showed some difficulties in this game a a result.    The best  player won the Tournament and that deserve praise  - which one could only expect from real fans..       

Real praise like you provided when Djokovic won the other three majors? You just sneaked off the site without a word.

Medvedev played a fine game today. His serve was very effective and he was more patient in  the long rallies……in the end Djokovic ran out of energy. Probably partly because of pressure, but also because Medvedev gave nothing away.

It’s a sad ending to an improbable quest. The greatest year in men’s tennis since 1968 ends in three 6 to 4 sets. It’s going to be hard for Novak to regroup but he may on the faster Australian Open surfaces.

No Mozart

You in your comments about the  match yesterday did not mention who the winner was and the way you carried on with how excellently  Djokovic  performed and even mentioned Sverev, any reader would think that the final was between Djokovic and Sverev, since in your comments  you did not mention Medvedev once and it showed showed a level of spiteful imbecility.

Then you went on to talk about Medvedev serving -  and nothing about the fact that his return of service  was much better than  that of Djok0ovic's.  In three sets Medvedev broke the services of Djokovic 4 times as against one break of service by the latter.    By the way there were two particular games where Djokovic had 0-40 and 15-40 in break points in the first two sets and even though he faced twice as many second serves by Medvedev than first  serves  Djokovic did not convert any of the break points involved. so is that proof of how marvelous his return of service was ?           .    

You got the day wrong ….the comments where I said he played well were from 11th after the semi. You really should apologize and correct your comments on the rugby section where you took your pathetic accusation. I watched the final on record and when finished watching I recorded my comments above giving total credit to Medvedev.

I am not correcting anything.   I posted my comments  after the final and saw your comments after the fianl candidates were announced  and that was followed by your comments.   I did not look specifially at   the date and timing  but accpeted they were made after the final was played.   You were spiteful anyway.   You were forced into commenting on the final and then found an inappropriate excuse for the fact that from game 1 in th final Djokovic were nt up to standard.   He lost he first game  on own serve  - he did not surrender in the end.   Fact is Djokovic managed to win the other three majors by default - in the Aussie open Medvedev suffered from cramps from the first set and that caused a decline in performance.    

In between he lost matches in  Monte Carlo and  Belgrade in a ATP 1000 and ATP 250 series  early and the Frenh Open this year was a lottery.   Overall even with limited games played Djokovic never had covincing performances even though he won  in France in 5 sets and he p[layed a substandard Berrettini in Wimbledon.    The hype was massive and you fell for it.   

Will Djokovic duck out of further tournaments this year like Federer and Nadal already did.   I doubt very much if he would play in the Turin World Championship final - he will qualify , but opposition will be much stronger.  .              

I never expected you to apologize Pervert…but saying he won 27 matches by default has to rank as one of the stupidest things ever said by an uneducated buffoon. 

I watched the match between Djokovic and Sverev again and none f

of what yuou said about that match was actually correct.    Sverev's service was rarfely effective and he made a very large number of second sevrves and double faults.   I have seen  a lot of Sverev matches recently and his service in the semi was fundamentally weaker than normal.   There was nanother problem - more of a psychological matter than anything else - in the 2020 US Opoen Final  Thiem  won the tropghy in a five-setter against Sverev and I think that Sverev dd more to lose the game than  Djokovic diod to win it.

As to the final  -  there was a problem as well.    In the end of year tennis Championship in London in November 2020   between Medvedev and Djokovic - the latter lost the first set and with  the second  set score being 4-4 - Djokovic started to make double-fault after double-fault  and the final result  was a win by Medvedev in the set and match at 6-4.   

That probably bothered Djokovic a hell of a lot.   In the first two serves by him in the third set he fouled up totally - same as happened in the  match in London I  referred to.   In the fist game in the set Djokovic was up 40-30 and started going to pieces - he eventually lost the game.   In the third game beeing 15 - 40 down Djokovic lost the plot and the game.   Being 5-2 down was when he broke down and cried while sitting down.        

I’ll tell you what Pervert when Medvedev gets 21 Majors you can tell me about how great he is…..heck I’ll cut you some slack when he gets 8 majors come back and crow.

I understand it must be hard if you have consistently undervalued the player who has just had  the best year in men’s tennis since 1968. But  use your wanking machine if it’s too stressful.

You must be kidding everybody.    The younger players played a vastly faster and more athletic game than was the case before,    They hit balls harder and they did play a more effective game than the elderly played at present..   When in their late 20's  the players like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic played a vastly better game than they have been playing during the past three to four years  - they have slowed down the game considerably and certainly made it more dull. than it used to be.

For all intents and purposes Federer and Nadal is effectively out of the game and Djokovic - who rarely played in tournaments this year  and whose success rate were limited to the three majors he won  was poor.    Following what happened in the rest of the tournaments he played in this year I gave him no chance to beat Medvedev in the US Open Final - sad but true.    Nobody wants to see greats like the mentioned 3 players departing from the sport - but it is unfortunately inevitable.                 .    

When Mozart loses an argument anybody opposing is mania about age of sportsmen  do not understand the game he carries on about,    I think he does not want to understand.