Running 2020 Tennis Thread

Yes, Wang was insanely overmatched against Serena in the U.S. Open.

HOWEVER...

Wang is not chopped liver. She's a seeded player, ranked No. 29 in the world, AND she's beaten Ash Barty (current world No. 1) and Karolina Pliskova (current world No. 2). I suspect the result in New York could be somewhat attributed to the intimidation factor -- she completely crumbled against Serena's power, especially on the serve. Last night, she not only handled it and matched it, she actually outserved Serena, which exactly no one saw coming.

And she was amazingly poised. When the second set went into the tiebreak, I told my wife, "If Wang doesn't win it here, she's going to lose the match." Then she didn't, but she didn't. She held together better than Serena did.

Wang should be favored in her next match against Jabeur, setting up a very intriguing quarterfinal match against the winner of Coco Gauff and another young American rising star, Sonia Kenin.

All that said, while Serena showed stretches of Serena-like play, more often she looked old and slow.

 

Coco Gauff's win over Osaka (the defending champion) is the essence of a major, a rising star showing her potential. I know, she burst on the scene last year but if you compare her in 2020 to this year, she's even better, with a better serve. Great to see.

 

Yeah, I didn't see the match (3 a.m. is too late even for me) but she's obviously on her game.

She impressed me in the previous match. I thought she would lose to Cirstea, who was clearly the better player through the first half of the match, but she showed toughness and poise andthose other cliches and raised her game to pull it out.

I really like Kenin's game from what I saw of it last year (notably in the Rogers Cup). That should be a great match.

 

Williams has long won with power, athleticism, mental toughness and drama, the latter of which used to play against the opponent.

She still has power. She's not nearly as athletic - who would be after this many years - and while she's still mentally tough on the court, the drama often turns more against her than against her opponents.

 

How come you say things so much better than I do?

 

Again, I didn't see that match, but what strikes me in general about those two is Gauff, at 15, seems much more mature than Osaka, who is 22 and has much more high-level match experience.

 

I hope you're right. Mostly, I think the women's side of tennis lacks 3-5 elite players - and by elite, I mostly mean relative to the field, not the quality of the sport - and thus has a lot of different major winners. I think it's part of why Williams is still doing it; if there was a 24-year-old version of her in the game, she'd have retired, knowing full well she's not likely to beat that player.

 

Now there's a sentiment I have often shared while reading this board.

 

Agreed. I thought Osaka had the game, reliable serve, speed, can hit winners. But unfortunately, she's struggling with the mental side (which is likely the hardest part). Heard a podcast on of all places the Vince Carter podcast (she apparently went up through juniors with VC's daughter in Atlanta) and Gauff sounded like she's got a great life perspective, maybe she'll handle stardom. I know Sloane and Madison Keys have struggled with the grind as well.

 

Osaka comes across like a little girl, and at times seems overwhelmed by everything. Gauff comes across as very much an adult and seems unfazed by anything.

 

Sloane Stephens is sinking like a rock.