Stange draw. I guess Nadal murdered it on the hard courts recently to obtain that number two seed. Looks like he has a walk to the finals. I love Federer but his time passed. Seeded number 7 and all indications are he is grasping for straws with his rackets. His back is also hurting him.

Joker has a poential hichey in the quarters against Del Potro. If healthy he can blow blow Joker out of the stadium. And The winner has Murray in the semis.

I guess one could say Nadal has has had a successful hard court season. 15-0 is hard to dispute. Pundits are picking him to win it this year. That would give him 13 (aagain merely speculating that Nadal will win but it is hard to argue based on his current form that he would not). Joker again has a tricky draw. Isner could vomuit in Nadal's punch bowl but I just don't think he has the game to stand up to Nadal.

If Nadal wins this it opens the debate back uo. Federer has his 17 but has a piss poor record against Nadal.

If Federer wins another GS event, I think he'll walk off the stage...

But that will not happen. When Sampras did it his main competition were the likes of Agassi, a guy whose game was not very physical. Today's players are monsters. You lose a step today and it is lights out.

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Agassi, a guy whose game was not very physical

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what? Agassi was known as a guy who would torture opponents with 2 hours of 'body punches', running them all over the court. He wasn't overpowering, like some of today's players, if that's what you mean.

ALSO, our very own Austin Krajicek made it into the doubs, playing with Denis Kudla! Not sure when he plays.

James Blake announces today that this will be his last tournament. Loved watching him play and his reckless abandonment on court. Happy retirement James!

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James Blake announces today that this will be his last tournament. Loved watching him play and his reckless abandonment on court. Happy retirement James!

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meh another failed American Tennis player..how the hell do you run into a post.

Blake was just another overhyped by the US media player.

I would like to see Nadal win it, but im going with Novak!

Gotta go with Rafa right now. Novak seems to have dropped off just a tiny bit and Nadal seems to have regained his pre-injury form.

The US Open is a blast to go to. Wish I were there this year.

Agassi was a counter puncher. The only player back then that had the power and could cover the court was Sampras. Most of the rest could cover the court but not hit or could hit but not cover the court. Think about Michael Chang. He would be dog meat today. He would be a qualifier.

I think of Agassi and Ferrer as very similar. And Ferrer can go deep in these grand slams but he is not a real threat to win one. Today Agassi would be that way.

I see what you're saying, but that's quite a reduction. Both Agassi and Ferrer play extremely physical games. But to say the former #1, and one of the most dominant players in the 90's and into the 2000's, would only go deep into tournaments but not contend?

8 Grand Slams, an Olympic Gold, and 1 of FOUR men to ever win the career grand slam.

And if you're classifying guys in that way, I'd say both Nadal and Djoker are "counter punchers" - they just do it better than anyone ever has.

Nadal was a counter puncher and would have never won anything other than the French until he ramped up his service game. When Nadal first came on the scene as a major winner his first serve was coming in at around 90 mph. His serve sucked. His only saving grace was he could put viivious spin on his forehand. But his serve left him vulverable on the faster surfaces. Nadal fixed that and altough he is not a monster server he is not a patsy.

The players today are just different.

Patrick:

You take John McCenroe, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg in their prime out there today and they would get slaughtered. They are just too small. Connors was about 5'-10". No way he could have generated enough power to handle these guys today. Federer is 6'-1" and weighs close to 190 pounds. He has power and can move like a rabitt. He can cover his mistakes and murder you for yours. Joker, Murray and Nadal are all the same. You make a slight mistake against any of them and it is coming back 1" over the net chord at about 95 mph.

Which is why Roger Federer is now up a crap creek. He has lost a step and can't grind out those 5 setters. Jimmy Connors made the US Open semifinals at the age of 39. You take that same Connors then and put him out there today and he does not even make it through the qualifiers.

I like watching the classics. Ivan Lendl would just do baseline rallies and lob it back and forth. Today these players are smashing it. Stephan Edberg? Mattts Vilander (sp)? No way no how.

I'm glad to see that James Blake got the opportunity to call it quits on his terms at his home slam. With all of the injuries he has suffered, most recently a knee injury, that wasn't always a slam dunk.

Like Roddick after he retired last year, I think there is going to be a lot of debate in the long run about whether Blake underachieved or overachieved.

Considering he wasn't a phenom as a junior player and was just happy to be playing college tennis at Harvard, he had a really nice career, including a stint as an anchor of the Davis Cup team. But on the other hand, it's disappointing that he spent a considerable amount of time ranked inside the top 20, even the top 10, and never really won anything of consequence.

What's undeniable is that this era of American men's tennis is just about over. Roddick and Blake are gone now. Mardy Fish, with all of his medical issues, has the feel of a player that is not long for the tour. Even the supporting cast players that came up in that group like Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri are either done or close to it.

I hate women's tennis

great win by duval!

anyone catch the Andy Roddick interview with Federer on FS1?

Pretty interesting. Roddick still has that disdain in him that Roger kept him from probably winning 3 or 5 more GS's....but it was definitely interesting.

Roddick remembered how classy Roger was in the lockerroom after the epic Wimbledon 09 match and not going crazy in the lockerroom.

Definitely worth watching. You don't see Roger in those situations very often with media. Humanizes him a bit more, and confirms everything everyone always hears about what a good guy he is. Even an egotistical jackass like Roddick(my opinion) comes away with a sense of how good a guy he truly is.

[This message has been edited by Bunk Moreland (edited 8/27/2013 10:50p).]

Roddick is a ****** bag.

I thought Roddick did a pretty good job with the interview.

Based on the quotes he had given when he took the job, I was concerned that Roddick was going to do all he could to distance himself from the sport in his career as a TV personality/analyst thanks to his disdain he has for many tennis analysts, but I was happy to see him at least dabbling.

Roddick is not a bad guy. He made an ass of himelf a few times like we all have but in our case cameras are not rolling. He has a good sense of humor.

bye bye Venuus!

[This message has been edited by Original Toad Boy (edited 8/28/2013 11:19p).]

Why the hate for Venus? I can see it for her sister but for Venus?

Goodness Isner is slow.

Krajicek and partner Denis Kudla win their first round match 6-3, 6-2!

Kinda old news now, but what do u guys think of the crowd rooting for monfils over american isner? I realize monfils is more entertaining and they wanted more tennis, but that was still shocking.

Made me sick! Glad I wasn't there. They would've had to escort me out!

Federer looked incredible last night but they brought up his Achilles heel when it comes to Nadal. The massive spin Nadal puts on the ball makes it bounce higher and you can really tell from his racket position and follow through how he does it. Fed is going to make the quarters but Nsdal will send him home at that point.

Federer is 10-0 vs. Tommy Robredo, so the qF with Nadal is about a lock.

Serena hasn't lost to the same opponent twice in a row since 2009.

Tennis should consider changing up the major schedule IMO. It is too hot at the Australian and it rains most every year at the US Open.

I say that but in looking at precipitation patterns in New York the monthly averages are pretty much the same. So screw me.

But it is too hot at the Australian.

No reason why the Australian couldn't be moved back to February. Nothing major in Feb in the states other than maybe some Davis cup. Ericsson and Indian Wells aren't til march.

The QF streak is one the line tonight...Roger is in trouble.

Huh? He got beat out in the 2nd round at Wimbledon.