2021 U. S. Open Tennis Championships...ATP 2000...New York, New York

[arturohernandez]

No doubt. I love it also. Sevi, Moya, JCF, Ferrer, RBA, Nadal, those guys compete. No substitute for putting on the hard hat.

The funny thing is that if you walk through the streets you would think that all they do is sit around and eat longish meals. Someone also told me here they love to sleep in.

It's almost like some kind of costume. Like Rafa, totally calm and affable when he is just sitting around. He is probably a lot of fun when he is just sitting around talking to his friends or taking a swim in the mediterranean.

Then put him on a tennis court and he is a whole other person. It's like a big head fake...

[stroke]

Brooksby v Karatsev might be an interesting game.

It could be. It is all in Karatsev. Bash absolutely brutalized JB when they played not long ago, and Karatsev has a very similar game. It will be all about error management for Karatsev. Match of the day today, Stef ve Alcaraz.

[stotty]

Brooksby v Karatsev might be an interesting game.

[stroke]

Bash, Zverev, Karatsev, Opelka, a lot of my favorites, very successful today. Fritz still out there battling.

[stroke]

I would be very surprised if the bathroom breaks rules are not changed soon, just as rhe shot clock came into play.

[stotty]

ESPN: Stefanos Tsitsipas jeered after another long toilet break, wins in 4 sets at US Open.
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/...4-sets-us-open

The word 'reasonable' is in virtually every dodgy legal document going. I had a lease where the freeholder could charge 'reasonable' fees which weren't in fact reasonable at all. In fact the fees had to become very unreasonable before I could do anything about them. I would say 8 minutes for a tinkle is very unreasonable, and 3 minutes would be reasonable. And let's not forget, 99% of these players are not doing a tinkle anyway.

[stroke]

ESPN: Stefanos Tsitsipas jeered after another long toilet break, wins in 4 sets at US Open.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/32130140/stefanos-tsitsipas-jeered-another-long-toilet-break-wins-4-sets-us-open

[stroke]

It is the Spanish approach to tennis. Hard work, great fundamentals and reliability. He is a pro's, pro. There are a lot of them here. They are not all on the ATP tour but they are all pros and take their jobs seriously.

I used to find him boring but have grown to admire Bautista Agut for taking what god gave him and getting 200% out of it.

No doubt. I love it also. Sevi, Moya, JCF, Ferrer, RBA, Nadal, those guys compete. No substitute for putting on the hard hat.

[stotty]

Getting back to the toilet break thing. I would rather they call it a 'break to disrupt one's opponent', which is all it has ever been since its inception. Borg said he never needed to go for a pee during a match in his entire career, and McEnroe said the same. Toilet breaks are an utter joke.

[stotty]

Sinner comes through in four. The thing I like about Sinner is he continually applies pressure on his opponent in much the same way as Novak does. He is a very mature match player for his age. Of the youngest players coming though, he is the number one to look out for. It will be interesting to see how deep he goes in the draw this year.

[jthb1021]

I am all for doing away with the MTO's. The toweling off, I personally have no issue if done within the shot clock parameters. I realize some umpire discretion/decision making will still be necessary if a returner is purposely delaying the flow of play. But I have also seen a server be unreasonable with his pace of play, just to be irritating.

All that being said, Stef with his now common 10 minute breaks between sets, sometimes two times in a match, is simply unreasonable. And I like Stef.

It’s a fine line no question about it! But the umpire’s main purpose in my opinion is to keep the flow of play. They mainly look like push overs when it comes to enforcing what is and isn’t reasonable time. Using the bathroom and the the process of changing out of ridiculously sweaty clothes isn’t easy…I know putting a new pair of socks on takes much longer than normal. I think you should have to use these breaks before your service game as a rule. If you’re going to disrupt the flow it should be you that has to come back a little stiff and less energized and serve.

[stroke]

Yes, he is a cheat, and a bad one. I didn't realise it until recently and the FO.

MTO's are a joke. Federer tried an MTO for the first time in his life at the 2018 Aussie Open and it turned his match around against Rafa in the final. MTOs work for the players, not only for what they are designed for, but also to alter the tempo and flow of a match. I have mixed feelings about MTOs but on the whole...I would get rid of them. I would also get rid of the towelling down between points and the chairs at the changeovers. It would help the game if play could be made as continuous as possible.

I am all for doing away with the MTO's. The toweling off, I personally have no issue if done within the shot clock parameters. I realize some umpire discretion/decision making will still be necessary if a returner is purposely delaying the flow of play. But I have also seen a server be unreasonable with his pace of play, just to be irritating.

All that being said, Stef with his now common 10 minute breaks between sets, sometimes two times in a match, is simply unreasonable. And I like Stef.

[stroke]

I’m not enjoying the Steph story line of his cheating. Previously at the French Open he’s circling marks that are in claiming it is out and now he’s trying to control the tempo with the breaks, medical time outs, etc. I can’t stand that stuff! When Nadal played Medvedev in the final a couple of years ago I lost respect for him for controlling the tempo of the match by making Medvedev play slower on his service games. This was a major reason Nadal won the US Open that year!
When I play if my opponent(s) is not aware of the flow of the match and i have the opportunity to control the tempo I’ll jump on that and take control of the flow. The best players do that and it is a huge component of every match. But the gamesmanship we are seeing here is just showing junior players how to cheat leave the court and text your coach or parent etc. (not saying Steph is doing that) but it sure is a good idea for junior players.
Junior tennis is brutal and it is getting harder and harder to encourage good kids to to want to play with the cheating and all the bs. Sure we can say they need to be tougher or whatever but it is so hard to win and do it the right way, especially when you are always seeing the people who cheat succeed. It’ll come back to them we say…does it though? I’m all for controlling the tempo within the rules…it’s what the best players do, but there has to be a limit! These rules have been abused for way too long and Steph has taken it to a whole new level.

"has to be a limit". To me therin lies the rub.

[stotty]

I’m not enjoying the Steph story line of his cheating. Previously at the French Open he’s circling marks that are in claiming it is out and now he’s trying to control the tempo with the breaks, medical time outs, etc. I can’t stand that stuff! When Nadal played Medvedev in the final a couple of years ago I lost respect for him for controlling the tempo of the match by making Medvedev play slower on his service games. This was a major reason Nadal won the US Open that year!
When I play if my opponent(s) is not aware of the flow of the match and i have the opportunity to control the tempo I’ll jump on that and take control of the flow. The best players do that and it is a huge component of every match. But the gamesmanship we are seeing here is just showing junior players how to cheat leave the court and text your coach or parent etc. (not saying Steph is doing that) but it sure is a good idea for junior players.
Junior tennis is brutal and it is getting harder and harder to encourage good kids to to want to play with the cheating and all the bs. Sure we can say they need to be tougher or whatever but it is so hard to win and do it the right way, especially when you are always seeing the people who cheat succeed. It’ll come back to them we say…does it though? I’m all for controlling the tempo within the rules…it’s what the best players do, but there has to be a limit! These rules have been abused for way too long and Steph has taken it to a whole new level.

Yes, he is a cheat, and a bad one. I didn't realise it until recently and the FO.

MTO's are a joke. Federer tried an MTO for the first time in his life at the 2018 Aussie Open and it turned his match around against Rafa in the final. MTOs work for the players, not only for what they are designed for, but also to alter the tempo and flow of a match. I have mixed feelings about MTOs but on the whole...I would get rid of them. I would also get rid of the towelling down between points and the chairs at the changeovers. It would help the game if play could be made as continuous as possible.

[jthb1021]

I’m not enjoying the Steph story line of his cheating. Previously at the French Open he’s circling marks that are in claiming it is out and now he’s trying to control the tempo with the breaks, medical time outs, etc. I can’t stand that stuff! When Nadal played Medvedev in the final a couple of years ago I lost respect for him for controlling the tempo of the match by making Medvedev play slower on his service games. This was a major reason Nadal won the US Open that year!
When I play if my opponent(s) is not aware of the flow of the match and i have the opportunity to control the tempo I’ll jump on that and take control of the flow. The best players do that and it is a huge component of every match. But the gamesmanship we are seeing here is just showing junior players how to cheat leave the court and text your coach or parent etc. (not saying Steph is doing that) but it sure is a good idea for junior players.
Junior tennis is brutal and it is getting harder and harder to encourage good kids to to want to play with the cheating and all the bs. Sure we can say they need to be tougher or whatever but it is so hard to win and do it the right way, especially when you are always seeing the people who cheat succeed. It’ll come back to them we say…does it though? I’m all for controlling the tempo within the rules…it’s what the best players do, but there has to be a limit! These rules have been abused for way too long and Steph has taken it to a whole new level.