2019 Tennis Thread

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Young American Anisimova upsets Halep to reach French semis

In the latest surprise at a French Open filled with them, defending champion Simona Halep was knocked out in the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova on Thursday.

"The pressure was on," said Halep, saying she felt "nerves, a little bit stressed. ... Maybe expectations from myself were big today and maybe I couldn't handle the tension in my body, so I couldn't move my best."

The 51st-ranked Anisimova's first Grand Slam semifinal will come against another player making her debut in that round of a major: No. 8 seed Ashleigh Barty.

The Australian advanced by beating No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States 6-3, 7-5.

The other semifinal scheduled for Friday is No. 26 Johanna Konta of Britain against unseeded 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. Because a full day of play was lost to rain Wednesday, the women's semifinals -- normally Thursday, one after another in the main stadium -- will be played simultaneously on the second- and third-largest courts. The biggest arena will host the men's semifinals, including the much-anticipated matchup between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/26910451/anisimova-upsets-halep-reach-french-semis

Go Anisimova!!
 

Was crazy to wake up and see she beat Halep. And only 17! She has a very bright future.
 

Anisimova's run came to an end, losing to Barty in 3.

Looking at the rankings, she should be in the top 30 come Monday. Seeding at the majors will be huge for her.
 

Nadal is now 12-0 in French Open semifnals and 11-0 in French Open finals.

That is ridiculous.

Go USA!!
 

Nadal is now 12-0 in French Open finals. He now has 18 Grand Slam trophies, 2 behind Federer.

Per Axios Sports:

93-2: Nadal's overall record at Roland-Garros is one of the most preposterous things in the history of not just sports, but the world.

Go Federer!!
 




This is awesome!

ESPN: American Gauff, 15, qualifies for Wimbledon

Coco Gauff, a 15-year-old American, has become the youngest player to reach Wimbledon's main draw for women's singles via qualifying in the Open era.

Gauff made it into the tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 victory that lasted just 55 minutes in the final round of qualifying Thursday against Greet Minnen, a 21-year-old from Belgium.

Gauff is ranked 301st, Minnen 129th.

Gauff, who was born in Georgia and is now based in Florida, will be the 12th-youngest player to compete in women's singles at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament since professionals were first admitted in 1968. The 11 who were younger all got spots in the draw via direct entry, rather than qualifying.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/27069261/american-gauff-15-qualifies-wimbledon

Go USA!!
 




All-American final in Eastbourne, Sam Querrey vs. Taylor Fritz.
 

Taylor Fritz claims first title in Eastbourne final

American Taylor Fritz claimed his maiden ATP title in Eastbourne, beating compatriot Sam Querrey 6-3 6-4 in the final on Saturday.

Playing only his second final, Fritz made a solid start to break Querrey to love in his first return game.

Fritz went on to dominate the majority of the baseline rallies, while Querrey was undone by unforced errors in key moments of the match.

The 21-year-old Fritz clinched another early break of serve in the second set before closing out the victory in just over an hour with an ace.

Fritz, son of former top-10 player Kathy May, will look to carry his success over to Wimbledon, where he begins his campaign against Czech Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.

Querrey, who was playing his first final since the New York Open in 2018, will meet world number four Dominic Thiem in his opening match.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/27082993/taylor-fritz-claims-first-title-eastbourne-final

Go USA!!
 


Wow what a moment for Coco!!!!

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Go Coco!!
 



American's are showing up strong to start the Forthnight:

Querrey with a huge upset over Thiem in the first round. Today Opelka knocks off Warinka and the story of Wimbledon so far with Coco advancing to the third round!

Go USA!!
 

Tough losses for Fritz and Isner.

But on to the third round for Querrey, Johnson, Sandgren (who had a nice win over #20 Simon), Stephens, Riske and Serena...and the big win of the day for the American's was Lauren Davis knocking off #5 Kerber.

Go USA!!
 

Gauff with an incredible comeback today!! Down a set and 5-2, she fought off two match points, won the second set 7-6 and the third 7-5!! The atmosphere was incredible on Centre Court...after the match a few Wimbledon employees ran to get pictures and autographs from Coco...Chris Evert said this was the first time she has ever seen that.

She now has a very tall task with Halep in front of her, but if she can somehow win that, the quarterfinal match will be against an unseeded player.

Let's hope Gauff's career is more Sloane Stephens or better and less Melanie Oudin.

Go Gauff!!
 

Riske with a huge upset over Barty, and now we get an All-American quarterfinal with Riskey and Serena. It's hard to believe those two have never faced each other.

Go USA!!
 

Gauff with a quick exit at the hands of Halep, which is a formidable foe. It will be interesting the path Gauff takes, and hopefully expectations are realistic. She'll get wildcards in the U.S. hard court circuit as well as the US Open. If she flames out in a few first rounds (which is likely) I hope she's treated fairly by the media and fans. With where her ranking is (and obviously it will jump significantly after Wimbledon) she'll still have to play smaller tournaments. Expecting her to be a consistent threat at Majors is not realistic, yet.

Go Coco!!
 

Yeah, I don't want Gauff to get the Melanie Oudin treatment...that ended in disaster.
 

ESPN: Federer-Nadal looms as Big 3 strut into semis

Hard to believe, perhaps, but when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal meet in the Wimbledon semifinals, it'll be their first matchup at the All England Club since their memorable 2008 final.

Federer and Nadal set up their 40th career showdown by each overcoming a tough opening set in the quarterfinals Wednesday before moving on.

The No. 2-seeded Federer, with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kei Nishikori, won his 100th match win at the All England Club, becoming the first man to reach that total at any Grand Slam tournament.

Not long after that ended on Centre Court, the No. 3-seeded Nadal finished off unseeded Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 at Court No. 1.

"Obviously, I know people always hype it up," Federer said of his rivalry with Nadal.

Well, why shouldn't they? These are, after all, two of the greatest players in history, winners of more Grand Slam titles than any other men who have played tennis. Of Federer's 20 Grand Slam titles, a record eight came at Wimbledon. Of Nadal's 18 major trophies, 12 came at the French Open, where he routed Federer in the semifinals last month.

That gave Nadal a 24-15 career edge head-to-head, including 10-3 at the Slams.

This is their fourth matchup at Wimbledon -- and first that won't come in the final. Federer beat Nadal for the 2006 and 2007 titles, but Nadal won the championship 11 years ago in a 9-7 fifth set as dusk descended after a match that lasted 4 hours, 48 minutes -- a men's final record.

"Well, we have a lot of information on Rafa, and so does he about us," Federer said. "So you can either dive into tactics and all that stuff like mad for two days -- or you're just going to say: 'You know what? It's grass-court tennis and I'm going to come out there and play attacking tennis.' And if he can defend that, that's too good. And if he can't, well, then, that's good for me."

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/27161121/federer-nadal-looms-big-3-strut-semis

Go Fed!!
 

Halep and Serena with dominating semifinal wins, setting up a big Wimbledon finale. Let's hope Serena gets off to a good start.

Go Serena!!
 

Federer with a fantastic match today and a HUGE win over Rafa!!!

Outside of an outlier second set, Fed's serve was dialed in. What a big win.

On to Novak.

Go Fed!!
 


Rather shocking win by Halep...she really took it to Serena.
 


Federer is gettin plenty of chances, just can't get out of his own way.
 


An absolutely epic finale yesterday, and one of those that many non-tennis fans were tuned in for. As a big Federer fan I am very disappointed, and never did I expect him to blow two match points on his own racket. This will be a very tough one for him to move on from. But congrats to Novak, he's an incredible player.

When all is said and done, there is a strong likelihood that Federer will have the third most Grand Slam victories in his own era. That's crazy to think about.

Career Grand Slam titles: Federer, age 37 (20), Rafael Nadal, age 33 (18), Djokovic, age 32 (16).

Go Federer!!
 

I do think Djokovic is going to overtake Nadal in total slams...better player on hard and grass, and he can push Nadal at the French so wouldn't be surprised to see Djokovic snag another one there.
 

Was looking over the draws for the coming weeks...and it seems Jack Sock will be making a come back starting in Atlanta. His last match was a first round loss at the Australian Open this year and after that he had surgery to repair ligaments in his thumb, I believe it was.
 

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