Tennis Last Week: Familiar Faces Win in Cincy

Amy:

1. If you are a tennis fan thinking of going to a tennis tournament in the States, I highly recommend Cincinnati. There are plenty of excellent tournaments in North America, but Cincinnati might be the best place to go as a tennis fan. The tournament gets all the top players from both tours, but the tournament grounds are easily accessible and traffic is not a problem. Crowds overwhelm other big tennis tournaments, but you rarely have much trouble finding a seat at even the best matches in Cincinnati. It may not match the prestige of the US Open, but it might be the best place to get a close look at the legends of the sport.

This year was my third time covering Cincinnati in person, and it’s always a pleasure to be there.

2. I can never enjoy David Ferrer’s game because of things like this:

Ferrer on beating the top guys, after losing to Federer: “With Roger, Rafael, and Novak Djokovic, sometimes not the depends of me; depends of them.”

Such little self-confidence from a player with his accomplishments is appalling.

3. I got the chance to hit on a grass court for the first time this past weekend. It was awesome. Since I’m 5’1”, I often struggle with high-bouncing balls on hard or clay courts. I can’t say I was hitting all that well, but the low bounce was glorious!

For the last part of our time hitting on that court, I played with no shoes. It was such a relaxing and fun way to play.

4. Here’s your cuteness break:

5. There will be no #CareerGoldenMastersMadeUpAward for Novak Djokovic this year, but I have to laugh when I see so many people writing the 2014 Wimbledon champion off as the US Open favorite because of a few bad matches at Masters 1000s right after getting married. With Rafael Nadal out of the US Open draw, I consider Djokovic the strong favorite. Roger Federer has played some good tennis this year, but I haven’t seen anything that convinces me he’s the favorite for any Grand Slam. I’d be surprised to see anyone other than Djokovic win the US Open this year.

6. Steve Johnson is suddenly playing some really good (and watchable, despite being an American male!) tennis. I’ll be very interested to see whether he can sustain it.

7. This might be my favorite thing ever:

Lindsay:

1. I absolutely love the U.S. Open Series, probably because it’s in my time zone, and besides the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, it was my first real introduction to tennis. It’s where I fell in love with the grind of the tour, and every time I see tennis under the lights I get chills.

That being said, gosh, I need for it to be a little bit longer. Perhaps it’s because I tend to cover the smaller tournaments, Citi Open and Winston-Salem, but the big Canada/Cincy double that I’m always so looking forward to always go by too quickly! I could totally live when them being a month-long affair like IW and Miami, although I do realize that would wreak havoc on the schedule.

Anyways, I’m exhausted.

2. As far as tennis-player problems go, going so late in one tournament that you’re exhausted in the next is a pretty good problem to have. That being said, when a played doesn’t have a bye or more than one day off, I’m never too concerned when players like Venus and Tsonga lose right after playing in the final the week before.

It’s just life, you know?

3. BENNY MADE THE SEMIS. He played so well. That basically counts as a title, don’t you think? I’m very upset that his interview with the ESPN crew isn’t online because it was amazing. He was so serious and thoughtful and happy at the same time, and they’d ask him these simple questions and he would go on and on and on and it was beautiful.

Also, this happened:

Since you can’t watch that, just watch this instead:

4. If you missed the Ana-Maria masterpiece, Andrew Eccles has you covered here at The Changeover. Right now, the WTA is just killing it.

5. Is Roger Federer the U.S. Open favorite? I mean, I know that Djokovic is actually the favorite and everything, but maybe Federer is too? The ATP is pretty weird these days you guys.

Seriously though, what an impressive run from Federer over the last two weeks. The old man should be #proud.

6. I wrote for BR that Serena’s clearly the U.S. Open favorite after her Cincy win. I know, I know…#hottake.

7. Besides Sharapova/Ivanovic and everything that Benny did, the best thing about Cincy was the Murray/Isner match. I’m serious, it was fantastic.

8. I’m totally in favor of former No. 1s Ivanovic and Wozniacki being a thing again on the women’s tour. It certainly makes things a lot more interesting. Keep it up.

9. LOL Milos:

10. Come back to us, Andy Murray. We won’t bite.

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