I thought Leyla might go on a little run for sure. She was playing pretty well not long ago. Same with Felix. It’s disappointing.
If the women can find an inner Justine Henin or Kim Clijsters within them, then they’d be set. Hardly a female player as gritty as those 2 Belgians at the top of their game.
Little Leylah appears to have gained a modest amount of weight as she strives for more strength to compete with physical monsters like Sabalenka & Barbora, etc.
Her speed seems substantially down, that was her #1 asset that turned her into a Top 30 player. Now she’s just field fodder for both top seeds and qualifiers. Occasionally she’ll go deep in a minor tournament by-passed by top players but thats about it. She can also develop into a Top 10 doubles player.
Andreescu has had her day in the sun. She’s a moody performer at best, always kvetching about injuries (real or imagined).
We know the line about Shappy - he can go the distance with almost anyone - but rarely does. Felix is our #1 male now that Raonic has been hobbled by injuries and age. Felix can look like a million dollars - but mostly in losing. He’s still a legit Top 30 ATP competitor, El Shappo more like Top 80
If Diallo can somehow make it to the 3rd round that would be tremendous but at this point it appears Canadian pro tennis is back in the doldrums.
Where o Where is Daniel Nestor???
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People may not love Raonic the servebot, but he was very consistent.
Vasek Pospisil was also a very consistent battler as a top 40 player when he wasn’t injured.
The talent in FAA, Shapo, Leylah, and Andreescu are there, and that’s the most frustrating part really. I like Marina Stankusic and Gabriel Diallo, but I don’t think they have the ceiling these players have.
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I am more optimistic than you about Leylah. I think she has her head on straight, unlike Bianca. I had thought that one of the men or women would at least go on a bit of a run at the US Open, but the showing was disastrous instead. I’m not sure about who is playing doubles but Leylah had had some success there lately with different partners so maybe she can still do something there.
A summary of Canada’s woeful perfomance yesterday.
Well the tournament chugs along. All Canadians wiped out early in singles, all but Diallo in the first round. Alcatraz and Jokevic out early too. Heading towards the semi finals.
For sentimental value and knowing Tiafoe’s background a bit, I hope he makes it to the final. Also I just noticed that Pegula knocked off Swiatek. To make it to the semis. This might possibly be the most successful year for Americans at the US Open since the days of Andy Roddick.
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I’m a big fan of The Swat (Swiatek) since she openly sided with Ukraine over 2 years ago.
She came out of Poland like a house on fire at 19 and has won 5 Majors. Now, I’m majorly concerned for her.
She seems sluggish, bitter & a bit angry. As if folks like Pegula shouldn’t be able to take her on.
If Pegula knocked her off in 2 straight “easy” sets - the bullish giant Sabalenka would have bagelled Iga 6-0, 6-0
In essence Pegula deprived Sabalenka the opportunity to humiliate and destroy Swiatek.
No matter the player, they can’t perform at their best all of the time. It’s not a best of 7 series and one less that optimum effort and/or a great day by your opponent means anyone can lose any given day. Alcatraz looked like he would win the next 20 majors earlier this year and then lost at the Olympics and then bowed out meekly at the US Open. Pegula is a very good player who has also been criticized for underperforming. Both Andreescu and Radacanu won US Opens and are unlikely to ever win another major. The beauty of tennis.
Andreescu was almost a fluke. Good tennis player with increasingly worse temperament. She’s got an excuse for every lost point - let alone squandered matches.
Radacanu is still young enough - but her rebuild could be dicey. She was fortunate to to play the tiny Canadian gnat, Leylah Annie in the Wimbledon final. Fernandez is a really decent tour player with a lot of heart, but is really incapable of being deemed a Top 10 player. More like Top 40/50 or so.
I think Raducanu might have got hypnotized by the bright lights of top tier tennis and winning that slam. Actually, very much like Genie Bouchard - both woman are more model than athlete. Bouchard is now a full time model and spokesperson - she rarely is granted WTA tour status and usually appears as a sponsor’s exemption to show off her sultry tennis gear.
If Raducanu gets top-tier training and commits fully to the tour she’s capable of at least a few more Top 4 or Top 8 finishes.
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An update. The semi finals are almost set.
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Was just going to post some write ups heading into the women’s final.
My name is Bond, James Bond.
Federer addresses Sinner’s doping case.
And Sinner takes the crown in straight sets:
Sabalenka takes the women’s crown:
Getting close to the end of the Sinner doping saga it looks like.
Hard to think that slight of build and under-powered Iga Swiatek (The Swat) of Poland once dominated the gargantuan powerhouse Aryna Sabalenka (aka Bullinski). But she did.
No more. Swiatek has either plumped up or is with child. She was canceled at this year’s open by powerful Pegula, couldn’t even get to the Big Game vs. Sabalenka. Just as well - Iga doesn’t have the juice anymore to confront the Bully. Pegula might be the only one at WTA that can give Bullinski a decent match. Maybe Muchova, who knows? But at 5’9" Iga Swiatek appears poised to exit winning WTA podiums.
Canada doing well at the Davis Cup at least.
Looking at the overall level of competition, its a small ask. Outside of Spain and France, the list of competitors is #3 Carlos Alcaraz and then the rest are middling top 20-100 players.