Talk About Tennis 2.0

mick1303 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 23, 2025 11:34 am What I remember from 2003 is that it was clear that rain was coming. They had time to play Roddick which is what happened. But they could easily play the other semis in another stadium simultaneously. But chose not to. And JCF ended up playing semis AND the final on Sunday. Which was an atrocity - should've been postponed to Monday. Not to mention questionable officiating in the semis vs Nalbandian.

All of this. It was a huge controversy.

Here is the semifinal of the 2003 US Open between Andre Agassi, and Juan Carlos Ferrero - it was played on Saturday Sep 6, 2003, and was played before Roddick vs Nalbanadian. I think the controversy with the scheduling happened in the previous rounds for Juan Carlos Ferrero, but it's not clear to me the schedule of play leading into the semis.

Here's the 2nd semifinal between Roddick, and Nalbandian.

I remember that there was a lot of talk among tennisheads that the Final needed to be played Monday to ensure both players had the same amount of rest and that the USTA refused.

Here is the full video of the Final.

Highlights

AI Overview

The main "controversy" surrounding the 2003 US Open final between Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero was not a dispute over a call, but rather the significant fatigue experienced by Ferrero, who played more matches in the days leading up to the final due to rain delays. Ferrero himself acknowledged his exhaustion, stating he had played four consecutive days, while Roddick had an advantage of a day off.

Details of the situation:
Rain delays and scheduling:
Heavy rain throughout the tournament caused numerous match postponements.
Ferrero's packed schedule:
This led to Ferrero playing a heavy workload, including a grueling three days of consecutive matches before the final.

Roddick's advantage:
In contrast, Roddick had a day of rest between his semi-final and the final, making him better rested.

Ferrero's perspective:
Ferrero, the Spaniard who had battled his way to the final, later confirmed his fatigue in interviews, acknowledging that it made the final a difficult task, even against a talented opponent like Roddick.

Outcome:
Roddick capitalized on his advantage, overpowering a tired Ferrero to win his first and only Grand Slam title.
Therefore, while there were no specific contentious calls or incidents of cheating, the scheduling imbalance created by the rain was a widely discussed factor that contributed to the final's outcome.

There was an issue with rain in the 2003 tournament, but it wasn't during the final weekend, and Roddick did not have a day of rest between the semis, and the finals. From what I can see online the day of rest for Roddick was between the 4th round, and the quarterfinals whereas Ferrero played at least 4 consecutive days to finish the event.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 24, 2025 1:48 am Saw a panel discussion recently between Lindsay Davenport, Chanda Rubin and Coco Vandeweghe.. the topic was constructing the ideal female tennis player.
There was unanimity on a couple of dimensions:
Serve - Rybakina. Not just the pace and accuracy but the varuety and the fact that her motion is so simple she csn repeat it over and over, consistently
Backhand - Anisimova, with a nod to Kalinskaya
Forehand - the panel was a bit divided, between Swiatek and Sabalenka
Movement - the panel came dotn to Coco on defense and Iga on offense
Competitive spirit - Coco was the unanimous choice
Variety - Jabeur, Andreeva and Davenport finally said 'Krejcikova or Muchova'
----------------------------------
...

BH. Muchova. She is the sole player that can hit a slice to push you back. Since Barty's retirement, she has the best BH overall. The variety is above anybody else's.
FH. Sabalenka. Swiatek's FH will break down if you push her.
Competitive spirit, Coco? C'mon, I get to see very little tennis on TV and I have seen Coco break down when the DF's start piling up. I say Paolini: the sole reason she is a top 10 player is because she simply will not quit any point. She can go out there and sit together with Ferrer and Schwartzman and say "Yep, I hear you".
Variety? Yes, Jabeur maybe. But when you have a tour in which there are at most two players in the top 100 with a one handed BH, you can declare variety is dead.
And that goes also for the ATP.

agree with you about the backhand...

skatingfan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 24, 2025 3:05 am There was an issue with rain in the 2003 tournament, but it wasn't during the final weekend, and Roddick did not have a day of rest between the semis, and the finals. From what I can see online the day of rest for Roddick was between the 4th round, and the quarterfinals whereas Ferrero played at least 4 consecutive days to finish the event.

Which would have been a matter of what half of the draw you were in, not something that could be rigged unless you knew in advance which half was going to land on more sunny days.

Loved you, Petra. And I know the horrible intruder incident derailed you for a considerable time.
But. I felt you should have won more. You underachieved, just a little.
Best wishes.