'23 US Open 8/28 - 9/10 General Discussion

[nelslus]

This all was INSANITY!!!! being there. It all took about 45 minutes to an hour. For quite awhile, no one that I talked with knew exactly what the hell this was all about. We all could hear folks making some kind of repeated statements, and they were clearly not going to shut up. I mean, they escorted the players out- and finally made some kind of loud-speaker very vague statement about there had some kind of disturbance, and things were being handled. I called John finally so he could find out for me. For a bit, I was thinking- HEY, sure, get the players out of their to safety and, LOL **** the rest of us. (Self-censored). It was really weird for quite awhile- even when the tennis started back up. It's like, in the world we live in- there have been horrible things that have happened at large events. And I sure wasn't thrilled being around 20,000+ people if the sh** had really hit the fan.

IN any case- y'all- the heat wasn't that much of a concern today at all. I have always worried far too much. I mean, obviously it was very hot out there- this time, especially, as I was getting to the Open. But, Armstrong was indeed again quite comfortable. After that, I found out that the Chase lounge was closed today, but the AmExp lounge was open, so indeed I did go in there- as, LOL, I didn't see these recommendations from ti-amie until now. I even got this free cool facial and upper body cool mist treatment thingy- and do NOT go there you PERVS!! I got bored quickly, so I left, and then simultaneously watched the #1 boys doubles team and #8 girls doubles team win- happily, in the shade, and outdoor breezes kept coming.

BTW, when I've gone to the Open during earlier matches, I often have just gone from match to match to match- sticking with outstanding matches and/or involving my favorite players.

Of course, I was absolutely thrilled to see Rajeev and Joe get to the final. Joe was outstanding throughout the match- except IMO he didn't serve all that well throughout the match (his serve was the one that got broken in the second set). Rajeev kept making errors on some break points throughout the match. But, Rajeev's serve was amazing- especially when it mattered the most in the third set. They both had some amazing saves and great volleys. Rajeev clearly got quite emotional during the on-court post-match interview. He talked about the relatively rough year they have been having- but was happy that they have chosen to keep playing together. They really over-all played a great match against a very formidable team.

It is very late, so, LOL, I am about to wrap all of this up (at least by MY standards for what "about" means). 'Twas great to see Coco win. The Keys match was ultimately heartbreaking. LOL, normally, I probably would have been rooting hard for Sabalenka. But, Keys played unbelievable tennis in the first set- and good enough to serve for the match in the second. Got broken to love. Played a horrible second set tiebreaker. Even with Sabalenka playing better and better, especially in the third set- Madison managed to go up a break. AND, immediately got broken. She was making way too many errors- but still managed to get things to a third set tiebreaker. At which point, like in the second set, she flopped like a dead fish in the third set tiebreaker. She just cannot let herself win a Slam title. Always gonna be the bridesmaid. And JUST when one could think that she was at least playing well enough (and Sabalenka was a hot-mess in the first set, all cranky and breaking her racquet) at what looked to me like a last-stand Slam effort- AH, well. (Sabalenka did play some great tennis to win- but, the errors sure helped.) Like I said- really sad.

SINCE I have an Ashe ticket for tomorrow- I will probably at least sneak in to see Shelton get destroyed by Novak, until it is confirmed how ugly this all will get- not sure if I'll need to use my Ashe ticket to see the men's doubles final at noon? I'll definitely be there, unless I over-sleep. I HATE!!!! that they have the women's doubles SF's starting at the same time as the Rajeev/Joe match- but, I definitely hope to see some of the women's doubles, at least. I also HATE!!!! that I won't get to see Carlos live. I mean- if Carlos manages to lose to Medvedev, THEN I won't mind missing the match.

IN addition to weather variables- a thing that may make me stop going to the US Open- especially the later stages- is that so many bozo's will NOT STFU during the matches. It seems to be getting worse and worse. There have always been privileged a-holes that go to tennis tournaments, just to socialize with their snotty and deeply respectful buddies. But, paying a lot of money to be around these jerks....I just don't know anymore. I may be aging out- if I'm not already there?

A very hideous women's fashion trend tonight- white and short baby-doll dress ensembles. (And, it doesn't help if you have the same baby-doll ensembles in another color). Even if you're gorgeous- you IMO look stupid with this bizarre "youthful" trend. I mean, perhaps this crap works on hetero men?!?! But, this is at far too much of a price with losing your dignity and ANY semblance of fashion sense. Especially as so many women had this look- including a woman who sat next to me. HIDEOUS!!!!

[ashkor87]

very mature and generous comments by Coco on the protestors who disrupted her match - essentially saying 'yes, I wish it hadnt hapened at that stage in the match but climate change is real, they are protesting it, so I cannot really get too angry with them.'

[nelslus]

ANY other time, I'd have gladly joined the protest. And, I get that they did this because it would certainly get their cause attention- a cause I fully support, and then some. But, again- we were all in a space with over 20,000 people. With all of the horrors that have gone on at large events- IMO, it was wrong to make a large group anxious like that. God forbid any large group has started to panic.

[ti-amie]

Thanks for the on-site reporting nelslus. I can only imagine how anxiety inducing the not knowing was for everyone.

I'm glad you got to chill in the AmEx lounge. I just wish they'd put another one closer to the Grandstand/Court 17/Outer Court area so fans don't have to walk so far to get to those lounges.

It's already clouding over here in the Bronx so I guess the roof will be closed on Ashe.

[ti-amie]

[nelslus]

....SO, most definitely, being able to see Rajeev and Joe win their third Open title was, for me, VERY nerve-wracking (but I DID manage to keep my composure, mostly, during the match- there may have been a few near me who might beg to differ....), exciting- and- hyperbole or not, something I'll remember and deeply appreciate for the rest of my life. I SO much hoped that I could be there to see them win a US Open title. They got very emotional, LOL, and so did I. Due to exhaustion (plus, I have been insisting on picking up some apples and fruit in the neighborhood I am staying in, and some lunch from the wonderful place that I love to get excellent and FAR more affordable lunches from, very close to the main entrance to the Open prior to going to any matches)- I showed up late for this match- around the last two games of the first set. Where Rajeev and Joe were playing horribly- and Bopanna and Ebden were playing some great tennis. At that point, while I was quite miserable that it was quite possible that they were going to lose the match- I figured, well, HEY, if Sabalenka could win after losing her first set 0-6- anything is possible. The second and third sets were far better tennis from Rajeev and Joe- with some definite signs of nerves- while the level of Bopanna and Ebden dipped- they made errors they hadn't been making. In the first game of the third set, they had a love-40 lead to break- didn't happen. They had an excellent shot to break Joe at some point in the third set- but, misplayed some crucial shots. Finally, Rajeev and Joe got the needed break, and hung in there to win. Last game, Rajeev did go down 15-30, making some errors- but, he picked up the level of his serving again, and Bopanna and Ebden made some crucial errors. LOL, on the last point- I thought Rajeev had double faulted. That last second serve of Rajeev's went DEEP- but, hell, the damned thing stayed in, and forced the error. I was DEEPLY relieved when I saw them celebrating their win. Richly deserved. They both very emotionally praised each other- which was so lovely to witness. I mean, with the year that they had (and, again, Rajeev chatted about their down year results-wise)- every match, I expected that they would lose- as they usually did lose matches this year. That they somehow found a way to get their sh** together and win this thing is extraordinary. BTW, this match did have some great play, very exciting moments, and extraordinary volleying from all of the players.

It is always so wonderful when you follow any player during their scrub tournament years. We watched Rajeev a number of times playing in the Winnetka, Illinois Challenge tournament (which btw has been dormant for a few years now. BOOOOO to that.)

Also, I must mention- as Rajeev talked about in his speech- that Bopanna had an incredibly great-sportsmanship moment in the third set. I think Ebden was serving? They lost the first point- and then it seemed to everyone that they had won the next point to get to 15-all. Until Bopanna talked with the umpire, to let the umpire know that- if I am remembering this correctly- the ball from his opponents had hit his shirt- making it that they were then down love-30. They did not get broken that game- which is obviously the "right" way for this game to end- LOL, especially for me where Rajeev and Joe won. I don't think anyone but him would ever have known that the ball had hit his shirt. I mean- talk about showing true class. Even with my favorite players- I doubt that they or just about any other player would have called this on himself. Makes me respect Bopanna even more.

Due to the length of this match- and as the Ashe and Armstrong roofs had to be closed, due to a storm going through (which, again, I had heard about the day before, so I brought my umbrella)- after I went into Armstrong, I was only able to watch about a set and a half of Siegemund Freud and Vera destroying Brady and Stefani 6-4, 6-1. (I had already googled on my phone about Hsieh and Wang losing, which I was very bummed about.) Freud and Vera I believe had a double break lead in the first set (I was fried at that point from the Rajeev and Joe win)- something like 4-0/5-1, and then Brady and Stefani came back, almost all the way. The second set was a matter of the far better doubles team winning. So, neither was the win that I wanted. I mean, may the best women's doubles team win, and all that blah, blah, blah, blah. But, heck, as I am sure you all know by now- the Rajeev and Joe win was pretty much the only result that had my approval today.

As it was still raining enough when I left Armstrong- the only tennis I could watch was the Novak and Ben match. So, from the middle of the second set, I watched the rest of the match. Turns out- LOL, I was in a section with a lot of Novak fans- Serb flags and all. But, the Novak fans and Ben fans in my area were very cool about what was going on- I had some lovely times chatting with the Novak fans. (Especially in the third set, I kept telling them- y'all, worst case scenario, Ben wins the third set and Novak takes this in 4- count on that. I got what I wanted ultimately- not the blood-bath I had expected- but, in the third set, where Ben was able to show everyone watching some great and incredible tennis moments. Ben came back from break-down in the third set, had a set point (Novak did serve a great serve to force the error with this set point)- and Novak showed definite signs of nerves. His serve was deteriorating- and, his multiple bouncy-bouncies gamesmanship and clearly ignoring the mandate of how long you have to serve (didn't get called on this while I watched the match) all came into play. Ben just made too many errors with the chances that he had- over-all going for far too huge shots- albeit, he DID successfully make some successful huge shots, too. If he can find a way to maintain the level of his third set- and cut down on unnecessary errors- his career could go a long way. He should be very proud of his third set play- especially after making so many bad plays in the second set (and, one can assume, the first set).

Happily, I did not know about the mocking and dismissive moments Novak had about Ben after the match had ended- I found out later about this when I called John. I truly get how awful it must be to play in front of so many crowds- most definitely American crowds- with so many people very loudly, and rudely too often- wanting you to lose. BUT- dude- you have been anointed as the GOAT, you have many, many millions of dollars, you are clearly loved by your fellow Serbs, and plenty of others. You consistently being a jerk and an a-hole doesn't make me feel sorry for you. Grow up. Show some true class. You're not a 20 year old.

OH, by the way- on an insane lark, and as there were box office workers available, I went up to one to find out if there were any Carlos tickets available. Why SURE- one ticket at well over $1,000, and one ticket at well over $3,000, LOL, I might have gone for a bit over $100. But, obviously- glad I saved on NOT purchasing any ticket. A little more about this in a few....

I AM moderately disappointed that I didn't then leave, as I had time to get to a Broadway show. Thing is- I was (and am) very, VERY tired, I was very hungry, and plenty of junior and WC tennis (etc). matches were going on, with the rain having stopped. Matches that almost all would have already been over over after I left Ashe due to the storms. So- stay I did. I saw a bit of a few matches- but mostly, I watched almost all of the junior boys' SF, where American 11th seed Tien beat French 15th seed Gea 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-1. (I now and then masochistically kept going to the large screen to watch Carlos' crap play over and over again). This match had so many wild momentum shifts- especially when I tell you all that Tien had been up 7-6, 4-0! One thing I found very interesting were the very vocal interactions coming from Tien's quite young African-American coach. I didn't find out his name, but I was so impressed with his relentlessly positive and concise feedback. I ended up going up to him in the middle of the match, to tell him I really respected his coaching. We ended up having a very nice and pretty long chat- he went into details about how he coaches, and his opinion about other players who break racquets, yell out obscenities, etc. I really appreciated the time he spent chatting with me, and made sure to congratulate him with Tien's win. Very ironically enough- as, down I think 4-1 in the third, Gea called for a trainer. I went up again to the coach and said, "HEY, you think if Gea was up 4-1 in the third he would have called the trainer"- and he most definitely agreed with me, and we talked about the gamesmanship Gea had been demonstrating. Some was obvious to anyone paying attention (over and over again, he was clearly trying to get into Tien's head- which clearly worked out well coming back in the second set)- but he brought up other more subtle examples. In THIS case, however- it would appear that the request for the trainer was legit. Gea couldn't do much of anything the last two games. In any case, interesting match, and very cool chatting with the coach.

AS for the Carlos match- I HATE!!!! the way he played when I watched, and I HATE!!!! that he lost to Medvedev. I mean, the one nice thing I can say about Medvedev is- I do detest him less than Novak (and Zverev, for that matter). VERY bummed about this. But, the kid is 20, and he has every right to be fried at this point in time. And, obviously, Medvedev can play some great tennis. And, Carlos won Wimbledon- which hugely compensates- and way more than a fan can expect from a favorite player. (I wasn't at all sure that Carlos would ever win Wimbledon- much less beat Novak in a Wimbledon final at the age of 20). Just.....please win some more Slam titles in the future ASAP, Carlos.

IN conclusion: YAY RAJEEV AND JOE!!!!

[ponchi101]

Alcaraz will win many more slams. Yesterday was simply a case of playing against another fine hard court player. There is nothing wrong with him and he looks like the dominant player once Novak retires.
Six titles in a year (so far), one them Wimby? Tell anybody to sign that contract on Jan1st and there is no way anybody does not. He has had an excellent year, so far.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ashkor87]

Coco has also done something else very few will notice: winning Cincinnati and going on to win the USO..only Serena has done that lately, almost 10 years ago..the conditions, the weight of the occasion, the court speed, are so different- speaks highly of Coco's class as a champion...

[nelslus]

SO- my time at the Open this year has ended. Very, very quickly.

I keep mentioning that, both at Ashe and Armstrong, when they were showing random strangers on the jumbotrons, they very, very often would either superimpose folks' faces surrounded by a tennis ball, and/or superimposing psychodelic-esque cartoony-y glasses on people. MAYBE the first 50 times, it was OH SO darling. But, this was incessant. IMO, very annoying. I mean, superimpose a penis in place of someone's nose- or something of that ilk- and I'm all down for that. But, really- you don't have to do anything to make folks shown on the jumbotrons to embarrass themselves- either when they see themselves, or the gyrations they will make to beg to get shown. Mind you- every now and then, someone manages to do something truly funny- or, if you truly are a great dancer- please do dance. However- the rest of the 99.99% of the folks- just smile, wave- but DO NOT DANCE. There was one Black guy at Armstrong who I had already noticed- he had his hair braided with multi-colors- which he majorly did pull off- which very few could. When they showed him- he made some major Diva poses and moves- it was great to see. They showed him more than once, and he got a big round of applause every time.

Yet again due to major exhaustion, I was late for the mixed final. I would have been even later. But, for the first time, the bus was there when I got to the stop, I already had my water and apple, and the train came very quickly. (The Open MAJORLY had the air conditioning pumping out at Ashe today BTW. It was actually pretty cold. Which was delightful for me. But- isn't it nice to know that there is a hierarchy at the Open for those who deserve the full Ashe air conditioning treatment?) Yet again, my being late- just as well. Jessica and Austin played well below their levels- especially Krajicek, who got broken twice in the second set. (I only got to see a little of the first set). Danilina and Heliovaara were, by far, the better team, and very much earned the title. And, it really was lovely to see the gymnastic moves that Heliovaara pulled off after winning, and how excited he was.

Yet another example of Open poo-bahs dropping the ball (no pun intended this time)- after the mixed match, I went to a court that had the boys' junior singles final listed with that court's electronic scoreboards. Well- I was enough of a knuckle-head to sit around for about half and hour or so- having nice conversations with a few folks. I looked at other courts that had no matches going on- but with matches listed. I then noted that, in front of Ashe where they have huge displays of, generally, current matches, scores, etc.- there was a posted announcement that all matches on the outside courts were suspended "temporarily" due to the threat of lightning in the area. (When I was in Ashe, it sure sounded like there was some thunder going on.) So, I went back to that court to let folks know that matches were suspended until further notice, due to the threat of local lightning, and then made the same announcement at other courts. LOL, a lot of folks still sat around. I, however, toddled off to the air conditioned American Express space, and sat on a couch reading a new book on the Broadway musical of Carrie (*spoiler alert- things did not go well with the original Broadway cast version of the musical version of Carrie). Then, off to the Coco final. Didn't see any signs that any matches were going on at the outer courts- but I didn't look closely, either.

BTW- YET another Open annoyance- I found out yesterday that the Chase space was closed since that qualifying and the first week of the Open- for private events only. I am planning on sharing such observations. As if it matters, since almost all of us customers are clearly peons.

The Coco match!!!!! Unbelievable that I got two lifetime memories at one US Open. Coco was horrible in the first set, and Sabalenka was pretty great. In the last two sets, Sabalenka's level clearly dropped. Coco's level improved slowly, and by the second half of the second set through the third set- Coco's level just went sky-high. She played big, with some changes of pace that worked, she played smart, her serve came together, her groundstrokes were terrific, she was making very few errors- she was just playing at a very high level. Yet again, as I do for far too many players- I can question Sabalenka taking a medical time-out down 4-1- i.e., would she have taken a medical time-out if she had been up 4-1? And, she then did break Coco to be down 2-4. Nevertheless, Coco did win the last two games quite sufficiently. So, who knows? It does suck that I feel like questioning almost every player for these medical time-outs when they are down in a match. But, who knows? And, I don't think that Sabalenka does medical time-outs-when losing that frequently? (If she does, please feel free to correct me on this).

I also was surrounded by a lot of truly terrific people for this final. Hopefully, I'll remember to post more about that in the near future. I had some photos taken with my phone. Once John helps me, if he can (and if the photos come out OK), I'll post some photos with more details.

I already mentioned about my feelings about Rajeev and Joe's win. Well, I had the great privilege to be there live to see Serena's first Open win, Venus' first Open win, Roger beating Lleyton in a US Open final. And, now, Coco. Absolutely incredible. Not that I'd ever want to be the one to put Coco under any pressure to require her to reach their career levels. But, ya gotta think that Coco's gonna win multiple Slam singles titles now. NO guarantee, of course, with tennis. She's so eloquent and speaks up about so many important issues. I mean, she's 19?!?! Insane.

And, I do just have to give a little, no-malice-meant snark to a few TAT members who posted the equivalent of that Coco might likely never to happen. To which I've been waiting to say: Pfffffttttt.

After that match, I didn't notice any matches going on at the outer courts. But, I could most definitely be wrong- because I looked up and saw that they did complete junior and other matches on the outer courts at some point. In any case, I did not have time to spare. I decided that, exhaustion be damned- and knowing that I would have to rush a lot- I was gonna try to see a Broadway show. My targets were Sweeny Todd (I saw the original cast at least twice- Angela Lansbury and, first Len Cariou, and then George Hearn- I THINK Cariou was the original Sweeney, but I could be wrong about this- some terrific actors are in the cast- and Josh Grobin is Sweeny- and I would have loved to just hear him sing that Sondheim score), and Kimberly Akimbo. KEEP in mind that I started leaving the Open around 6:45 p.m. I was calling John at that time while I was huffing and puffing my way to the train, in full sweaty old man grossness. I managed to get in an "express" 7 train- although it didn't go past all that many stops- a bit after 7 p.m., and it sat there for at least 5 minutes. By the time I got to Times Square and out of that crazy exit space, with long walks and another zillion steps to climb- I had about 20-25 minutes to spare. I knew that I did not have enough time to look at TKTS. Only a few blocks to get to Sweeney Todd (on 46th- got off the train at 41st- 42nd Streets. But, of course that was also plowing through tons of folks on the streets (not literally, in this case ) As I knew would be the case, there were no options with Sweeney Todd- no standing room, rush tickets, or ANY tickets. I then rushed to 45th Street for Kimberly Akimbo. Literally with 5 minutes now to spare (although Broadway shows now rarely start on time- it takes them forever to get everyone in the theatre). I explained to the folks in the line that I was cutting through to get to the box office. LOL, some staff were using these scanners (I had my allowed-US-Open transparent mini-bag with me stuffed with sunscreens, Excedrins, Advils, water, bug spray non-aerosols, etc. etc.), and I clearly caused some beeping- but, for the first time ever, I just ignored this and got right to the ticket office. I asked about any options- standing room, rush tickets, low-price tickets- to find out the only option was a standing room tickets. NOT ideal for my tendinitis-ridden old body- and I knew, as is the case for almost all Broadway musicals. that this would be a LONG show) and yet, also perfect. $40 total cost- they don't charge any fees when you go directly to a Broadway box office and purchase tickets. Ran down the steps to use the facilities, and ran back up to take my standing room place- which was an excellent space for me.

As I figured it would- I loved the show. I thought the show could have ended more realistically and darker- LOL, if anyone wants to know what I am talking about- you'll have to google what the show is about. (WHAT- my posts aren't long enough?!?!?!) Victoria Clark is the lead- and she has long been a terrific actress, and deservedly won the most recent Best Actress in a musical Tony award, in addition to other awards- and, this was her second Tony. An actress named Bonnie Milligan won the most recent Best Supporting Actress in a musical Tony award- she plays this twisted, nutty and criminal-minded character. IMO, she and an actress who played the mother of the lead (again, google if interested) had the best voices- actually very powerful and phenomenal voices. An actor was nominated for a Tony- Best Supporting Actor in a musical- terrific, eccentric and charming performance from this actor- a very young man named Justin Cooley. It also won the most recent Best Musical Tony award- it won a total of 5 Tony awards out of 8 nominations. The whole cast was terrific- and it is funny at times, and very moving.

AND- btw, my dinner tonight- noting that I have Diabetes 2- one hot dog as I was running to the theatres, and a second hot dog during intermission. (I did have some grapes when I got back to where I have been staying. So there). I knew I'd have to accept some "bad eating" for this trip- but I recently have been messing up with my food- and, I don't want to lose my feet and/or legs. So, I must go back to clean eating starting tomorrow. No excuses.

Ultimately, it was just deeply moving for me to be back at the US Open, and back seeing a wonderful show on Broadway. I have missed both tremendously.

And THAT is it. Much shorter posts to start immediately- with the always required 's to be included.

[Fastbackss]

Shorter posts aren't needed. That was great - after reading that I am here for it if you want to give detailed summaries about anything - including minutiae in your life like "John and I found a new coffee shop..."