Sorry for the delay on the Day 9 Wrap – I had internet problems last night. We learned two interesting things on Tuesday:
1. Serena Williams will become No. 1 if she wins the US Open. And with her straight-set quarterfinal win over Flavia Pennetta on Tuesday she’s only two wins away. But will Kim Clijsters, who beat Li Na in the quarters, stop Serena from taking the top spot?
2. With Andy Murray’s upset to Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal’s win over Gael Monfils in the Round of 16, Rafa will get his No. 2 ranking back.
“Is very good comeback, (to) be here in quarterfinals.” Rafa said after taking out the Flashy Frenchman in four sets: 6-7, 7-3, 6-1, 6-3.
Yeah, I’d say. It was the way Rafa won – sprinting to every ball, running his opponent from sideline to sideline, refusing to let Gael out chest thump or fist pump him – that announced his full comeback.
Credit to Monfils for playing an outrageous first set. The tennis was thrilling and brutal – like “Gladiator” meets “Blade Runner” meets some kind of torture porn where instead of Saws, the clueless victims are tied to treadmills and forced to run. Even I was sucking air during that tiebreaker.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez was outrageous enough that I laughed out loud when Patrick McEnroe made this understatement: “There’s the potential for some shot making in this match.”
I know his nickname is Gonzo, but I still think Fernando’s craziness is completely underrated. He ducks his opponent’s overheads with his booty in the air, cracks racquets in disgust before tossing them to the crowd, hits forehands that break the sound barrier – he makes me woozy. But in a good way. Maybe his new nickname should be Gonzo the Most Crazy or something like that.
Gonzo on Gonzo: “You know, sometimes you feel like super hero, and sometimes you feel like ‑‑ I don’t have to say what you feel on court.”
Gotta love Most Crazy, but geeze, Tsonga was up a set and a break. I blame myself for wanting him to win too much. Please indulge me and vote on this poll.
Loading ...Del Potro advanced over Ferrero on Tuesday’s battle of the Juans.
Wednesday sees more great action, with Federer vs. Soderling and Djokovic vs. Verdasco in the men’s quarterfinals and Wickmayer vs. Bondarenko and Oudin vs. Wozniacki in the women’s quarters.
Tags: gonzalez, Monfils, Murray, Nadal, Pennetta, Serena, tennis, Tsonga, US Open Series
RELATED ARTICLES ON GOTOTENNIS |
Thanks for the review. Rafa was absolutely fantastic in that match! I was SO happy to see him SO happy and pumped up! He is no doubt heading in the right direction with the way he’s improving everyday and trying his very best. I just love him!
By the way, does anyone have a link to Rafa’s and Monfils’s press conferences? I tried to watch them on the official US Open site, but they wouldn’t load properly. Is there another link on another site so that I can watch them?
Vamos Rafa! <3
Go Serena and Oudin!
Hmm. . did you try the US Open Youtube channel? Maybe they'll update it and the vids will load: http://www.youtube.com/user/USOPEN
i saw del po v jfc (del po is super impressive in person!) and the gonzo v tsonga matches live- great stuff, especially the 2nd match! crowd was very into it. gonzo never disappoints and his character was on full display very quickly. surprised it was their first meeting. the shot making was fantastic and i was totally rooting for gonzo. i think there's more upside for him at this time in his career. i think tsonga can win a slam one day, but he needs to keep up his intensity and all court game over the course of a 5 set match. he's not there yet. i do like him more than monfils. gael gets on my nerves sometimes, esp after the way he was so unprofessional in his FO match vs roddick. le monf likes to show off when it's way too early… so i was happy that rafa got his revenge in the end! also just happy to see rafa back to playing so well. go rafa and rog!