USO....Day Four...Thursday

[rex]

#ed_op#i#ed_cl#Imo, the Ashe matches are not very good "all day"....#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#lst up, #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Svitolina v Rodina, followed by...#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Ka. Pliskova v Gibbs, then#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Roger v Youzhny....#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Prime time:#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Coco v Ons Jabeur#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Rafael v T. Daniels#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#If it wasn't for Roger and Rafael filling seats on Ashe, these matches should be played on Louis A. or something less.#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#I'd replace on Ashe Elena's and Karolina's matches with Monfils v D. Young and the "Dog" v the Birdman (Dolgo' v Berdych) #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Other good men's matches:#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Dimitrov v Rublev#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Fritz v Thiem#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Verdasco v Lopez#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Of personal interest:#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#J'O and Naomi...both of their matches are on at the same time, lst up on respective courts......"nice" scheduling...#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Kanepi v Wicks'#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Aggie v Putin'#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Rogers v Gavrilova#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#a href="http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/sche ... p#br#ed_cl#

[Ace2Ace]

Coco vs Jabeur could be very tricky.#ed_op#br#ed_cl#Jabeur's got all kinds of tricky shots in her tool box.#ed_op#br#ed_cl#

[Grossefavourite]

<font color=brown>@ <b>rex</b>:</font>
 
Bouchard questioned her playing on Ashe even though she's suing the US Open.
__________________

NEW YORK (AP) — Even Eugenie Bouchard did not expect to find herself playing a U.S. Open match in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Canadian is, after all, still a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the U.S. Tennis Association stemming from a fall at the facility during the tournament two years ago. Hers is no longer a marquee name in the sport, attached to a losing record this season and a No. 76 ranking this week, far removed from the days when Bouchard was a Wimbledon finalist and top-10 player in 2014.

And on a day chock-full of big names and intriguing matchups all around Flushing Meadows — 87 singles matches were scheduled, including dozens carried over after rain washed out most play Tuesday — Bouchard was facing an opponent who is ranked 89th and has a sub-.500 career. Bouchard wound up losing meekly to Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 7-6 (2), 6-1.

"I was surprised, yeah," she said about the court assignment, "but it's always an amazing opportunity to play on the biggest tennis court in the world."

Asked about the choice to put Bouchard vs. Rodina in the tournament's main arena, USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said: "A lot of factors go into scheduling. ... (Bouchard) was scheduled to be first on Ashe, and we're comfortable with that decision."

Bouchard certainly did not seem very at ease Wednesday — with a racket in her hand or with a microphone in front of her.

Against Rodina, who came in 0-3 in Grand Slam matches and 4-13 overall this year, Bouchard made 46 unforced errors, 20 more than her winner total. She also was broken in 5 of 9 service games.

"It's one of those matches you kind of want to forget about," Bouchard said. "I just didn't really know what to do out there."

She dropped to 11-17 this season and noted: "My confidence is not high at all at this point in time, and I definitely had question marks about what my level would be like coming out today."

At Flushing Meadows in 2015, Bouchard got a concussion from a fall and withdrew before her fourth-round match, then missed most of the rest of the season. She filed suit against the USTA in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn that year, then showed up at the 2016 U.S. Open and lost in the first round.

When Bouchard was at her peak — a seeded player, a title contender week-in and week-out — an early exit at a Grand Slam tournament would be significant news. But she's nowhere near her career-best ranking of No. 5 now. Since reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open before her runner-up finish to Petra Kvitova at the All England Club in 2014, Bouchard has reached only one major quarterfinal.

The loss to Rodina was Bouchard's fifth in the first round in the past 11 Grand Slam tournaments.

When her lawsuit was brought up at Wednesday's news conference, Bouchard simply said: "We're still in the process."

Any sign of a conclusion?

"I don't know at this point," she replied.

But Bouchard insisted that she was not distracted by her pending case against the organizers of the tournament.

"I'm able to concentrate on the tennis when I'm here," she said, "but, I mean, I definitely have bad memories from here two years ago."

[rex]

#ed_op#font color="brown"#ed_cl#@ #ed_op#b#ed_cl#Grossefavourite#ed_op#/b#ed_cl#:#ed_op#/font#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#&nbsp;#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#i#ed_cl#Good....at least Genie is self-aware to the extent that her match didn't belong on Ashe..... It raised a ruckus at the TF and was a hot topic on Twitter. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Further, Caroline was upset about her match with Makarova being initially slated for Court 5, later moved to Ct. 17 and the match starting after 9 p.m. or later. Thought it was insulting to the #5, while the doper and cheat continues to be scheduled on Ashe, tho' she didn't, per video, mention anything about the Bouchard court assignment. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Video:#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... p#br#ed_cl#

[rex]

#ed_op#i#ed_cl#Today's tennis:#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Good, tough win for Naomi over the talented Allertova in a tight 3-setter, finishing with an Ace to seal the match. Nip and tuck for 3, tho' I continue to dislike the one-dimensional game of Osaka. Got to find, add and put into play additional dimensions and weapons when matches are tight like this and your opponent successfully challenges your strictly baseline game. Yet, she gave D. Taylor her coach high praise after the Kerber dismissal, but only talked about how he enforces the mindset of maintaining a positive attitude when things go south. That's all well and good, but I want to see her do more than stand on the baseline and firing with a serve. She and Sloane play exactly alike, neither comes forward and just blasts from the baseline. The difference between the two is that Naomi's lst serve does way more damage, while Sloane is the better defender and covers the court far better. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#On Allertova....physically, her body is top-notch, ala Wickmayer. Do I ever wish Martic was built like them with her game. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Nice win for Kanepi to advance to play Naomi. Looking forward to such....#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Wished I could have seen J'O's match with Cirstea for it ended with 6-4 scores in 2. Yet, I'll catch the replay later on today. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Shocking result for Jennifer Brady to make Strycova eat candy canes in 2 sets. #ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#Gibbs wins the lst set v Karolina P. with a 6-2 score. KP up 2-1 in the 2nd, Gibbs on serve....#ed_op#/i#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#

[Ace2Ace]

Further, Caroline was upset about her match with Makarova being initially slated for Court 5, later moved to Ct. 17 and the match starting after 9 p.m. or later. Thought it was insulting to the #5, while the doper and cheat continues to be scheduled on Ashe, tho' she didn't, per video, mention anything about the Bouchard court assignment.

Caro has to remember they wer rained out the day before. So organizer had to move matches around to open court to make sure they could catch up.
Yeah, it was predictable some matches would be moved.

[Ace2Ace]

&lt;font color=brown&gt;@ &lt;b&gt;rex&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;/font&gt;#ed_op#br#ed_cl#&nbsp;Whickmayer is built like a block of concrete.. She was gifted the perfect body for an athlete IMHO. Can't believe she gets injured.

[Ace2Ace]

It's Dimitrov .. joining Zverez and Konta.
Skan teams in horrible shapes.

[rex]

#ed_op#font color="brown"#ed_cl#@ #ed_op#b#ed_cl#Ace2Ace#ed_op#/b#ed_cl#:#ed_op#/font#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#&nbsp;#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#i#ed_cl#Yes, Nina' has a great body. Too bad her tennis did not keep up with such. Had such promise years ago. Good that she found a companion, tho', recently married. Has she been injured? Haven't been following her lately....#ed_op#/i#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#

[rex]

#ed_op#i#ed_cl#Roger and Mikhail in a 5th set. Don't know who'll prevail, for both are laboring physically......Roger with a suspect back and Mikhail appears to be cramping........


#ed_op#/i#ed_cl#