US Open: Andreescu, Nadal, Koepfer with top marks
14 days of world-class tennis in New York ended yesterday. The purely subjective grades are therefore naturally based on US criteria.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 09, 2019, 07:55 am
A +: Bianca Andreescu, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev
That may not be particularly imaginative, but it does not help: Andreescu showed weaknesses from time to time during the tournament and should have lost the second set against Belinda Bencic. But she didn't. Because the 19-year-old obviously believes in herself with all the trembling and waving and shaking her head deep inside.
Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, had a perfect summer, after the disappointment in the Wimbledon semi-finals in Montreál showed just as little weaknesses as in New York City. 19 Grand Slam titles for Rafa, and it won't stop there.
It doesn't happen that often that someone actually justifies his advance laurels, but Daniil Medvedev has faced every challenge and ultimately only just failed on one man whose game layout just doesn't suit him (which also applies to almost all other players). Medvedev's fighting spirit after losing the first two sets and breaking back in the third? That was the finest.
A: Grigor Dimitrov, Matteo Berrettini, Dominik Koepfer
So continue in the semifinals. Dimitrov already looked like the sure loser against Federer after losing the third set after the 0: 7 record against the Swiss, but then turned the match around. The 2019 balance was gruesome up to the US Open, Grischa can at least deny autumn with more self-confidence.
Berrettini took advantage of the moment, after the early departure of Thiem and Tsitsipas a place in the semifinals was open, the Italian accepted with thanks. The match against Monfils was the most exciting in the men's competition - and showed that even the world's top men have to struggle with their nerves.
Dominik Koepfer, on the other hand, classified his entry into the fourth round in New York as "life-changing". Rightly. Koepfer struggled through the qualification and was not without chance in the round of 16 against Medvedev.
B +: Belinda Bencic, the roof over Arthur Ashe, Krawietz / Mies
The Swiss, however, will have to ask and / or put up with the question for a few more days of how she managed to pass the second set against Andreescu. Not to mention that she was the player with the better chances even in the first round. Still: semi-finals are good. Belinda Bencic is perhaps the next in the line of young Grand Slam winners.
Yes, of course, the roofs over the big courts prefer the top players who are just there. But when the hut is closed, the atmosphere becomes much denser, louder. And in two days nothing would have been possible without the roof.
The German Feel-Good double has now reached the semi-finals after the triumph in Roland Garros, where it failed twice in the tie-break to Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers. This is certainly not a shame, the first joint loss of the Argentine-Spanish duo should only follow in the final against Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal. Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies will play a carefree autumn, will open for the first time at the ATP Finals in London - and have already lifted their fingers gently towards Michael Kohlmann. The German Davis Cup boss would like to invite you to the final tournament in Madrid.
B-: Julia Görges, the New York audience, Serena
Görges was a second serve away from going away after a match from the individual competition. On the other hand, only one point was missing from the quarter-finals. Against an opponent against whom Jule had a 3-0 record before the US Open, namely Donna Vekic. And with the prospect of a match against Belinda Bencic, in which entering the semi-final was by no means unthinkable.
By the way, Görges was not allowed to complain about the New York audience . Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Bianca Andreescu do. On the other hand: If you sat in the stadium when Serena Williams entered the finals and didn't get goose bumps, you never loved tennis. There is just a lot going on and sometimes, like especially in the women's finals in 2018, too much. But that also has charm.
Oh, we don't want to be so strict with Serena . Some matches (Sharapova, Svitolina) were fabulously dominant, the final went down the drain after the first two double mistakes in the very first game. But that's the way it is: If someone can sell out a stadium on the WTA tour, it's still most likely Serena Williams.
C +: Alexander Zverev, Tom Rinaldi
Zverev has offered a couple of magically good sets, like the first two to kick off Radu Albot. Given the difficult summer, moving into the fourth round was also normal. The fact that Zverev also presented himself as the highest level of decency for the younger generation speaks for the traditionalist in him. Sascha is also now on Twitter.
Rinaldi largely took over the agendas of the on-court interviews at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the charm of the late 1970s. "Playing to the crowd," says the American. For the younger ones there was rather less. Except for the little exchange of friendliness with Nick Kyrgios.
C: Djokovic, Federer, Thiem
With all the good preparation that Nadal had taken care of before the US Open: Djokovic had gone into the tournament as the favorite. Against Juan Ignacio Londero it was somewhat difficult with the shoulder, then against Stan Wawrinka too much. Nole is aiming for a return to Asia, but the Serb certainly had planned much more than the round of 16.
After Djokovic's departure, the slide was set for Federer towards the final. That the maestro of all things failed due to Dimitrov was not foreseen in the game plan. In none.
As for Thiem ... rarely was a draw in the early phase of a major more friendly than that of the Austrian. To quote the former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky: "I'm fine, otherwise I wouldn't be here." Thiem was there, he was not well (Kreisky at the time, in the early 1980s, no longer in retrospect, either).