US Open 2009

This year's US Open has had some good moments so far, but the drama and excitement will really come to a head if both Federer and Nadal can get to the final on Sunday afternoon in the one grand slam tournament that they have not met in. In the past 16 months, Federer and Nadal have played in the final in the 3 other grand slam events including their classic 5 set match at Wimbledon in 2008 that lasted nearly 5 hours with Nadal winning 9-7 in the 5th. It will really be great for the game to have these 2 legendary players meet on the biggest stage in tennis.

More thoughts on the US Open:

• Watching the US Open this week has only reinforced my feeling that this is the best grand slam tournament of the four. The spectacle that is night tennis at Arthur Ashe Stadium creates a great atmosphere that trumps any other atmosphere in tennis. The hard court surface at the Open also creates the most entertaining style of play, as the court is not as fast as the Wimbledon grass and not as slow as the clay at Roland Garros. The server oftentimes becomes too dominant at Wimbledon, while the rallies on clay at the French Open can sometimes become too long. The rankings of my favorite grand slams would be 1. US Open, 2. Wimbledon, 3. Australian Open, and 4. French Open.

• For the 2nd year in a row, the weather during the US Open has been absolutely spectacular with not a single rain delay thus far through the first 10 days. Last year the tournament was uninterrupted by rain until the final Saturday of the tournament. The weather has been the polar opposite of what it was for golf's US Open in June at nearby Bethpage Black, when rain disrupted every round of that tournament.

• John McEnroe is quite possibly the best television analyst in sports history. He has a vast knowledge of the game of tennis, he knows the in-depth scouting reports on seemingly the top 200 players on tour, and he's not afraid to offer his candid opinions. McEnroe is the go-to source for tennis opinions and his presence on telecasts makes that telecast much more enjoyable. Johnny Mac also is witty with a great sense of humor. McEnroe was part of a great moment on Monday night when during Novak Djokovic's post-match on-court interview, Djokovic invited McEnroe down from the broadcast booth to hit balls with him in front of the late night crowd at Ashe Stadium. McEnroe accepted Djokovic's offer, took his tie off and ran down to play Djokovic. McEnroe humorously imitated Djokovic's habit of bouncing the ball 20 times before serving and the two played a few points before embracing at the net. The moment just illustrated the greatness that is Johnny Mac. In honor of Johnny Mac here is a hilarious famous (or infamous) clip from his playing days:
  

• Robin Soderling showed a lot of guts in Wednesday night's quarterfinal match with Roger Federer as he fought back from losing the first 2 sets 6-0 and 6-3 to make it a compelling and dramatic match. Soderling won the 3rd set in a tiebreaker after falling behind in the tiebreaker 4-1 and he had his chances in the 4th set tiebreaker to force a 5th set but he ultimately lost that 4th set tiebreaker and the match because of the greatness of Roger Federer. Soderling has had a breakout season after upsetting Nadal and reaching the final at the French Open and he won himself a lot of fans with his valiant effort against Federer here at the US Open.

• #2 seed Andy Murray was upset by Marin Cilic in the Round of 16 in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in an uninspiring effort by last year's runner up. Murray has had a very good year but he must be disappointed that he did not make it to a grand slam final and that he only made it to one grand slam semifinal(Wimbledon). Murray will now lose the #2 ranking to Nadal when the new rankings come out after the US Open.