U.S. Open 2020.

Men's Draw: Djokovic's Quarter: Isner vs. Djokovic 4th round: I'm not sure if Isner can play consistently to get here, but I'll hope for the best. I'll be optimistic and say Djokovic in 5. He's been serving poorly lately and I hope Isner still has something left. Djokovic to SF. Tsitsipas' Quarter: I'm not sure if Kevin Anderson can beat Alexander Zverev in the first round, but let's say he does. Tsitsipas vs. Anderson QF: I'll go with Anderson, in that his game probably doesn't need as much match play to be in good form. Anderson in 4. Medvedev's Quarter: Tiafoe vs. Medvedev 4th round: I have no idea who gets out of this quarter. I'll pick Tiafoe in 3 in a weird short match, and Tiafoe to the SF. Thiem's Quarter: Thiem vs. Cilic 3rd round: I haven't seen Cilic play well in a while. I hope he does and can make another run. But based on the past few years, have to go with Thiem. Thiem in 4. Thiem vs. Murray 4th round: I hope to see some Murray magic. It's probably asking for a lot. Thiem in 3. Thiem to the SF. Djokovic vs. Anderson SF: I guess I'll go with Djokovic's serve going erratic. Anderson in 4. Tiafoe vs. Thiem SF: Thiem is the better player. I hope for a good match. Thiem in 3. Anderson vs. Thiem Finals: 3rd GS Final for Anderson. I'd feel bad if he loses. Just because he's older. It would be the 4th for Thiem. Thiem in 5. Women's Draw: Osaka's Quarter: Gauff vs. Osaka 3rd round: I have no idea, but I'll go with Osaka in 3. Osaka vs. Azarenka QF: I have no idea. I'll go with Azarenka. Halep's Quarter: Halep vs. Wozniacki 4th round: I hope we get another great match. I'll go with the older player, out of sympathy. Wozniacki in 2. Kvitova vs. Stephens....

Gauff has a tough draw, starting with her first round match against Sevastova.

But it's tennis, it's not supposed to be easy.

Let's hope for the best.

The default was the right call.

If you hit a lines person, umpires, ball kid, photographer, fan, broadcaster, camera operator, it should be a default.

Shouldn't even matter how hard the ball was hit.

BTW, does this rule apply if it's a mishit in the middle of a point?

For sure it was the right call- it's backed by history as well when similar incidents occurred. If it were a mishit, I'm 100% certain it wouldn't be a default or any penalty, unless it was obvious the player was targeting the person outside the court, mishit the ball, which still struck that or another person.

BTW who do you think will win? Thiem should be able to get his first grand slam, and I think Serena will be able to claim another one.

I'm rooting for a Thiem vs. Carreno Busta Finals.

I'll stick with Thiem in that case.

However, I am not sure if Thiem gets past Medvedev.

Osaka looks the strongest, I haven't seen any dip in play, not even within a set. So I'll go with her.

I thought Tiafoe would have done a lot better against Medvedev.

Auger Aliassime also had a terrible last two sets against Thiem, winning 2 games.

I also thought Cilic would have done better.

These 3 matches were some that I thought had great potential for long matches, but they fizzled.

I was disappointed Clijsters lost early too.

BTW I screwed up on my Womens predictions. I think I looked at last year's draw by accident.

Wozniacki and Barty aren't even in this year's draw.

If Azarenenka makes it, I'll root for her.

She has undergone a lot of personal custody battles.

And she's never won the US Open.

Great to see Azarenka fight back.

She also appeared to have the same fight, even when down 2 breaks in the first. She still competed for every point.

I think Osaka might beat Azarenka, but I'd like to see Azarenka win more, since she is older and hasn't won this yet.

I hope it's not a Medvedev vs. Zverev Mens Finals. I don't want to root for either person, if that's the case.

Well Thiem just made it into the finals vs Zverev. Thiem has to be the favorite there- and I hope he wins too. Seems like a good guy. Azarenka was tremendous in the final 2 sets vs Serena. She showed both power and consistency, plus great defense. She might be better than ever. Osaka is playing lights out as well, so it should be quite the finals. 1 of them will be getting her 3rd grand slam.

I haven't read your last post yet. I'm about to start this Mens SF.

So far, nothing has gone my way today.

Clippers lost.

Raptors lost.

Let's see if I can get a Thiem vs. Carreno Busta Finals.

This reminds me of one day in January 2012, when the following happened:

Clippers lost to the Lakers on ESPN.

Neither Womens SFs at the Australian Open went my way. Clijsters lost to Azarenka; Kvitova lost to Sharapova.

Then I stayed up for the Mens SFs. Federer lost to Nadal.

So from 5 PM - 4 AM, everyone I rooted for lost.

So far, today has been like that so far. Neither NBA game went my way.

Let's see about the Mens SFs, starting that on the DVR now.

Azarenka is better than ever. Wish she could have won. I'm still not sure how long she can play at this level, given that she was struggling for the past year.

Thiem had to battle to really win in 3 sets, and kudos for him for doing so and not having a longer match.

I feel bad for Carreno Busta, because he was playing great too.

Zverev started to serve bigger, and more accurately, and that seemed to be the difference in the final few sets.

Wow Thiem 6-2, 5-1 to Zverev so far- I did NOT see that coming.

I'm a little behind, I'm still midway in the 2nd set. But yes, Thiem is playing horrible.

I thought we would get a good match like Australia.

Too bad we can't get them both playing well at the same time.

I started a little behind went thus had to use the DVR, because I had to take a shower after that Clippers game.

Lol very understandable

And it’s all knotted up at 2 sets each! Thiem using the slice backhand more is paying off.

What a finish! I thought Thiem was done for after going down 0-2 in the tiebreak and was limping, but Zverev choked it away. At least he didn't double-fault on the first match point. Then Thiem choked a bit on those 2 shots down the line, but staying with that slice proved the winning strategy in the end.

Why do you think the slice was effective? I get nervous when I see that shot, because if the opposing player is speedy enough, I think he will still have time to get his balance and get off the shot he wants.

Unless the strategy is to draw someone in with the slice, then pass them.

This ended up being a great match. I like matches where so many leads are exchanged.

However, there's also a part of me that doesn't enjoy the moments either, especially when the person I'm rooting for misses those opportunities. Just take the final set. Thiem was up a break, then lost it. Then went down a break, and got it back. Served for the match, then lost it.

Then in the tiebreaker, he was down a mini break, then went up a mini break, then lost it.

When it's this intense, there's also a part of me that doesn't enjoy it.

But I liked how both guys gave it everything they had.

IMO the slice was effective because Zverev was making more unforced errors responding to the shot, especially his forehand. Tougher for a tall player like Zverev to really get down to hit the low, biting slice. The final point was sealed when Zverev erred on his 2 handed backhand on a Thiem slice.

There were some tremendous shot making on both sides- great pickup half-volleys by Zverev and Nadal-like down the line passing shots by Thiem. But yeah this was more like a who would hold their nerve more would win ending. I mean Zverev lost so much confidence on his serve on the ad side he was throwing in 80-something MPH first serves from that side towards the end. That's why the big 3 have dominated for so long- their mental toughness have been just a notch above everyone else.

Good point, I'll re-watch the final point again. I didn't realize how much taller Zverev was than Thiem, until their post game hand shake. So you are right, he does have to get further down. Zverev has always had a lot of double faults, so I don't think it's as much of a choke by him when he was trying to serve it out. As he is usually pretty shake. Thiem though, is more reliable on his first serve. So he definitely got nervous in the 5th set, as many of his service games were struggles. I hope to see the....

For sure Zverev has more of a tendency to double fault. Thiem was spent- his legs were shaky, and his first serve MPH was dropping. Then on a crucial point in the tie-break he launches a 130 MPH bomb. That was clutch I must say.

I'd bet you'll find more of the interviews & analysis on Tennis Channel. Hopefully ESPN will have interviews and analysis on Youtube also.

It was definitely a different atmosphere without the crowd. What a crazy year.

The French Open is coming up in just 2 weeks!

You got me wondering, I wonder why there aren't some more detailed box score stats.

If the TV broadcasters have stats on forehand winners and backhand winners, why not stats on what type of shot from the opponent, caused an error?

Did the opponent hit a topspin forehand/backhand, slice forehand/backhand, forehand/backhand volley, drop shot, serve, return?

If there's an opponent's shot that someone can't handle well, and that constitutes the majority of his errors, it would be interesting to know.

Another stat could be balls returned, based on the opponent's shot.

So if it's true that Zverev is worse than others at handling a shot, then it should show up in some kind of a stat.

So if Thiem gave him 184 slices in a match, how many of those did Zverev successfully return?

It seems like some of that data is already there, as they keep track of forehand or backhand hit speeds. So if they already track individual shots, then maybe show them in a different context. Instead only collecting speed data on those shots, how about what percent an individual returns those, and where that might rank in a given season?

The one other thing that could have made this match even better, is if both players would have had match points. Then that would have been like the 2019 Wimbledon.

Do they still do coin tosses? I didn't see any of them broadcasted at this event.

I was able to find this. Nothing with studio hosts yet.

^^Nice find. Really happy for Thiem!

Yeah I'd bet those advanced analytics are available to the tennis pros & their coaching team. Be nice to have that info for fans though.

Do you know the answer to this?