I just finished watching the Federer-Roddick match - Federer straight through in 3. But that fact certainly doesn't tell the whole story. Roddick really played well tonight. Must be difficult to play such a clean well-played match and not only lose, but not take a set. Of course, he had loads of chances, and he has some experience of this playing Roger. The first 2 sets were tie-breakers where often big hitters such as Andy have an advantage. But, Roger kind of breaks all those rules since his game is so complete.

Also, great to hear Andre Agassi up in the booth with John McEnroe, sharing insights and stories.

Overall, incredible tennis. Too bad that Nadal wasn't 100% though. Andre voiced something I had been wondering about - the concern that the way that Nadal plays and trains could mean a short tennis career. His injuries seem to crop up all over his body and have kept him out of tournaments and unable to stay fully healthy. I sure hope he is able and willing to make adjustments so that we get to enjoy many more years of peak Rafa play. Loved to watch the hustle of Ferrer's play though. Nice to see good friends battle it out on the court and keep it there, with mutual respect off court.

I'm hoping for a Federer-Djokovic Final - with Roger pulling out a tight one. I know Novak is an emerging great player and I expect we'll see alot of great matches from him but I think Roger can beat him here. We'll see.

Anyone else watching? What are your impressions so far?

I'm a big Andy Roddick fan. I don't follow his every career move or match, but I'm really happy about his improvements since he's been with Jimmy Connors. I had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't be able to beat Federer last night, though. He did play really well. If Roger wasn't around in this time period, Andy would win a lot more! But Roger is something else. I believe I heard that Roger wants to play for another nine years. If he stays healthy, can you imagine all the Grand Slams he is going to win? He could smash Sampras' record.

I really enjoyed the Nadal/Ferrer match the other night. I really had no idea who was going to win.

That's why I'm really enjoying this U.S. Open. Such great playing. Did you watch Venus and Jelena? I didn't know who was going to emerge victorious from that one, either.

Roger is the biggest reason I've returned to watching so much tennis. He elevates this game to a new level. Commentators have mentioned the word "graceful" in describing Roger's movements in that he seems to float just above the court's surface. Combined with his complete game, strong serves, amazing eye and touch and strategy, he is such a gift to tennis. And I also love how much he loves the game and the history of the sport and even the whole press deal of communicating all that.

As many have noted, it's really amazing how little press coverage he gets in American media, say compared to Tiger Woods. Internationally, he is much more acknowledged, and not just in his country. In that he is now considered to be one of the top players in the whole world of Sports today, it's incredible that say, Sports Illustrated, for an easy example, has yet to put him on their cover. The guy isn't about flash and attitude, more about sophistication, intelligence and hardwork, and he's Swiss - is this too hard a sell for U.S. media? I'd like to see the U.S. media (beyond the newspaper and blog tennis writers) step up and start acknowledging this guy's greatness. I know his recent commercials with Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry will help to some degree.

Anyways, yes, I did catch the Venus and Jelena match. Great stuff. Also just caught the Ferrer/Chela match where Ferrer came out the winner in 3 straight sets. Heard that Roger just stated that he considers Ferrer to have one of the best return games out there now. Should be interesting.

SI hasn't had Roger on their cover? I just assumed they would have, given how big he is. Shame.

I still can't believe Nadal lost to Ferrer. To tell you the truth, I don't even know who Ferrer is. :rolleyes:

Who's playing in the finals and when is it?

Finalists won't be known until hmm tomorrow is it? I think the women's semis are on today and the men's semis are on tomorrow. Women's finals will be played on Sat evening I believe and the men's finals will be played on Sunday.

Men's semifinalists:
- Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Nikolai Davydenko (RUS)
- Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. David Ferrer (ESP)

Women's semifinalits:
- Justine Henin (BEL) vs. Venus Williams (USA)
- Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)

I've been watching. Was sorry to see Nadal ousted. As for Federer, he has won so much but he is just such a class act that I don't mind. Was estactic when Maria Sharapova got knocked out, she is so annoying with all her grunts and screeches. I don't know why her opponents don't complain. Seems it would really be distracting. Was also glad to see Justine beat Serena. Sorry to see Roddick knocked out also. Would have made an interesting final if the draw had been different.

Probably you haven't heard of David Ferrer because most of the U.S. media focuses on the Federer-Nadal rivalry. Yes they are the world's #1 and #2 players and defeating most players they face so are on a higher level than the rest. But there are many in the Top 15 who are great players, and deserve recognition.

Big props to the players in the men's semi-final:

#1 Roger Federer, Switzerland, age 26. Turned pro in 1998. Considered one of the top players of the game. Surpassing tennis records. Currently 188 weeks at #1 (Sampras had 286) , 50 singles titles (Connors had 109), 11 Grand Slam titles (Sampras had 14).

#3 Novak Djokovich, Serbia, age 20. First US Open. Got alot of attention this year at the Canada Masters for beating Federer, Nadal and Roddick, world #1,2,&3 on consecutive days, not done since Boris Becker in '94 - and he's only 20. Been pro since 2003 and already #3 and giving Federer a run! Great player, confident, big stage doesn't faze him. Funny guy, does great tennis impersonations - check out youtube for some of these.

#4 Nikolay Davydenko, Russia, age 26. Turned pro in 1999.

#15 David Ferrer, Spain, age 25. Fighting scrapper, great returning game, turned pro in 2000.

Henin and Williams are on right now. They're in the first set. Henin was up 5-3, but Venus just came back to make it 5-5. Good stuff!

I watch tennis on occasion. Maria Sharapova is pretty cool. She is very tall and seems very dedicated to the sport. The Williams sisters are very compelling people too and I always cheer for them. I remember hearing something about a personal tragedy. Didn't one of their sisters pass away? That was very sad to hear of. Mauresmo is cool too.

What happened to Andy, though? At one point, he was #1 in the world, but he's had some not so great luck as of late. Still definitely a fan. Whenever he plays against Federer, those are always fantastic matches because when both of them are on game, it is absolutely awesome. Andy has the powerful serve that can gain him quick wins while Federer is more techincally superior and controlled. Sadly, I haven't been able to watch the US Open thus far :( Thanks for writing this thread though.

Maria Sharapova lost early in this Open to Agnieszka Radwanska in Round 3.
Serena Williams lost to Justine Henin in the Quarter Finals.
Venus Williams just lost to Justine Henin in the Semi Finals.
Amelie Mauresmo isn't playing in this Open. Current ranking is #7.
Andy Roddick lost to Federer in the Quarter finals. He is currently ranked #5. He no longer dominates the game as Federer and others have answers to even his powerful serves.

The current top players in the game are:
Women:
1. Justine Henin, Belgium (IN FINAL)
2. Maria Sharapova, Russia
3. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia (IN FINAL)

Men:
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain
3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
4. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia

Thanks for the update, Movin'. I'm so sad that I missed the majority of the tournament. Life has been hectic as of late.

Wow, I didn't even know this thread was here. I started one on another forum, and it seemed no one was too interested, which was a bit disheartening, because tennis is awesome! I watched SO much of the tournament this year. I truly love to watch, and I even got my mom watching a lot more than usual. Tennis is in my top 3 favorite sports to watch. It's so exciting. I've been a huge Agassi fan for as long as I've been watching tennis (about 17-18 years I think,) and I was sad when he retired last year, but I still love watching. I don't have one particular favorite anymore, but I love so many of them. Roger, Rafa, James Blake, and I've taken quite a liking to Novak. He's quite impressive, and I absolutely love his impressions on YouTube. I saw them about a week ago, and then when they had him do his Sharapova and his Nadal on center court the other night, it was so hilarious! He's got such a magnetic personality. I was sad for Rafa in his match against Ferrer, but he really fought till the end, which I respect. I just hope that Rafa takes care of himself, because he is so good and so young still. I want to be able to see him playing the game for many more years. I was sad that James Blake lost that killer 5th set tiebreak against Tommy Haas after Blake had just got the 5 set monkey off his back with the crazy match against Santoro. That was a crazy match.
When it came down to Carlos Moya and Novak Djokovic in the QFs, I didn't know who to pull for, because I like them both quite a lot. Carlos, being the older generation, I thought it was great for him to get so far in the tournament. It would have been nice for him to make it to the finals, too, but I really like Novak and he's proven he can beat Roger. It just wasn't his time. It was a good match, and I was rooting for Roger, even though I love both guys. I love that Roger is breaking all these records. It's exciting, and since I was never much of a Sampras fan at all, I look forward to Roger breaking his records. LOL. Roger is just so exciting, classy, confident without being overly cocky. He does good charity work. I have a lot of respect for him. I loved when he won today, that he admitted to being nervous the last few days, shaking, sweaty palms, and upset stomach. It's good to see how real he is, because sometimes people think he's this invincible being. He has to overcome things, too, and it was nice to hear him say that. I wish that American sports media would pay more attention to him. I can't believe that they haven't put him on the cover of SI yet. That is absurd! It's so hard to be an athlete in a solo sport like tennis, and for him to be so insanely dominant deserves so much respect. The first time I really paid attention to him was when he played Agassi 2 years ago in the US Open final, and of course I was sad that he beat Agassi, but then I realized just how amazing Roger is and I enjoy him now. Then, after I saw his reaction at the Australian Open last year, I liked him even more. Rod Laver presented him with the trophy, and Roger completely lost it, broke down into the ugly cry and everything. It was beautiful to see how much it meant to him. When Fed played Roddick in the QF's, I was rooting for Fed, but I did end up feeling bad for Andy. It was also so great to hear Andre's commentary in the booth. My goodness, he really knows his stuff. I was so impressed with his ability.

As for the ladies, I really don't enjoy theirs as much as the men's, but I really do enjoy watching Jelena Jankovic. I rooted for her last year, too. She's got such a fun personality, and her defense is awesome. Her match against Venus was my favorite match on the ladies' side.

Okay, I think I've rambled on enough, but I had to make up for not knowing this thread was here before. LOL.

Congrats to Roger Federer!!! and to Justine Henin.

Glad you found the thread, brwneydgirl!

Great tournament and incredible to see Roger save that game since Novak had him on the ropes so often. But that's one of the miracles of Roger's game. I'm a nervous wreck watching him play even though I know he knows his way around this game like it's his own body. I love how he navigates this gift he's been given and I've been routing him on for years now. I admire how much respect he gives his fellow players and those who came before him. Love how many he brings into his circle to share with, both to practice with, and through his charitable work. Heard how he started the charitable work early since he heard, I believe, Agassi, mention that he regrets starting so late.

He seems to play the game of tennis way beyond each individual match - that he looks at his whole career, then each year, each tournament, then to each game, and all the factors involved. He does not play each point with all his energy but manages his energy very, very wisely. Really beautiful to observe. Like a Zen master of tennis.

It's great for the game when players elevate their game and seriously challenge each other. Roger has thanked all the players for helping to improve his backhand since, as that was his weakness, everyone played to it and it has significantly improved. Novak, hopefully, will be one of those players that give especially Federer and Nadal some significant challenges. Along with a number of other rising players. I do hope Rafa is able to stay healthy.

Novak's cockiness was starting to annoy me though, especially when he made the #1 symbol after defeating Ferrer. He's not #1, he's #3! I think all his talk about beating Roger actually got in the way of his game. And, after he lost the final, to say Roger was lucky. Please! There were probably about as many balls on the line for him as there were for Roger. And I know that many of Roger's balls missed the line, actually at one point, there were 3 in a row. Reminds me of Serena's recent comment about Henin being lucky. Hopefully, they'll grow out of it. No one said losing is easy, but it is a great chance to practice true sportsmanship and humility and, of course, a chance for learning.

I'm really looking forward to the men's game to see how far Roger can take this and see what all these great players will do in the future. Unfortunately, the women's side seems to be much less exciting. Hopefully that will change soon. I used to follow a number of the women players, but not so much recently. Henin is often a great player, though. Definitely the most consistent recently.

I didn't see the #1 sign Novak made when he beat Ferrer, so I'm not sure what he meant, but I'm thinking that just because you make the #1 sign doesn't mean you are saying to the world that you are #1. It could've meant something else and I don't want to second guess him.

As for the lucky comments, I am not sure if I am allowed to post links to other websites but I strongly recommend you to read the interview he gave after his USO final loss. Some quotes from him:

"And then, you know, on this important moments obviously I was doing something wrong, and then I missed that shot. I was a bit unlucky, I can say. Besides the knowledge, footwork, physical, mental strength, you need a little bit of luck, which today I didn't have."

"You know, he's a big worker, very talented, a great player. That's why he deserves to be there where he is. But, of course, he is lucky and he gets these lines and lucky shots, I can say, because he's going for them. He's not trying to play safe. He's really being aggressive."

He essentially says what a lot of commentators say - that champions make their own luck. And he also says that Roger ends up lucky only because he attempts those kinds of shots. If you don't play that aggressively, you can't really be lucky. I don't think it was a cheapshot at Roger, especially since throughout the interview Novak keeps talking about how tough and talented Roger is.

Again, I strongly suggest reading his interview in the US Open website. I really think that his 'luck' comments are being taken out of context.

Here's another snippet from that same interview. You read this and you think, he is flattered to have his name mentioned next to Fed and Nadal. And that he is not even attempting to say he is physically on par with Roger. I don't feel a tinge of cockiness here. Maybe on court he looks cocky, and when his comments are taken out of context he sounds cocky, but I honestly don't think he is:

Q. While it's true that how you play physically depends on how you play mentally, if for the sake of examining your game you could separate the physical from the mental part, do you feel your game is right there with Roger physically right now?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You're getting into really deep, philosophic questions.


Q. You're a deep guy.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I am deep. Let me think (laughter).

First of all, I have to say that he's five, six years older than me, and he has this experience playing in the Grand Slam finals, Grand Slams, all those matches. He has much more matches on the professional tour than myself.

Obviously that makes him mentally stronger than I am, more experienced. Again, physically he's very good. His endurance, everything, looking at him after long points, it looks like he doesn't feel the long points. Seems like he's not getting tired.

But I have time. You know, I know that now, as the third player of the world, people compare me more and more to the best players in the world, like Nadal and Federer.

It's very flattering and it's positive for me, but still I have many things to improve in my game.

Brwneydgirl, what charity work does Roger do?

I was just out to dinner last night, and people at another table were talking about how much money Roger made at this U.S. Open. I remarked to my husband, "I hope he starts a foundation of some kind during his career."

Has he already? It's so sad that whatever he's doing, it isn't more publicized. Or maybe it's just me that doesn't know!

From wikipedia:

He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003. Its goals include funding projects that benefit disadvantaged children, primarily in South Africa, such as the charity IMBEWU.[19] In January 2005, he encouraged efforts from tennis players for the people affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, saying he would play as many matches as possible in tournaments organized to raise funds for the tsunami victims and auctioned off his autographed racquets to raise funds for UNICEF's relief operations.[20]

On April 3, 2006, Federer was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF,[21] which helps poor children from all parts of the world. He made his first official trip as Goodwill Ambassador on December 23, 2006, when he visited children in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a region devastated by the December 26, 2004, tsunami. "It's amazing to see how young people are using the rebuilding process as an opportunity to improve their lives and strengthen their community," said Federer. "The way these children are bouncing back from even the toughest tragedy is a testament to their resilience."[22] Federer is the first living Swiss to be pictured on a postage stamp, issued in April 2007 depicting Federer with the Wimbledon trophy. [23]

i think that a lot of the top tennis players have charity foundations or help out in charity in some way. Maybe because there are too many of them with different charities they play for and support, it becomes too difficult to share this information so most of the work is done low-profile. i'm guessing only a few people like Andre Agassi have very well-known charity foundations.

wee moggie, here's some info about Roger's good works.

He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003. RFF is a charitable grant-making foundation supporting innovative projects operated by local relief organisations in selected countries of the world (primarily Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa)- projects that would otherwise lack sufficient funding. Here's their website: http://www.rogerfedererfoundation.org/en.

Projects are selected with these 3 criteria:
1. ranking among the 50 poorest countries in the world,
2. with a mortality rate of children under 5 yo of over 15%,
3. where the rate of girls attending 5th grade lies under 50%.

In April 2006, Roger was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, helping poor children around the world. Was very active helping to raise funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Thanks guys!

I can't believe I missed this thread the whole time the Open was going on. I actually got to catch the Men's Semfinals and I tell you, if you think Roger is magnificent on TV, watching him is like when you master a game on playstation. It was sick how he played tennis, poor Davydenko.

Did you guys know that Roger has his own Beanie Baby? It's called "Feder-Bear"...He's $8, and $5 of that goes to ACE(Assisting Children Everywhere,) an ATP charitable program. I got one last year, and he's so adorable!

Lookie:
http://www.tytrade.com/feder-bear
:)