TENNIS FROM CINCINNATI, A COMPLETE REVIEW OF THE DAY INCLUDING THE GREAT ROGER FEDERER AND ROS SATAR’S NEWEST FAVORITE GRAETERS ICE CREAM FLAVOR

Written by: Staff on 22nd August 2015

TENNIS FROM CINCINNATI, A COMPLETE REVIEW OF THE DAY INCLUDING THE GREAT ROGER FEDERER AND ROS SATAR'S NEWEST FAVORITE GRAETERS ICE CREAM FLAVOR

epa04893607 Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts after giving up a tie-breaker point to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their semifinal round match in the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 22 August 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Photo by EPA

There was winning stylishly and winning ugly on the menu for the day’s action as the men’s semi-finals kicked off Cincinnati’s Saturday. First up, qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov lit up Centre Court in the afternoon sun as he ripped up the court, leaving World No. 1 Novak Djokovic trailing in his wake.

Having seemingly overcome his earlier wobbles this week, Djokovic had looked to be back to his commanding best in the quarter-final, and he had to admit that his play had been less than perfect, albeit giving him another shot at the Masters title that has eluded him.

He said: “Obviously it’s not easy to do as it is easy to say. Especially when you’re break points down or when I was Love‑3 in the tiebreaker when it all looks like it’s going to go his way. But I managed to dig deep and refused to give up. That’s how I won. Basically last 16 match against Goffin, and that’s how I won today.

“Very similar matches in terms of quality tennis from my side. I was not very happy the way I played. But, again, win is a win. I managed to do that because I was all the time there fighting.”

Perhaps fittingly the battle for the US Open No. 2 seeding will come down to this. It has been seven years since he last was victorious in Flushing Meadows, and although he may have batted away the importance of the seeding (versus the wealth of experience he, and the rest of the Big Four have), let’s be honest, why wish for your path to the final to be any harder than it needs to be.

First he will need to arrest a three-match losing streak against the World No. 1, recording a win against him in the Dubai final earlier this year but watching the Indian Wells, Rome and Wimbledon titles pass him by.

A new tactic has been to stand close to the service line to return – which raised a few eyebrows against the big serving Kevin Anderson.

Federer said: “I did it in practice more as a joke, and I tried it again and again and again, and it just seems like it’s not that hard for me to do. Plus, you know, it makes you play very committed. Up there is no room for not being committed, otherwise you’ll lose the point every single time. It’s very much all about timing and reaction.

“It was fun for me today. I’ve still got to understand when I can do it when I should and shouldn’t do it. Yeah, but it can break somebody’s rhythm. Maybe can play with the mind a little bit.”

Facing Djokovic is always a challenge, as is Murray or Rafael Nadal, but even Federer had to acknowledge that a Career Masters was a different level of achievement altogether.

“This one in particular he’s going for that golden Masters 1000 sort of shield to win all of them, which would be quite unbelievable, and I could go for my seventh. So a lot the on the line.”

For Murray it was the end of a couple three weeks of quite a lot of tennis following his exploits guiding Team GB to the Davis Cup semi-final.

“I’ve done well to recover from some tough matches. The positive about losing today is I get the opportunity to have an extra days’ rest and recover. I need that. I played a lot of tennis the last couple of weeks, and obviously a lot of the other guys that have been playing a lot didn’t participate in the Davis Cup this year either.

“So after Wimbledon they had much, much longer to recover from that as well. One day might not seem like much to you guys, but it’s a lot for me just now to have 40 hours or whatever, 72 hours to recover now and try and get my body feeling good again.”

The women’s defending champion Serena Williams also had to overcome some spirited defence from Elina Svitolina, who struck first and had Williams on the back foot in the first set before she characeteristically “pulled another Serena”.

“I’ve felt better, but I’m in the final playing the way I’ve played, so I feel like I’m okay with that. I know I can play so much better. Some matches I’ve played better here, and I really felt the connection and that was really good to feel.”

She will face Simona Halep who made short work of Jelena Jankovic – maybe the tennis had caught up with her by the time the final night match came around.

Finals day starts at 1pm.

Tidbits

If Djokovic wins on Sunday he will be the first to win all nine current Masters 1000 titles.
Federer will bid to be 7-0 in Cincinnati finals on Sunday
Williams is in her third consecutive Cincinnati final.
Halep is projected to now pass Maria Sharapova for the World No. 2 rankings and US Open seeding.

Rozzington’s Food Challenge

I have almost come full circle now having visited almost everywhere where food is sold! Today’s lunch was a pulled chicken slider, with dinner being an Ely’s burger – you may remember that Concession burger I had. Yes – this killed it in ways you cannot possibly imagine!

Photos by Ros Satar for 10sBalls_com.

Ice-cream of the day was the Tournament Official Key Lime Pie and it was every bit as refreshing as their signature Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip ice-cream. A real winner.

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Cincinnati, Cincy Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Ros Satar, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, Western and Southern Open, Wta