Grand Slam No.4

[Janik]

Is it Slam four of 2016, or of Andy Murray’s career? Who knows, who knows...

This particular tournament feels unusual compared to other recent Slams in that the two top seeds are not overwhelming favourites. It’s not that someone else has taken their place as the most likely winner, but just that the margin between Djokovic, Serena and the rest feels much smaller than it has done for a long while.

Previews are quite long, so to stop people going cross-eyed I'm going to put them into separate replies.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

On the Men’s side it actually represents something of a narrowing of the field; what was once four realistic challengers is now down to just two; Djokovic and Murray. Nole’s past record, and particularly the recent h2h results against Murray in Finals, mean he still places ahead of the Scot according to most bookies, and that is just the British ones. Murray is a close second-favourite though, with a number of observers claiming that Murray has been playing the best Tennis of anyone over the past three months or so.

Djokovic has alluded to unspecified personal problems, which may have contributed to his defeats to Querrey at Wimbledon and Del Potro in Rio. However I find the timing of this let down notably. It immediately post-dates Nole winning in Paris and completing the Grand Slam set, which has been blatantly obviously his main goal for a couple of years. That he now finds himself needing to re-motivate is not immensely surprising. One thing for sure, be it personal problems or how does the man who has everything drag himself out of bed, Djokovic’s level of play and on court demeanour was not where it needed to be in the last two big events.

You can’t say that of Murray, by any stretch. Rather the opposite in fact. He wasn’t always perfect at SW19 or on the Olympic Park, but despite that he came through against Tsonga and Johnson (the two who have got closest to beating him) mostly via sheer bloody-mindedness. It probably isn’t a coincidence that this has occurred once Ivan Lendl has returned to the camp. Sorry Amelie, I wish it weren’t so, but there it is.

So one of the top two then. Well... probably. However Flushing Meadow is notable for having had the most deviations from the Big Four in recent years. It’s only two years ago that the Championship match was Cilic vs Nishikori, which is the only Slam Final in more than a decade to have not had one of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray in it. Juan Martin del Potro also won here during that time, making the US Open the most varied in terms of Champions over its last ten editions (6 compared to 4 for the other three Slams), and it is the only one to have had a different champion in each of its last four editions (Murray, Nadal, Cilic, Djokovic).

So maybe the chances of a Raonic, Nishikori, Tsonga or even (whisper it) Kyrgios getting that first title shouldn’t be discounted. Raonic is in many ways the form horse here, and the quickish nature of the surface in Queen’s will certainly help him. However he still notably struggles with Djokovic (0-7) and Murray (3-8, but with a number of significant recent defeats in a row). If someone else takes out the leading contenders for him, then he probably wins. But I doubt his ability to perform the task himself.

Nishikori has proved that he plays very, very well on the Arthur Ashe court. And that he isn’t afraid of claiming enormous scalps. Notably Djokovic in the Semis in 2014, having come off the back of epic wins over Raonic in R4 and Wawrinka in the QFs. His aggressive counter-punching baseline game is just about perfect for this environment. One key thing with Kei is fitness; he seems to be injury-prone. But the signs are that all is good at the moment, and the post-Wimbledon form is encouraging with a final in Toronto (l to Djokovic) and a bronze in Rio (l to Murray, b Nadal in the 3rd/4th).

The next two names I mentioned are rather wild cards. Jo-Willy has been up and down in the last few seasons, but was excellent in the Wimbledon QF against Murray and might be ready to challenge again. His slam final appearance might be many years ago, but it was on a hard court. It hasn’t really gone right since then, though, so it would take some kind of emotional run for it to be him. And if anyone is going to ride a wave of emotion to the title, Nick Kyrgios is surely the likeliest candidate. He is a better bet than 12 months ago, with some ATP titles now under his belt, but he remains (how shall we say) somewhat volatile. But NY might suit his attitude to life. He certainly has the talent to win, it’s just whether he can get it pointing in the right direction and (the biggest question) has he done the fitness work necessary to win seven five-set matches in two weeks?

You may have noticed that I skipped a few people to get on to the names above; those who have proved their stamina to win a Slam. Rafa Nadal is the most extreme example holding as he does the 14 of the things, which puts him level with Sampras as the second most ever. He is also seeded #4, and seemed to be mostly over the injury in winning the Men’s Doubles and reaching the singles Semis in Rio. He isn’t the force he once was, but discounting him would be unwise, particularly discounting him when taking the credentials of players like Tsonga and Kyrgios seriously.

Stan Wawrinka (#3) has two Slams to his name, and has only failed to make the Semis in NY once in the last three runnings of the event. That was in 2014, when Nishikori topped him in an epic five-setters. Another loss is also key in Stan’s development to being the champion he is today, that being Djokovic’s 4+ hour five-set win in the 2013 Semis. Wawrinka is better on slightly slower surfaces as that is where his groundstroke power makes the greatest difference, but with his attacking game and his strong serve he will be a threat.

And then there is the champion of two years ago, Marin Cilic. He will be seeded #7 this time out, and won the event in Cincinnati just over a week ago, ending Murray’s winning run by doing so. His game is perfectly suited to the NY courts. He will be quietly confident of his chances. The other former champion in the draw, Juan Martin del Potro, will not be thinking of the title I guess. It still feels too much of a stretch. The effort needed for the Olympic silver medal will probably have taken too much out of him, even at this remove. A good deep run to help him move back up the rankings again would be enough.

And what of a breakthrough performer? Well the highest ranked player as yet unmentioned is Dominic Thiem (seeded 8). But I’m not sure I really buy him getting into the very deep stages on a quick surface. He seems better adapted to slower surfaces. My eye is draw by Sascha Zverev. Like Thiem he is probably best off on something a bit slower, but he does have size and shuddering power. Jack Sock has been something of a big hope for US Tennis in recent years, and a voice is saying “his Olympic medals might have been in Doubles, but they could be the catalyst”.

However it’s Sock’s R1 opponent who will draw the most attention, as he plays rapidly rising young American Taylor Fritz. Fritz was runner-up in the Boys Singles last year, but has since made an ATP Final and gone toe-to-toe with Roger Federer on grass. He doesn’t lack for self-belief, and is another in the tall American with a big serve mould, though in Fritz’s case there is more skill in his other shots as well. So watch for that match, and if Fritz wins watch him fly. Another name I would have picked out was Reilly Opelka, who made the QFs in Atlanta a few weeks back, but for some reasons the USTA only wild carded him into the qualies, during which he got hurt.

I never said who was going to win, did I? Murray, of course.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

The big story here will be Serena, as always. Can she break Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Singles Slam titles? There will never be a more appropriate place to do it than in her home slam. But as the Semi against Vinci last year proved, she can be vulnerable when the prize gets too big.

There is also the fact that mk 2016 Serena is not quite the same model as mk 2015. She leads the WTA in prize money for this year, but has only won two titles. And more than that, she has found herself beaten by players playing too well for her in two of the Slam finals. In fact Serena is just 2 from 5 in Finals in 2016, which sounds OK until you note that in 2014 and 2015 she was perfect in title games (7-0 and 5-0 respectively). There have been times this year where, whilst Serena has held the official no.1 ranking, it has felt like it was the rolling 12-month nature of that which was keeping her there. Back in the first few months of the year a strong case was makeable that Victoria Azarenka was actually the best player around, and more recently that has shifted to Angelique Kerber.

Kerber would have been the no.1 if she had won in Cincinnati (though some would point to her loss there and in the Rio Final as good reasons why it’s better that she didn’t take the spot), and she goes into this event with another realistic chance of reaching the pinnacle. In fact, cnce you strip out last year’s soon-to-expire points, Serena stands 460 points behind of Kerber! Garbine Mugurza and Agniezska Radwanska are also technically within range, but would likely need to end as Champion with Serena and particularly Kerber departing fairly early if they were to climb to the top of the tree.

Could either of them at least achieve the bit under their own control? Muguruza seems the most believable. Which is an odd thing to say about a player who has only won one match ever at the US Open. But then she had only won one grass match before making the Wimbledon final, and despite being French Open champion has still only ever won three titles at full tour events. She is a player who blows hot-and-cold, but when she blows hot she hits a level (and a ball) that no others can handle. Radwanska has won more matches at this venue, but doesn’t convince as a potential winner. Well, she hasn’t made it past R4 in a decade of trying. Whilst Muguruza’s lack of success can be taken with a pinch of salt, that record for Aga looks pretty telling.

There is one other player who can top Serena, but can’t make no.1 as Kerber is too far ahead, and that is Simona Halep. But I don’t buy it with her, either. She made the Semis last year, only to get blown away by Flavia Pennetta. Yes, Pennetta was the eventual champion, and yes, Pennetta was a distinct NY specialist, but it was more the manner of Halep’s defeat that concerned. If she wants to win Slams, she must perform much better in the crunch matches than she managed 12 months ago, and in various other key encounters through the past ~18 months. She is beginning to have a touch of the Radwanska’s about her; good, tough, a fighter, will always be higher ranked, but lacks the strength of shot to go that last step. One caveat here – this is exactly what people would have said about Angie Kerber at the start of January.

But for me, of the top five seeds, I see three potential winners in Serena (the favourite), Kerber and Muguruza. Are there any others lower down? Well, yes there are. I remain heavily in Madison Keys corner on this particular one. She is in form (4th place in Rio), she is at home, she has the weaponry to win. She seems to be maturing and believing in herself more-and-more, and that ought to scare her opponents. Another player all should be wary of is Johanna Konta. #14 in the world on the rolling rankings, and #11 on the YTD are good numbers, but the key thing with Jo in this event is that she has built those stats with only limited contributions from grass and clay. She has finished 2nd in the US Open Series Challenge standings, behind only Radwanska, and would be somewhere between a top 10 and a top 5 player on a US hardcourt. She is a live threat for a very deep run here.

Others? Well, one shouldn’t discount Venus Williams, who is having her best season for yonks and is seeded 6th. But somehow it feels like the boat has passed on her winning another Slam. Karolina Pliskova has looked ready for a breakout performance in a Slam for a while now, and having taken the title in Cincinnati is clearly in good form. She has the service power, but the main thing that Pliskova has going for her is mental balance. She hasn’t made it past R3 of a Slam before though, which feels like too much of a handicap to claiming a first crown.

Others to note are Roberta Vinci, last year’s beaten finalist and the main standard bearer this time of the Italy’s fine recent tradition in the event; Svetlana Kuznetsova is a former champion and also runner-up; Dominika Cibulkova is a recent hardcourt Slam finalist; Sam Stosur is another former champion. Of those, I regard Cibulkova as the best current bet. Vinci will do well to match the QF runs of 2012 & 2013, as she has been rather out-of-form recently (6 wins in her last 16 matches). Kuznetsova’s NY successes are ages ago, she hasn’t made it to R4 since 2011 and hasn’t won a match in her last to visits. Stosur is similarly trading on rather faded glories. Cibulkova, by contrast, has been playing well and winning lots through 2016.

And what of a new name or two? How about Olympic Champion Monica Puig? Yes, how about her. If she can play at anything like the level she managed with a gold medal dangling in front of her, then she would be right up there in the top 5. It did look a bit all-or-nothing that, though. Belinda Bencic is a standard name to throw out in situations like this, what with her still being a teenager and all. But it looks like her 2016 campaign has been ruined by persistent injury problems that saw her miss the French Open and the Olympics.

My names to watch for are Daria Kasatkina and Coco Vandeweghe. Kasatkina has been making waves all year, and is in good form with QFs showings in Montreal and Rio. She took a painful defeat against Venus Williams at Wimbledon, but seems to have channelled that. Vandeweghe is extremely hit-and-miss, but when she hits she hits very hard (metaphorically and actually). She has racked up 4 top ten wins so far this year and is up into the seeding spots. She could break out big style in the big apple. It seems her sort of environment.

Tip for the title? Madison Keys.

[ad hoc]

Grand Slam No.4

Awesomely comprehensive and helpful as ever. Thanks Janik.

Janik wrote:
You can’t say that of Murray, by any stretch. Rather the opposite in fact. He wasn’t always perfect at SW19 or on the Olympic Park, but despite that he came through against Tsonga and Johnson (the two who have got closest to beating him) mostly via sheer bloody-mindedness. It probably isn’t a coincidence that this has occurred once Ivan Lendl has returned to the camp. Sorry Amelie, I wish it weren’t so, but there it is.

Was Lendl technically in his camp in Rio? I assumed as he was playing for "Team GB" that he'd have been in some kind of Davis Cup style coaching thing, with his regular coach not there.

Also Raonic has broken up with McEnroe, I notice. Raonic looks like a fairly recent cartoon character, but I can't pin it down. Ben10? Someone like that.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Grand Slam No.4

Raonic looks like a fairly recent cartoon character, but I can't pin it down.

Raonic looks (from the neck up at least) like Alphaville's Marian Gold did at the same age:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOKQFTH5w5I

And yes, thanks Janik as usual for that excellent expert preview.

[multipleman78]

Grand Slam No.4

I am also going for Murray to win but not before he has his usual drama filled adventure out on the Armstrong court against a big hitter in round 3 or 4.

Lendl does have a knack for making Murray a winner. To be fair to Mauresmo, she joined Murray when he was recovering from surgery and although no slam was won, he did improve dramatically on clay under her wing.

I adored watching Puig at the Olympics and hope she can go to the same level again. I am also hopeful for a decent Laura Robson run. I suppose you could argue that making round 1 is a decent run.

My tip for the ladies event is Kerber. Her level has been so high and those recent losses will fire her to turn it around.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Grand Slam No.4

I'll go for Cibulkova. And Murray of course.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

ad hoc wrote: Was Lendl technically in his camp in Rio? I assumed as he was playing for "Team GB" that he'd have been in some kind of Davis Cup style coaching thing, with his regular coach not there.

Also Raonic has broken up with McEnroe, I notice.

Lendl was not in Rio and Leon Smith was, but that was more out of choice than necessity as coaches of other nationalities are completely allowed in the Olympics. The new hook up was only for a specific number of weeks, as that is all Lendl is willing to do. However, even if Ivan isn't personally there, he is still the major coaching influence.

'Split up' has slightly the wrong connotation on Raonic-McEnroe. That was only ever reported to be a short-term arrangement for the grass court season. So it's more like 'not extended'.

[ursus arctos]

Grand Slam No.4

It's been very hot and humid recently (over 90F and 90% humidity), but the weather is expected to become more temperate during the tournament.

It remains to be seen if the new roof over Arthur Ashe will affect play at all, but it should avoid the traditional schedule congestion following seasonal thunderstorms.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

You mean no Monday final? That will just be confusing...

British players draws, then. Well, let’s start with the big guns.

Andy Murray’s theoretical route to the final is Rosol, Granollers/Monaco, #30 Simon, #16 Lopez/#22 Dimitrov, #6 Nishikori/others, #3 Wawrinka/others. About 3/5 on the hardness scale. Definitely could have been worse, but on the other hand there is no essential walkover in there. All of Rosol, Granollers and Monaco have the potential to be dangerous, Simon is a tough player but one who plays to Murray’s strengths, Lopez and Dimitrov are capable but neither is quite the player they once were (though Grigor has been getting it back recently). Once to the QFs then it’s about as tough as one would expect. However that is also true on the other side of the net, and neither Nishikori nor Wawrinka would be at all comfortable for

Jo Konta’s path is Mattek-Sands, Pironkova/Razzano*, #24 Bencic, #3 Muguruza/#32 Puig, #7 Vinci/others, #2 Kerber/others. As was noted on the other thread, one could certainly have asked for an easier R1 opponent than Mattek-Sands. She may not be a top 100 player at the moment and has been back from injury for long enough now for that to be a realistic current ranking for her, but she is fresh off a gold in Rio in the Mixed and is the sort of big personality who will enjoy this stage. And she does retain the potential that once saw her into the top 30. R2 looks better, that should be a win if Konta gets to it. R3 and Bencic? Depends how fit the Swiss is. She played really well in R1 of Wimbledon (winning an excellent match against Pironkova coincidentally enough), but then was hurt again in R2 and hasn’t won a match since. And then if Konta gets through that it’s either the French Open champion or the Olympic champion. Players she has a combined 4-0 record against. But that won’t last forever, Muguruza and Puig are both too good for that, but a quick hard court suits Jo in these match-ups so this is probably not the place where the trends start reversing. I’m quietly confident that a QF showing is on the cards, and once to that stage all bets are off.
* - complete aside, but what an odd choice by the French Federation to give their one main draw wild card to a 33 year-old!

And then the rest, of which there are pleasing many.

Again as noted on the other thread the draw was unkind for both Kyle Edmund and Aljaz Bedene, giving them #13 Richard Gasquet and #14 Nick Kyrgios respectively. Neither is without a chance in these matches, but in both cases it would be of the order of 10-15%. If Gasquet and Kyrgios perform up to their levels, they win. Edmund’s forehand vs Gasquet’s backhand could be fun. Kyrgios’ matches are always entertaining, though of the watching between the fingers variety. Probably not worth looking beyond R1 in either case, though if one does win they would obviously take over a seeded position so couldn’t meet another seed until R3 at the earliest.
Dan Evans has landed a much better opponent in wild card Rajeev Ram. Ram is much more known for Doubles, and in some ways giving him a wild card is as odd a choice by the USTA as the French Women’s WC going to Virginie Razzano. Possibly even more so, given that Ram is also now in his 30s and has never done all that much on the singles court. It looks like a reward for getting a medal in the Mixed at Rio, but in truth is probably more that his current singles ranking was just outside the main draw cut. Either way, this is highly winnable for Evans.

On the Women’s side, the stand-out match for British fans is Naomi Broady (in by right) against Laura Robson (qualified after getting a wild card into that). Personally I’m disappointed that they are up against each other, as it means one is certain to go out. Call me a glass half-empty kind of guy. I don’t like this match-up from Robson’s point of view, purely because of serve. That is her greatest weakness and Broady’s greatest strength. If Robson can get into the rallies she is the better player, but I doubt she will manage that often enough when returning. Robson has been playing at a much lower level of competence than Broady for a long while now. It’s a little complicated to strip out the boost Robson has received via protected rankings and wild cards, because how do you factor in events where she wins a match (almost never more than one) but only got to the start line via these routes? Even discounting those, Robson still owes 60+ of her 186 rankings points to leg-ups. Without those gifts she would be in the mid-300s for her ranking, and arguably if she had had to restart entirely on her own would be around 500 at the moment. Broady, meanwhile, has earned a top 100 place off her own bat. She must be a strong favourite. The winner isn’t likely to go much further, as Aga Radwanska is the probable R2 opponent.
Like Broady, Heather Watson plays a qualifier, in her case Richel Hogenkamp. Let’s be blunt, this is a must-win for her. 2016 has been pretty underwhelming on the singles court (her current ranking is 75) with the Slams in particularly being poor, with just one win in the French to her name. If she wins, then she is capable of beating Timea Babos in R2. R3 is a long way off, but it will likely prove the end as the little segment of the draw that will supply the opponent is utterly stacked (Safarova, Gavrilova, Flipkens, Halep!).

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

And nominal R3 draws.

Women's Singles

Serena Williams USA [1] vs Ana Ivanovic Srb [29]
Daria Kastakina Rus [23] vs Samantha Stosur Aus [16]
Carla Suarez Navarro Esp [11] vs Elena Vesnina Rus [19]
Timea Babos Hun [31] vs Simona Halep Rou [5]

Agnieszka Radwanska Pol [4] vs Caroline Garcia Fra [25]
Kiki Bertens Ned [20] vs Timea Bacsinszky Sui [15]
Karolina Pliskova Cze [10] vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Rus [17]
Laura Siegemund Ger [26] vs Venus Williams USA [6]

Madison Keys USA [8] vs CoCo Vandeweghe USA [28]
Barbora Strycova Cze [18] vs Svetlana Kuznetsova Rus [9]
Johanna Konta GBr [13] vs Belinda Bencic Sui [24]
Monica Puig Pur [32] vs Garbine Muguruza Esp [3]

Roberta Vinci Ita [7] vs Misaki Doi Jpn [30]
Irina-Camelia Begu Rou [21] vs Dominika Cibulkova Svk [12]
Petra Kvitova Cze [14] vs Elina Svitolina Ukr [22]
sara Errani Ita [27] vs Angelique Kerber Ger [2]

Men's Singles

Novak Djokovic Srb [1] vs Martin Klizan Svk [28]
John Isner USA [20] vs Ricahrd Gasquet Fra [13]
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Fra [9] vs Kevin Anderson RSA [23]
Jack Sock USA [26] vs Marin Cilic Cro [7]

Rafael Nadal Esp [4] vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas Esp [31]
Lucas Pouille Fra [24] vs Roberto Bautista Agut Esp [15]
Gael Monfils Fra [10] vs Pablo Cuevas Uru [18]
Benoit Paire Fra [32] vs Milos Raonic Can [5]

Dominic Thiem Aut [8] vs Sam Querrey USA [29]
Steve Johnson USA [19] vs David Ferrer Esp [11]
Nick Kyrgios Aus [14] vs Bernard Tomic Aus [17]
Alexander Zverev Ger [27] vs Stan Wawrinka Sui [3]

Kei Nishikori Jpn [6] vs Philipp Kohlschreiber Ger [25]
Ivo Karlovic Cro [21] vs David Goffin Bel [12]
Feliciano Lopez Esp [16] vs Grigor Dimitrov Bul [22]
Gilles Simon Fra [30] vs Andy Murray GBr [2]

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

Day One is starting erm now, so here are some matches to look for.

Djokovic[1] vs Janowicz[PR]
Edmund vs Gasquet[13]
Sock[26] vs Fritz
Monfils[10] vs Muller
Brown vs Raonic[5]

Not the start Nole would have wanted. Janowicz was not the same player who won a Master Series event and made a Wimbledon Semi even prior to getting hurt and missing most of this season, but if the shuddering serve is still there he will be eerily reminiscent of Querrey. We will quickly discover where Djokovic’s mind (and wrist) is at.
As noted above, one particular groundstroke from each player will be worth watching; Edmund’s heavy, heavy forehands and Gasquet’s wondrous backhand. Should have the crowd purring.
Sock was once the great hope of American tennis. That pressure is now on Taylor Fritz. They are similar players in many ways, somewhat identikit of the current American male trend. Big guy, big serve, big forehand. Fritz clearly has no fear about him, and could well spring an upset.
Gilles Muller is a dangerous customer, who has made two ATP finals this year and knocked Tsonga out in Rio. If Monfils is not on it, Muller is easily good enough to oust him.
Brown vs Raonic is an extreme contrast of personality types. Raonic, ultra-focused, ultra-contained to Brown’s utter extravagance. But in Tennis playing terms they are somewhat (but hardly completely) similar. Both serve enormous and strike the ball equally hard off the ground. Raonic might also still be experimenting with net-rushing as a way of shortening points. For Brown that isn’t an experiement, it’s a way of life. Should be fun, this.

Keys[8] vs Riske
Townsend[Q] vs Wozniacki
Schiavone vs Kuznetsova[9]
Vinci[7] vs Friedsam
Errani[27] vs Rogers

Tough opener for Keys in countrywoman Riske. Alison is not quite the entire grass court specialist she once was, though she remains at her best on the surface. And also on quick courts generally, as evidenced by a SF run at Stanford. She needs a win in a slam, though; she has lost in R1 in the seven consecutive goes. The R4 showing of 2013 is a while ago...
Taylor Townsend was a very promising junior, a world junior No.1 who won singles and doubles slams. But she has struggled to translate that onto the senior tour, not helped by some controversial treatment from the USTA that unsurprisingly saw her relationship with them founder. She won through the qualies, and now gets a shot at sticking it in the eye of her former mentors by taking down Wozniacki, a former World No.1 but also a player struggling with injuries and form at the moment (ranked 51).
Schiavone vs Kuzentsova is a match that harks back to, ooh, 2005. One for the nostalgists, and those hoping for Italy to continue its recent good form in the Women’s event here. It might be Schiavone’s last ever US Open, but only she will decide that, not the stadium announcer at Roland Garros.
Vinci is another of the highly successful Italian veterans, given that she played in the title match last year. She has a lot of points to defend therefore, and Anna-Lena Friedsam is good enough to stop that in R1. Both are skilled players, so there should be some thinking-woman’s Tennis on show.
And yet another of the Italian brigade in the last match to highlight. Sara Errani has also done well in NY, better than one might expect for a player considered an arch-clay courter, with a Semi and Quarter showing on her resume. Those came in 2012 and 2014, so it’s obviously time to go again. Shelby Rogers will have something to say about that, on the back of her QF run in Paris this year. Rogers can be overpowered on quicker surfaces, but that isn’t really Errani’s style and it could make for a fiercely contested match.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

I might have underestimated Kyle Edmund's chances against Gasquet. First set to Edmund 6-2 in under half-an-hour, and it was as one-sided as that score would indicate.

[Tramp The Dirt Down]

Grand Slam No.4

Janik where can I watch if I cannot access Eurosport?

[multipleman78]

Grand Slam No.4

I know you mentioned it in your preview but that Edmund forehand really is special isn't it? Not only is it powerful it seems to be very reliable.

[Gerontophile]

Grand Slam No.4

Tramp The Dirt Down wrote: Janik where can I watch if I cannot access Eurosport?

cricfree.sc is your friend.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

Tramp The Dirt Down wrote: Janik where can I watch if I cannot access Eurosport?

I thought Sky showed it, but seemingly not. There may be live streams from either the tournament website or the USTA one.

Now 6-2 6-2 to Edmund. About the only thing to go wrong for Edmund is some fuss about a malfunctioning fridge which had his sports drinks in. But they seem to be back now.

[San Bernardhinault]

Grand Slam No.4

I've only watched the last 3 games or so, but Edmund is playing really well right now.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

Edmund was more dominant in the first set, as well. Gasquet looks uncomfortable with the heat, and generally a bit flat. I wonder if he has a bug or something?

An interesting stat, which may yet prove notable, from the Eurosport commentators during set 2 was that Edmund has only ever had two top 50 wins. By comparison, when Andy Murray was turning 21 (the same age as Kyle now) he managed over 40 in that season alone. Edmund is really unused to being in a position like this.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

Wow, what a pass that was!

On the replays of it, I'm sure I spotted Dan Evans in the stands.

[Etienne]

Grand Slam No.4

Edmund has historically had issues with fitness, so would be very keen to win in 3 sets, in this temperature.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

He has the chance to serve it out right here.

[Janik]

Grand Slam No.4

Done with an ace. Tremendous win. And hopefully a stepping stone for him.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Grand Slam No.4

That's a huge win. Is Edmund the player sponsored by the Scum?

[Etienne]

Grand Slam No.4

No, that's James Ward.