TENNIS THREAD- and it's the US OPEN already! where is 2017 going??

[Raahh]

New thread ,as we are very close to the end of the other.

I'm in denial that it is nearly September.

I am looking forward to Flushing Meadows. I feels like ages ages since I was able to 'watch' any tennis.

Rafa was placing his water bottles how he likes them and one of the commentators said 'it's mental, isn't it'

I've just spent half an hour stuck in traffic. damn the school run.

as for Rafa's bottles- it's what he does, and it annoys me that commentators made an issue of his routines. he's been doing it since he was a kid.

It beats smashing racquets and swearing at umpires, surely.

he wasn't happy with how he played yesterday. By the look of the scores, things are better today...

He was going great but seems to have hit a lull at the moment.

Yay! I like Rafa's shorts.

Well, apparently that now means he has won a record 40 consecutive sets (on clay) since he last lost one. Which would have been when he lost in Rome, I suppose.

Goffin in a bit of trouble against Khachanov.

Well, it won't be repeat of last year's final- Thiem has lost.

And another tricky day at the office for Grigor.

Ooh just caught the last couple of points. Grigor not happy with Carreno about something. He shook hands with him and they said something to him about "as a man" he should/shouldn't have done something and "I will not forget that"! Wonder what it was.

then not they

oh, interesting jane.

to be honest, Grigor is often something of a grumpy loser. I think it comes from having so much expected of him, and it's taken him ages to really fulfil the promise.

So, both Thiem and Dimitrov out.

Rafa wasn't hanging about in the first set then .
Martin has just broken though by the look of it.

I've managed to glean from some Twitter bits that Grigor thought Pablo should have signalled a serve as being long at some point, but he stopped playing, after Grigor had already returned the serve ( which the umpires etc hadn't called long) and lost the point.

or something.

I could have it completely wrong. Apparently consensus is that Pablo didn't really do anything wrong. unless you're a dimitrov fan..

Such small things can play on their minds and affect the whole match. Unless you're Rafa. Shake it off could be his theme song

Grigor is one of those players who will not , as Elsa would say, let it go.

Nadal is danger of losing his set winning streak here.

He is fighting hard 5-5

42 Vamos!

phew!

I'm sat here refreshing scores like a mad woman

Klizan looked like he needs a holiday after that.

42 indeed!

I wish I was in Spain. I'm in danger of going rusty with all this rain.

Tsitsipas has got through to the final .That's a turn up for the books.

Now Rafa has to get past Goffin. David beat him at the tour finals- but it was on Rafa's least favourite surface ( indoor hard), and Nadal wasn't 100%. Clay is a different beast- as everyone finds out. Rafa beat him in Madrid last year.

Looking good for Rafa.

The second set looks like it is more straightforward than the first, Jane definitely.