Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will try to take additional steps toward a potential U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown when they take the court again on Thursday. Federer is facing Benoit Paire, while Djokovic collides with Tennys Sandgren.
Benoit Paire vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Paire will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in round two of the U.S. Open on Thursday afternoon. It is a clean 6-0 sweep for Federer, who had taken care of Paire in five consecutive straight-setters until things finally got interesting–very interesting–earlier this summer on the grass courts of Halle. The underdog Frenchman had two match points in a third-set tiebreaker before succumbing 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7).
At that point in the season Federer was still somewhat rusty despite a title-winning run in Stuttgart, as he had skipped the entire clay-court swing. Now, of course, the 37-year-old Swiss has himself ready to go for the final major of 2018. He finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati and got a routine win under his belt on Tuesday night by beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Paire punched his ticket to the last 64 by holding off Dennis Novak 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), improving to an even 22-22 for his 2018 campaign. The world No. 56 is in decent form, but not to the extent that he will challenge Federer like he did in Halle.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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(6) Novak Djokovic vs. Tennys Sandgren
Djokovic’s comeback from an injury-plagued 2017 campaign was already a smashing success even prior to his first-ever Cincinnati titlte. The sixth-ranked Serb also triumphed, of course, at Wimbledon–where he raised the trophy for a fourth time. Djokovic showed brief signs of slowing down amidst searing heat in New York on Tuesday afternoon, but he managed to recover from a mid-match hiccup and defeat Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Up next for Djokovic on Thursday is a second career contest against Sandgren, whom he recently victimized 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to touch off his run at the All-England Club. Sandgren was the talk of the 2018 Australian Open on and off the court, but he has cooled off on the heels of a hot first few months of the season and has faded from relevancy. The 61st-ranked American will have to do a lot more than beat a slumping Viktor Troicki in order to prove that he is back on top of his game. Even if he is, Djokovic will likely raise his own level from round one and make this one-way traffic.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
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WWW?
Paire will unquestionably be trickier than Nishioka. But if Fed looks like he did yesterday, it should be smooth sailing. I agree with Ricky’s prediction.
Same with Novak. I hope he wipes the floor with that clown Sandgren…
For once I agree in supporting the Djoker against the Sandman. I hate to like or dislike a player based on his political opinions, but that guy doesn’t even have the courage of his convictions.
Djokovic in 3
Paire in 5
Paire in two.
Federer hasn’t played in a day match at the USO in about 20 years.
Although forecast is cooler than the first few days so not a surprise.
Paire in two???
At USO NO one can win in two in ATP! You can win in either 3 or 4 or 5 only!lol
Fed & Joker in 3 but 1/2 set’s can be tricky!
I guess Hawks thinks Fed will retire after losing the first two sets? Me, I don’t think so. Fed in 3 fairly close ones.
Fed in 3….but an entertaining 3….and sandgren always gives it 100%….but still it’ll be Joker in 3.
Federer in 3 with maybe one tricky set and Djokovic in 3 easy sets.
The thing with Paire is that he could come out playing really well and confidently, pushing Fed hard like in Halle. Or he could come out looking like he didn’t even want to get out of bed today, and lose like 2,1, and 3. You just never know what you’ll get with Paire. Total loose cannon. Also, although humidity can slow down the court speed, really high heat typically can speed it up, which could potentially help Fed to end points quicker.
Hawks is obviously exaggerating, but Paire can definitely win this, particularly since it’s on an very hot day. But Fed retiring from a match? It’s never once happened in over 1,100 matches, so I don’t see it happening now.
You guys are reading into Hawk’s pick WAY too deeply lol
No This is not Fed. This is Fed duplicate. Fed will play in night session. This is Djokovic in disguise.
#FedPlaysInNightSessionyOnly
#YesWillBeBack
#WillContinueToPostGarbage
#GuessWhoAmI
So much for the dangerous kygrios fed third round match!
NK on his way out…(obviously in the pay of devious Swiss agents..)
Amy(Poehler???), you are wrong(always?)!lol
Kyrgios won in 4 sets! Big engines or big bodies like that of Kyrgios takes some time to warm up before it starts to fire! Until it is warmed up…don’t jump the gun!lol
No doubt Kyrgios is flakey and not mentally stable sometimes. But he does not lose to doubles players like Mahut, Herbert etc.!lol
I know you are not a big fan of the big Aussie Bird (Kyrgios)! But…
This is just a joke because I am The (D) Joker!lol
Peace!
Trivia for all guys
How many times Fed has retired in a professional tennis match on ATP Tour.
Yes Answer is 0.
And the biggest TROLL ho does not seem to have a life posts here that he would retire. If he were to retire even, that should be respected as well coz of his past 100% record.
Fedexal-
I understand you’re going through the customary feud with Hawks that we all have gone through at some point. Think of it as a right-of-passage of sorts in the Grandstand community!
My advice to you is to not take the things Hawks says personally- this is ultimately just over a game where people hit a ball back and forth over a net, and nothing more. Hawks loves to stir the pot, and if you can try to learn to take it all in fun, your Grandstand experience can be more enjoyable.
But don’t try to battle Hawks- it’s will always result in either an “L”, or a stalemate. Either way, it’s a losing proposition haha. Right Hawks??
Advice Taken. Best part is to ignore the biggest troll. Can understand and pity people who deal with this guy on day to day basis.
All I can say that we are lucky !!
Advice Taken. Best part is to ignore the biggest troll. Can understand and pity people who deal with this guy on day to day basis.
All I can say that we are lucky !!
Never ever wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.
Are you guys immune to detecting sarcasm?? 😂 #Herbert
One of the shortest games I’ve ever seen when Fed served for 2:2
Admit it, Benny- there are times when it’s really hard
to tell if he’s being sarcastic or not… A couple years of Hawks has turned me into a gullible moron! 😂 And I’ve learned not to ask Hawks if he’s being sarcastic or not, because I know the response will just make me feel even dumber haha!
#HeReallyThinksHerbertWillWin??
#IsHerbertEvenPlayingToday??
#ShouldIPretendLikeIGetTheJoke??
Haha good point Kev
Fed showing more signs of age today. He really can’t play his best during the day anymore; for his sake, hopefully this was his last daytime match. His problems aren’t mental, and haven’t been since AO 2017 final. He’s just slowing down, especially on hot days or when he hasn’t had adequate rest, as in Cinci. It shows in his footwork, and the results are evident in the high number of shanks, which are kind of becoming normal. Again he was helped by a fairly hapless opponent. A more consistent, top-20 player would have beaten him today.
Luckily for Fed, even at his reduced level, he can still be competitive here. Kygrios is a total question mark, Novak is well below his best, and Fed has Nadal’s number these days. If Roger can somehow lift his game for his next 5 matches, he’s still the favourite to win the tournament: imo, his best will beat anyone else’s. However, I don’t think he will be able to do that, and in fact I’m not sure he still has that best level for a Bo5 match. Right now, I put the chances of Fed making the final at less than 50%.
Fed will get one more day match in round 4 but I think it won’t be that hot now on.
The final is a day match too..5 pm
Fed has nadals number these days..yes beat him 4 times last year but don’t speak so soon. Rafa is kinda playing the same level as last but Feds has dropped down from last year
I think Fed can handle a 5pm start, but matches that start around noon are tough.
Big difference between Fed’s R1 and R2 level. He needs something close to R1 level to be competitive with the best. R2 level Fed will lose to R2 level Nadal, for sure.
Nope, Rafa is playing better this year than last year!
Rafa was clueless last year at IW and wasn’t playing well (at least not well enough to be competitive even against a tiring Fed in the Miami final, when both Berdych and Kyrgios were better than him against Fed by extending Fed to three sets and even had chances of beating Fed). Rafa rarely lost to Fed in such manner, he would normally be competitive throughout the match, except on indoor HCs.
I would even guess that had Rafa had his 2018 level of play on the HCs, during his 2017 season, he would fare better against Fed in 2017.
Fed obviously is not playing as well this year compared to last year, so Rafa will most likely reverse the trend this year if they get to meet. If a sub par Djoko could turn it up to beat Fed on Fed’s fave HC surface, I don’t see why a Rafa who’s playing well couldn’t beat Fed.
Normally Paire could be a top 20 player, but his attitude is an impediment. He’s definitely more refined than a lot of higher ranked guys.
Holy shit, Fed is really struggling to put Paire away! Fed was up a double break, and Paire was visibly not even trying anymore! This is odd…
Is anyone hearing about the controversy from the Kyrgios-Herbert match? They’re talking about it non-stop on ESPN. Layani came out of the umpire chair when Nick was down a set and 2-5 or something like that, was tanking his ass off as usual, and basically started coaching Nick and giving him a pep talk!
In my opinion, that is seriously unprofessional, and EXTREMELY unfair to Herbert! I understand what Layani was thinking- I assume he was thinking about the people who paid to see a match, and Nick was completely tanking, so he probably laid into Nick about just stop being a baby and try to win.
But that’s not the unpire’s job! If coaching on court is illegal, then that should include the umpire, too! Herbert must be so pissed about that! He was about to take the set because Kyrgios wasn’t competing, and then Kyrgios gets to have a pep talk? You gotta be shitting me… Herbert is out there busting his ass, and while Kyrgios isn’t even trying. If anyone deserved a pep talk, it should have been Herbert! Layani should have went over to Herbert and said, “Hey man, I just wanted to say thank you for actually trying to win, and not letting this crowd down. Now put this little brat out of his misery, so we can get him the hell out of this tournament!”
Layani will surely be suspended for that. Unbelievable.
Yeah. Layani’s one of my favorite umpires but…he does seem to go soft in the head around NK. I saw it in the Beijing final last year where he was trying to get NK out of one of his funks. That is no part of an umpire’s job, as I understand it.
Good luck to Fed. NK often focuses and plays well for big matches. I really, really do not want to see him in the final. And I don’t want to see Layani in the chair for his matches.
That’s crazy. The umpire must be given a lesson. Even if Kyrgios was tanking, it was his choice. You don’t get down as an umpire and talk like that. That totally changed the match dinamics. That’s subtle mental influence. Someone says they like you and you subconsciously try to prove something. How’s that fair to Herbert?
Layani has developed a multi tasking role lately, eg drying the court with towels
I don’t have an issue with what Layani did! I think he had good intentions! Dont think it was unfair to Hibbert! I imagine Hibbert would much rather play his best against a player who is actually playing their best! Y would he be happy to beat someone who is obviously tanking? Where is the merit in that?! I think the spectators would much rather watch a match where both players r actually playing rather than a match where only ONE is playing while the other is visibly tanking!
I think if a player is tanking, the rule should be that they are to be taken off court, fined and suspended for a few tourneys!! If not, then I c nothing wrong with the umpire encouraging the player to play. The crowd does it all the time by clapping and calling the players names? So whats the difference? I have seen so many players struggle and after the crowd gets behind them the match changes! So is THAT fair?!! If the crowd can do it, y cant the umpire?!
I would be very pissed if Leyani is suspended! Instead, they should use this as an opportunity to change the rules!!
#NotAKyriosFan
#HibbertWillWin
Yeah!….Agree with Monalisa!….I want to see this things on another perspective…I think PHH shouldn’t crumbled like that…..We see a bunch of incidents in the past…bad calls from line judge, bad umpiring,bad Hawkeye challenges,bad crowds,bad opponents etc…They’re professional players…They’re having this kind of things on a daily basis…If things didn’t go their way,they should deal with it professionally & move on…If they can’t,then it’s themselves to blame…Not others…
I think we could take Nole vs Fed vs NY crowds a couple of years back…I think that situations was much more brutal than this incident…And Nole didn’t crumbled..he thrived on it…Very successfully…That’s separate between average & great players…on many level…Especially mental..
Agree with Monalisa! As a spectator, I want to see both players trying and put up a good show, Layani is probably thinking about how the spectators feel, having to put up with Krygios’ tanking.
I don’t see how Herbert would feel good beating a tanking opponent.
Monalisa-
I totally get you’re point of view! And maybe that is the way PHH sees it? But I also feel like a guy like PHH, who can really use the money/attention/everything else that comes with advancing in a Singles draw at a major. I can’t speak for him, but personally I would want to advance in the draw any way I could, and I would feel cheated if my opponent got an advantage that I didn’t get, especially since I would be the underdog like PHH.
Guys like Fed/Rafa/Novak who don’t need any further money or status, it would be easy for them to act like they don’t care of the opponent gets an unfair advantage. But PHH? Not so sure about him… He’s a phenomenal doubles player, of course. But singles is a totally different story.
Ultimately, though, you could be absolutely right. Who knows? I guess I just don’t like it when anyone gets some sort of advantage that the other player doesn’t get.
Kevin, dont get me wrong, I understand that perspective too with regards to PHH. I really do! However, consider this, if both players were truly trying their best but PHH was really struggling the crowd would try to encourage him like they always do, bcos ultimately, the crowd just want a good match, a competitive match, regardless of who wins!
But all I am saying is I don’t agree with the argument that Layani was ‘coaching’. I dont c it as coaching but an umpire who is overseeing a match trying to ensure that the players are providing good value for themselves and the spectators, outside of any rules that have been crafted for a situation like this!! Layani made a call and it was a good one given the circumstances!!!
If they suspend him it would be a travesty!!! He is a very good umpire, very likable! Like i said, instead they should just implement a policy for tanking!! Full stop!!
Did I miss anything while I was away?
My closet ears were burning.
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
#WhosYourDaddy
Not much , but your daddy “Fed” retired after 2 sets . Now go home and enjoy !
Homophobe fedexol thinks calling someone gay is an insult. He likely voted for separation and a Trump fan.
I’ll take everything that you badmouth as a complement.
Will start fearing when you start talking positively because thats not expected of the biggest TROLL here.
Hell, I’ll vote for you. At least world will get to see creatures like you exist, something which were perceived to be existent in a museum only now.
homophobes usually take being called out as one “as a complement”.
(As for “TROLLING”, look in the mirror. If there’s one thing worse than a “TROLL”, it’s a hypocritical homophobic “TROLL”).
Such a sadfan.
Oh God!Nole is CRAZY with his defense today!!Hahahaha….But Tennys also not fazed with everythings Nole thrown at him…Impressive!