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Federer 🎥 Millman (20 mins)

Sousa 🎥 Djokovic (10 mins)

Nishikori 🎥 Kohlschreiber (3 mins)

RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset

Featured Matches:

Djokovic d Sousa: 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Not as routine as the scoreline suggests. Novak was never losing this match, but, in incredibly humid conditions (Djokovic had an MTO for chest/heat issues), he played well within himself for the vast majority of the contest. The Serb was happy to force Sousa into the error from the back of the court, regularly playing groundstrokes from 1-3 metres behind the baseline, showing his immense speed, to constantly direct his opponents barrage of forehands deep, and back in play. This strategy worked well, with Sousa committing 28 unforced errors to 21 winners and generally looking inconsistent on most of the bigger points. The Portuguese committed unforced errors to surrender both decisive breaks in the 1st and 2nd sets. Despite a spirited attempt at competitiveness in the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd sets from Sousa, this dynamic continued until half way through the 3rd and final set.

At this point the conditions had cooled somewhat and Novak finally stepped up onto the baseline and started dictating with some of his better tennis. Three scorching backhands in a row (GIF’s below), while Sousa was serving at 4-4, set up the opportunity to serve for the match. It was good reminder of how devastating Novak can be when he takes time away from his opponent, taking the ball early, up on top of the baseline.

Overall a gritty, but clever, performance from Djokovic, who won whilst not quite at his best once again. The third set performance (9 winners, 3 errors) suggests that, away from the abnormal humidity, his best tennis is readily available and lurking just below the surface. The Serb finished with 23 winners to 18 unforced errors.

🎾

Millman d Federer: 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 7-6(3) ‼️

Federer was awful tonight, no getting around it. A mixture of horribly humid weather, and an incredibly resilient John Millman across the net, seemed to destroy any semblance of game plan Roger may have had. The Swiss played decently in the first set, missing plenty of first serves (only 45% in) but returning well (43% of 1st serve return points won), and looking pretty comfortable to take an unsurprising one set lead. The 2nd set was where things started to unravel.

Federer, after looking a bit shaky on serve for parts of the first set, lost the serving plot entirely in the second. Landing just 31% of his first serves, and winning less than half of his 2nd serve points, it was frankly a miracle that the Swiss was a break up and serving for a 2 set lead at 5*-4. However, two unforced errors, one of which was an easy volley dumped into the net, and a double fault break point down, and we were back on serve. Millman, clearly buoyed by what had just happened, plodded along with his own tennis and played cleverly to make sure he didn’t get in the way of the self-destruction happening across the net. The Aussie stayed solid from the baseline and won 3 games in a row with unspectacular but consistent tennis to tie the mach at one set all.

The third saw Federer attempt to right the ship, finally making some first serves (62% in, winning 92% of them) and not facing a single break point, despite only winning 6/16 points on his 2nd serve. The Swiss held a break point with Millman serving in the first game of the set, but shanked a forehand wildly outside the tramlines, and then didn’t seem to be able to put a return of serve back in play for the rest of the set (winning just 4/24 1st serve return points). Into a breaker and after Roger surrendered a mini-break with more errors, Millman came up with consecutive aggressive, line-licking forehands, at 7-7, to take a two sets to one lead.

Once again the fourth set saw Federer serve slightly better than he had earlier in the match, but Roger seemed to have none of the required footwork to pull off the first strike tennis that he clearly so wanted to play in these stifling conditions. Making 21 unforced errors to only 13 winners, Federer continued to look messy from both the net and the baseline, while Millman went from strength to strength from the back of the court, hitting a very impressive 14 winners to just 6 unforced errors. By the time the 4th set tiebreaker rolled around, Federer looked like he was done with the match and wanted a cold shower. The Swiss sent down back-to-back double faults and then crushed a forehand nearly a metre long down match point to hand Millman the biggest win of his career.

Overall, Federer really struggled with the conditions, much more so than Millman (Federer finished with 77 unforced errors, Millman just 28). The slow footwork that plagued him in the Cincinnati final a few weeks ago returned with a vengeance, and his shot selection was just bizarre at times, playing a plethora of drop shots that were easily tracked down by Millman, despite the Swiss being in positions to pull the trigger on routine winners. It’s tough to read too much into the match with regard to Federer’s future. I’ve long been sceptical that the US Open favours Fed conditions wise, and he’ll probably have far more luck as we head into the faster, mostly indoor hard courts for the rest of the season. As for John Millman? What a win for one of the nicest and most deserving players on tour. He stayed so solid, despite brutal humidity, and came up with some big shotmaking when it mattered in the 3rd set.

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Also:

Cilic d Goffin: 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-4 (🤕 Goffin = shoulder)

Goffin’s shoulder affected his serve speed from the 2nd set onwards, but that shouldn’t take anything away from how cleanly Cilic was striking the ball towards the end of this match. The Croat was crushing the ball off both wings (GIF’s below). Marin will be pretty concerned with only landing 46% of his 1st serves, which put his 2nd serve under an unusual amount of pressure. But, even with a misfiring 1st serve, he was still much too strong for an ailing Goffin.

Nishikori d Kohlschreiber: 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

Efficient performance from Nishikori in sweltering midday conditions. Kohlschreiber seemed to have crashed back down to earth after his win over Zverev, committing an abnormally high number of mistakes today (39 unforced errors to 26 winners). Kei was much more solid (29 winners, 18 unforced errors). Nishikori’s return was dialled in, as usual, finding great range on his backhand return, especially on some of the bigger points.

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Full Results

SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Controlled slide giving him stability & balance. Fast, snappy rotation of his torso generating pace. Vintage Djokovic backhand.

— Nice forehand from Sousa to end a 17 shot rally.

— Sousa painting lines.

— One of three huge backhands in a row from Novak to grab the decisive break in the 3rd set.

— Lovely volley from Cilic.

— HUGE, 100mph forehand from Cilic. His 3rd set today was full of this power.

— Ridiculously good reactions from Mike Bryan.

— The line-licking forehand that gave Millman the decisive mini-break in the 3rd set breaker.

INTERVIEW & PRESS BEST BITS 🎤

Djokovic post-win:

“I’m very happy to get this one done in straight sets.” (On-court interview)

“It was much more difficult than the score indicates. Credit to Joao, who brought intensity to the court. It was a tough one to play.” (On-court interview)

“It was very tough conditions, especially the first hour and a half. We are putting in all the work but sometimes you just have to survive." Source

“I feel better if I win a tennis match, but if I lose it doesn’t change my everyday life. There are more important things in my life, I am a father of two kids.” Source

Nishikori post-win:

“Really lucky to finish in three sets, it was so hot on the court. I think we both struggled a little bit with the heat.”

“The clay-court season was great then first time going to the quarter-finals in Wimbledon. It's going well this year.” Source

Federer post-loss: (Video of Presser)

“It's just one of those nights where I guess I felt I couldn't get air. One of the first times it's happened to me.” Source

“I do believe since the roof is on that there is no air circulation in the stadium… I think just that makes it a totally different US Open. Plus conditions maybe were playing slower this year on top of it. You have soaking wet pants, soaking wet everything.” Source

“Look, at some point also I was just happy that the match was over, I guess.” Source

On Millman:

“I love his intensity. He reminds me of David Ferrer and those other guys that I admire a lot when I see them. John was able to deal with it [the heat] better. He comes from one of the most humid places on earth, Brisbane.” Source

Millman post-win:

“I have so much respect for Roger and everything he’s done for the game and he’s been a hero of mine and today he was definitely not at his best but, you know, I’ll take it.” Source

“Probably to beat him I needed him to have an off day and I needed to have a decent, good day.” Source

On his next opponent (Djokovic):

“Last time I played him I got three games at Queen's, let's hope I get more… He moves incredibly well. He's another guy I've looked up to with his game style.” Source

SCHEDULE: QUARTER-FINALS (TUESDAY) ⏰

Match to watch: 🔥

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Arthur Ashe Stadium

(12pm local, 5pm UK)

Del Potro vs Isner (H2H: 7-4 ) (Hard Court H2H: 6-3) (2nd match on court)

Prediction: I will be very surprised if this isn’t tiebreak heavy. Neither are the best returners (although Delpo is statistically much better than Isner), and both have been serving huge so far this USO. In his past two matches, Delpo has won 80% of his first serve points vs Verdasco and Coric (both better returners than Isner), as well as landing 80%😳 of his 1st serves in vs Coric. Isner has also won 80%+ of his 1st serve points in his last 2 matches, but definitely looked more vulnerable on serve than you’d expect at times vs Raonic (Isner landed 58% of 1st serves in that match). So who would have an edge in the possible tiebreakers? Delpo. The Argentinians’ tiebreak form in the past year is 74% of breakers won (top 3 this season on tour) vs 52% for Isner. Delpo has also played 5 fewer sets & spent 3h21m less on court than Isner, so far this USO. Del Potro in 4.

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(NB 7pm local, 12am UK)

Nadal vs Thiem (H2H: 7-3) (1st Meeting On Hard Court) (2nd match on court) 🔥

Prediction: Interesting 1st meeting outside clay. The US Open court conditions actually don’t play that differently to a high bouncing, fast-ish clay court. This means similar H2H dynamics still exist in this matchup on Arthur Ashe tomorrow, despite the change of surface. Rafa will still be able to load topspin to Thiem’s backhand corner and then try and profit off the short balls. The question is, can Thiem do the same to Nadal’s backhand? In Madrid earlier this year, Thiem beat, what was probably a sub-par, Nadal by pushing Rafa as far back as possible on his backhand wing. This meant Thiem consistently won the superior court position over his opponent that day, as the Spaniard struggled to find the required depth off that side. Nadal’s fitness (knee) is still a question mark for this match, but if he’s pain-free he should still be the favourite from the baseline. Nadal in 4. (Side note: if it goes to 5 sets I’d favour Thiem given Rafa’s declining 5-set match record over the past couple of years, and injury concerns.)

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

Sousa on Djokovic’s bathroom breaks:

“I'm not happy about that, but that's a rule. He can have a toilet break. I can use it, as well. I don't think that he used it to get an advantage.” Source

— Rafa trying out a Nike manufactured ice-vest in training today. Video of him talking about it here.

Source

Stuart Fraser @stu_fraser BREAKING: Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund both OUT of GB's Davis Cup tie vs Uzbekistan in Glasgow next week.



Five-man team of Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jay Clarke, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot. #DavisCup

— 🇬🇧 Davis Cup Team.

Michal Samulski @MichalSamulski Kyrgios won't play Davis Cup tie against Austria in Graz (will rehabilitate following US hardcourt season). De Minaur and Millman are almost certain to play singles, Hewitt set to pick himself to play doubles with Peers.

— 🇦🇺 Davis Cup Team.

— 🇪🇸 Davis Cup Team

Grand slam quarter-finals in the Open Era📊:

Federer 53

Djokovic 42

Connors 41

Nadal 36

Agassi 36

David Goffin has a scarily accurate ability to identify shirtless, male tennis players… Video.

Dominic Thiem is bidding to become the first Austrian🇦🇹, US Open Semi-Finalist.

— Two of the hardest working and most humble Aussie’s.

José Morgado @josemorgado Nadal. "I'm very happy that Tomic won my Challenger. He told me here in New York that 'well, if I lose here in qualies, at least I get the chance to see your Academy'. He is a great winner for the 1st edition".

— Nadal approves of Tomic winning “his” Challenger tournament at the Rafa Nadal Academy.

LOL 😂

— Dipping fried chicken into a coke. Murica. (Source)

— Tough night for Federer fans 😢.

— Waluigi must have been throwing invisible banana peels from the stands.

— Novak was struggling with his grip for most of the 1st set today. I have a funny feeling someone in his team (or him) gripped the racquet using the wrong side of the tape…

— “¿They really think I gonna sweat that much¿ ombelibable number of towels, no¿”

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GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

— You can find me on Twitter here.

See you tomorrow for the Quarter-Finals (Top Half)!