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No Spoilers 🎥

If you don't want to see the results yet, and want to catch up with the highlights, stop scrolling now! Links (some may get removed):

Dimitrov 🎥 Wawrinka

Murray 🎥 Duckworth

Nadal 🎥 Ferrer

Shapovalov 🎥 Auger-Aliassime

Results 🎾

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

Featured Matches:

Wawrinka d Dimitrov: 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

Wawrinka played well for parts of this match and continues to regain his form after encouraging performances in Toronto and Cincinnati. But the fact remains that Dimitrov’s drop in level between 2017 & 2018 has been precipitous. The Bulgarian only landed 52% of his 1st serves today, which given that he was only winning 42% of points on his 2nd serve, was particularly bad news. 7 double faults, a weakness which has become a recurring theme this year, also didn’t help. Dimitrov created chances, reaching break point on 8 occasions, but just didn’t take them, only converting 1.

Both guys finished with negative winners to unforced error ratios: Wawrinka at 30W - 37UE and Dimitrov at 29W - 42UE’s. This tells the story of a pretty scrappy match, where Stan only ever really had to be as good as he needed to be. Dimitrov has to make some changes, urgently.

🎾

Murray d Duckworth: 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3

After a tough first set where both players struggled with hot, lively conditions, Murray worked his way into the match and played some solid, clever tennis. Today he faced an opponent who was serving big and playing with nice variation in the opening set, throwing in lots of drop shots and slices to deprive Murray of any real rhythm. Andy adjusted to the big serves by taking a step back on return, putting more balls deep, back in play and working his way in to points to draw out more regular baseline rallies. The change in strategy produced immediate results with Murray going from 12% of 1st serve return points won in set one, to 43% in set two. Andy was back, bossing the baseline, and that was never going to bode well for Duckworth. A very encouraging performance, physically and mentally, from Andy, who still has many more gears to go through. He may need all of those gears however, to deal with Verdasco next round.

🎾

Nadal d Ferrer: 6-3, 3-4* Ret’d

Tough to read very much into this match. Both guys were absolutely drenched with sweat, after only the 2nd game, thanks to some disgustingly high humidity in New York, late last night. Nadal played within himself for most of the 1st set, moving Ferrer around and usually drawing the error from the racquet of the older Spaniard. The 2nd set was a case of Ferrer struggling physically (lower left calf), but putting up one last fight in a best of 5 match (Ferrer is retiring next year and this was likely his last slam). Despite the injury, David produced one last hurrah with a brilliant passing shot to break Rafa early in the 2nd. Unfortunately the pain was too much and Ferrer threw in the towel 4*-3 up.

Also:

Del Potro d Young: 6-0, 6-3, 6-4

Thiem d Basic: 6-3, 6-1, 6-4

Anderson d R. Harrison: 7-6(4), 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 (🤕 Anderson MTO for cramps and possible hip pain)

Pospisil d Lacko: 7-5, 6-3, 6-2

Tsitsipas d Robredo: 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4

Isner d Klahn: 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4

Shapovalov d Auger-Aliassime: 7-5, 5-7, 4-1 Ret’d (🤕 Auger-Aliassime struggling with Tachycardia)

Raonic d Berlocq: 7-6(4), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Kubler d Bautista Agut: 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 ‼️

Verdasco d F. Lopez: 6-2, 7-5, 6-4

Lorenzi d Edmund: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 (‼️🤕 Edmund dealing with cramps, moving very poorly at the end)

Chardy d Rublev: 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

Sonego d Muller: 7-6(2), 6-7(9), 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2

Sock d Andreozzi: 6-0, 7-6(4), 6-2 (‼️Jack Sock won a singles match. This is not a drill‼️)

—

Full Results

Shots Of The Day 😮

— Duckworth with a very good drop volley, but Murray’s pace and control was just too good. Very good signs for Andy’s hip that he’s still able to scramble to win points like this.

— Thiem just leaning on his single handed backhand. Makes changing direction on it look so simple. 🔥

— My god this is a ridiculously good volley from Dimitrov. The ball pretty much turns a corner when it lands. 🔪

— David Ferrer may have played his last slam mach this evening. But that didn’t sop him from treating us to a classic Daveed scramble. This pass broke Nadal early in the 2nd set.

— Air Shapo. To get this much power on a single hander, mid air, is crazy. The kid has such lively arms.

— Crazy good.

Interview & Press Best Bits 🎤

Wawrinka after beating Dimitrov (On-Court Interview):

“It's amazing, last time I played on this court was obviously the final 2 years ago (after being injured last year). So to have a chance to come back & play here... the level was really high, right now a lot of positives, a lot of emotions.”

On his MTO for a right hip issue:

“Some struggles with my body. I have no idea why, but it’s tough conditions… I’m happy it more a less went away, but I need to take care of my body for the next round.” Source

Murray after beating Duckworth:

“I felt better at the end of the match, I don’t know why. Good feeling but I can do much better.” Source

“Last night before I went to bed I was a little emotional (about the prospect of playing slam tennis again).” Source

“It’s the first time that I’ve played 4 sets in the last 14 months!” Source

“At times it was tricky. Especially early on in the match. It was very, very lively and very hot.” Source

Nadal after his opponent Ferrer, in what will likely be his last slam match, had to retire: (Source)

"It is sad for me to see him finish like this."

"I'm very very sorry for him, he is one of my closest friends on tour and we have shared amazing moments together, playing in French Open finals and playing together in the Davis Cup and Davis Cup finals.

"He is one of the greatest players we have had in our country."

Schedule - Day 2 (Tuesday) ⏰

Match to watch: 🔥

—

Arthur Ashe Stadium

(12pm local, 5pm UK)

Djokovic vs Fucsovics (1st Meeting) (2nd match on court)

(NB 7pm local, 12am UK)

Federer vs Nishioka (1st Meeting)

Louis Armstrong Stadium

(11am local, 4pm UK)

A.Zverev vs Polansky (1st Meeting) (3rd match on court)

(NB 7pm local, 12am UK)

Kyrgios vs Albot (1st Meeting)

Grandstand

(11am local, 4pm UK)

Cilic vs Copil (H2H: 1-1)

Tiafoe vs Mannarino (H2H: 0-1) 🔥

Best Of The Outer-Courts

(11am local, 4pm UK)

Fognini vs Mmoh (Court 17)

Nishikori vs Marterer (Court 17)

Schwarztman vs Delbonis (Court 10)

Cecchinato vs Benneteau (Court 13)

Baghdatis vs Youzhny (Court 6) 🔥

Haase vs McDonald (Court 12) 🔥

Extras & Stats 🔍📊🎤

— Ever wondered what it’s like to return Isner’s serve? This angle gives you a great idea of why big John’s serve is the best on tour. He has more variation than the other tall servers, especially on a 2nd serve delivery like this. Ridiculous power, ridiculous angle and, most importantly of all, it’s safe. Bouncing well inside the line. Un-returnable. (PrimeVideo)

— This would have been pretty high on my list of things I wouldn’t have expected Roger Federer to say. I actually agree with the last part of this statement (vs Cincy) but I’m not sure why Roger would. Especially given two things: 1. His success over the past couple of years has been due to a supernatural ability to play consistent, first-strike, aggressive tennis, which is clearly easier with faster surfaces and balls. And 2. he hasn’t won a title in New York in 10 years but has won 5 Cincy titles in that same time period… (Full Interview)

Christopher Clarey @christophclarey Still lots of chatter about the possibility of 16 seeds next year at the Grand Slams instead of 32. But from my conversations with Grand Slam leaders, the issue is dead. They plan to stick with 32. Would be a big surprise if they reversed course.

— Finally a definitive-ish answer about whether or not we’ll see a change in the number of seeds at Slams.

— 37 grand slams on one practice court. Source

Craig O’Shannessy, who has helped mastermind strategy for Djokovic since 2017, was featured on a podcast (Tennis With An Accent), which delved into the use of statistics in tennis. Very worth listening to. Link

— This the where the main camera sits on the new Louis Armstrong court. It👏is👏too👏damn👏high.

— The horrible moment Felix Auger-Aliassime had to retire in the 3rd set vs his friend Shapovalov. Felix struggled with tachycardia (an irregularly fast heartbeat) earlier in his career, and in the juniors, but this is the first time I’ve seen it affect him at this level. Very unfortunate.

Shapovalov’s words to Felix:

"I told him at the net, look we're going to be back here, we're going to be playing in the finals. We will have so many of these". (Source)

“Thank you very much and I will miss you a lot.” David Ferrer bidding farewell to the US Open after his last ever match in Flushing Meadows, and probably his last ever slam appearance. The Spanish warrior is retiring early next year. Video

Roger Federer @rogerfederer Ultimate respect for road warrior @DavidFerrer87

— This will probably be the first of many tributes pouring in.

Gilles Muller has now retired from professional tennis. His last match was today’s 5-set loss to Sonego. A wonderful 17-year career reaching a ranking of 21 in 2017, and winning 2 ATP 250 titles. Thank you Gilles.

After beating Dimitrov today, Wawrinka is on an 8 match winning streak at the US Open (won all 7 matches in 2016 title run, did not play in 2017).

After consecutive 1st round slam losses, it’s looking unlikely that Dimitrov will qualify for the ATP Finals in London this year. He is the defending champion.

David Ferrer has played 63 Grand Slams, making the 2nd week 27 times.

Ferrer’s slam record finishes at 145 wins and 63 losses. A brilliant career at the highest level.

LOL 😂

Locker-room cyber-bullying of Diego Schwartzman episode No.235. Diego (5ft7) on the left, Isner (6ft10) on the right👨‍👦. Source

Context = Last week, Kyrgios delivered some friendly ribbing (now deleted) to Tsitsipas on Twitter, after the Greek player posted some philosophical thoughts about New York. Tsitsipas was asked about it and delivered this fairly damning opinion on his Australian rival.

Tbh I feel like this has all been blown way out of proportion by the media, as Nick was clearly joking. But I do like that Tsitsipas doesn’t seem keen on taking sh*t from anybody. Could make their next match interesting🌶. (Full Interview)

— At least Rublev has finally realised he can’t pull off the snap-over-the-knee a la Stan Wawrinka. Now seems to be sticking to his lane as far as racquet smashes go. (doublefault28)

— Novel way to convert match point from Carballes Baena. (doublefault28)

— Rare sighting of the cameraman for the Louis Armstrong court.

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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 US Open Day 2!

— 😢