US Open - Round Of 16
I guess it's safe to say that I'm officially addicted to tennis. It has become my favorite sport and I am very happy that I'm able to watch these tournaments. I've been waiting for the US Open and can confirm that it's the most interesting of all tournaments so far.
Losing some of the top players too early seemed like a shock, but now I can say it was a good thing actually as it made it more interesting. Nothing is guaranteed in this sports, you have to fight for every point, no matter who you are.
Let's start with Frances Tiafoe and Felix Auger Aliassime. The young Canadian had a wonderful evolution at the US Open, which was much needed for both the viewers and himself. He needed to show he's capable of much more than he has been able to do so far and the viewers also wanted to see if it's true what they say about him, that he's a very talented player.
He was able to defeat everyone coming his way so far at this tournament, but I was worried that confidence he was playing with may end one day, but it looks like that day has not come yet.
He was able to handle Frances Tiafoe very well even though it wasn't an easy match. Aliassime always had the solution and even in the tie-break at the end of the second set, he managed to keep his cool. Let's see his next match as he's meeting Carlos Alcaraz Garfia who's even better than him and tougher. It's going to be a cool match to watch.
The Alexander Zverev vs Jannik Sinner match unfortunately ended as it has been predicted. Poor Sinner, he was great, don't get me wrong but right now there are not many who can beat Zverev. The Italian needs more practice, but getting to this stage is already a great achievement. I was still hoping he can win one set, but it wasn't meant to be.
Peter Gojowczyk vs Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, this was again an interesting match. Alcaraz Garfia, the new kid on the block, the latest talent to show what he's capable of just took out Peter Gojowczyk, coming from the qualifiers. It wasn't an easy job though, Gojowczyk may be new at the US Open, but he still made Garfia play five sets. He was exceptional in the first set and the thirs but it was visible he's not used to handle this pressure. Playing five tough sets may costed the Spanish his next victory, but we'll see. No one said it's going to be easy.
Novak Djokovic had no difficulties defeating Jenson Brooksby, who I've never seen playing before. For Djokovic the hard part is yet to come. As we're approaching the end of the tournaments, only the best have a chance, which means he's going to have to work harder.
Last, but not least, the highlight of the whole tournament, the match between Reilly Opelka and the South African Lloyd Harris, my most favorite player.
For me, this was the best match of the tournament, I don't care what anyone says. Opelka has surprised everyone by getting this far and before this match it looked like he's unstoppable. The first set started with a long first game and a lot of mistakes. I guess they both had to find the rhythm. The set ended with a very tough tie-break and I was hoping Harris can win, but he didn't.
Losing the first set, especially in a tie-break can be devastating mentally. When you know you were so close to winning and you lose, can have serious consequences, but Harris is not that guy.
The second set ended to his favor, which gave hope. Then something happened to Opelka's game. There was a shift in the level of his game and not in a good sense. Could have been pain as he was grimacing at times, but it may have been a mental meltdown. He started making mistakes that a 2.11m tall player should not do.
Harris on the other hand was sharp and absolutely amazing. he knew exactly how to shoot the ball past the giant, so he can't reach it. If you look at the details, Harris had 36 aces. Opelka is famous for his aces but this time he found his match as Harris was better.
According to the article above, not many can out ace Opelka, only on 7% of the occasions his opponents have been able to do it and one of them was Harris. There were games in which Harris had only aces.
“I wasn’t hitting my spots. Yeah, it was an uncharacteristic serving day for me. That changed the whole thing. … I had to have been around 50 percent first serves in, at best. He’s long, 6-4, great athlete, explosive. He’s just a great athlete. Then throw in me serving probably one of the worst serving performances I’ve had, the worst serving performance I have this summer, no doubt about it.” Said Opelka
So Lloyd Harris is in the quarter finals, the best result for him this year and maybe in his career too. It's not going to be easy as he's meeting Zverev next, who's one of the favorites for the title, but nothing is set in stone, everything is still possible. They have met two times so far, Zverev won both times, so it's time to change that. I hope I can watch the game, would be a shame not to.
