Another fabulous fortnight in Flushing Meadows

[Fireball Jr.]

Shaping up for what may well be a great and historic final week at the US Open. Great athletes, great atmosphere, great story lines: 34-year-old Rajah going for one mo' big one, Djokovic's brilliance and personality, the Williams sisters playing each other tomorrow in the quarterfinals and, heart be still, the chance for sports history: Serena going for the first singles Grand Slam since Steffi Graf swept the four major tournaments 27 years ago.

Serena would join a truly select group; she would be only the sixth tennis player ever to win a season Grand Slam. The last man to win the Slam was Rocket Rod Laver 44 years ago.

Fireball Junior is jacked; straight outta Compton, baby!

 

[cuseattle]

Nice.

 

[obliterata]

Looks like Serena's going to do it, 2 more matches to go and the competition isn't looking very formidable. If she wins she'll be tied with Graf at 22 Grand Slam singles wins with a good chance of catching and surpassing Margaret Court's record 24 GS wins in 2016 or '17.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Looks like Serena's going to do it, 2 more matches to go and the competition isn't looking very formidable. If she wins she'll be tied with Graf at 22 Grand Slam singles wins with a good chance of catching and surpassing Margaret Court's record 24 GS wins in 2016 or '17.

Serena's semi tonight may go under an hour. I hope Halep wins her semi so the championship match Saturday afternoon would be between the top two seeds to give the match even a little more drama and excitement. The atmosphere, the crowd, it's gonna be nuts, in a good way. Would be great if Steffi, who stays way outta the public eye, shows up to present the Grand Slam trophy to Serena.
Meanwhile, two of the all-time greats, top-seeded Djoker and No. 2 Raja, may be headed for the men's final Sunday. This older guy (me) loves seeing 33-year-old Serena and 34-year-old Federer not just still competing, but kicking booties and taking numbers.
This is not my style, only people I regularly shared my work with were my parents, but they're not online, so to speak, so, what the hey, we're all friends here, I'm gonna share away. This is under my pen name (Fireball Junior is my birth name) about the new voice of Grand Slam tennis. Would love to see Johnny Mac in the booth with him for Serena's match tonight, but most likely it'll be Chris Evert. Giddy-up!

 

[obliterata]

Very well written and in a prestigious publication too, congrats.

So with the rainout I believe the women have to play the semis tomorrow and the finals Saturday. I still have to believe Serena will cruise to victory, the only way she loses is if she beats herself.

As far as the men are concerned, I think Djokovic beats Federer in the finals.

Being an older guy myself I'm rooting for SW and RF too.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

It's four for Friday in Flushing Meadows today, a quadruple-header 'cause of all the rain yesterday. Women's semis start 11am -- Serena's on second -- then the men's semis at 5pm. As Ernie Banks would say, let's play four!

The quick turnaround from today's semis to tomorrow's championship match should benefit Serena. She should smoke Vinci, Halep may have a tougher match. Both men's matches should be good ones, and while I'd like to see Raja get to the final, I think Wawrinka is gonna be tough to get past.

 

[Guinness]

Absolutely cannot stand Serena.

On the men's side I am hoping to see Roger pull out one more slam victory.

 

[CuseTroop]

Who the heck is Roberta Vinci?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Is Simona Halep still in it? I haven't followed her career since she had the breast reduction, but man, that was a good move for her (bet you perverts didn't expect that). After the surgery, she moved up over 450 places in the world rankings.[27]

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Is Simona Halep still in it? I haven't followed her career since she had the breast reduction, but man, that was a good move for her (bet you perverts didn't expect that). After the surgery, she moved up over 450 places in the world rankings.[27]

Simona was the No. 2 seed, lost her semi today, as did the 1 seed.

Was pulling for Serena to make tennis history and win the Slam, but she did make history, just not the kind she was hoping for. Today's loss to a 43rd-ranked journeywoman who had never beaten Serena (0-4), let alone made it to a semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament, was a classic. Vinci played the match of her life and gave one of the great post-match interviews ever. Bravissimo!

 

[obliterata]

Stunning, maybe the biggest tennis upset of all-time. As disappointing as it was for her, she still had a heck of a year winning 3 majors. If she can win 2 majors each of the next 2 years she'll have 25 Grand Slam singles titles which will be the most in women's tennis history.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Stunning, maybe the biggest tennis upset of all-time. As disappointing as it was for her, she still had a heck of a year winning 3 majors. If she can win 2 majors each of the next 2 years she'll have 25 Grand Slam singles titles which will be the most in women's tennis history.

Serena's had a great year. Best women's tennis player ever, arguably greatest female athlete ever. http://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2015...illiams-us-open-2015-grand-slam-roberta-vinci

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Wow, good for Pennetta, wins the Open, announces her retirement. Always try to go out on a high note.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/s...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

[Oakland]

She is no more than a candidate as greatest female tennis player, don't know why anyone would seriously consider her greatest female athlete of all time.

Serena's had a great year. Best women's tennis player ever, arguably greatest female athlete ever. http://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2015...illiams-us-open-2015-grand-slam-roberta-vinci

 

[Oakland]

I thought Djokovic had a good shot at the grand slam this year - come up one match short. He should be favored in all 4 majors next year and I'd be surprised if he doesn't win at least two of them.

Shaping up for what may well be a great and historic final week at the US Open. Great athletes, great atmosphere, great story lines: 34-year-old Rajah going for one mo' big one, Djokovic's brilliance and personality, the Williams sisters playing each other tomorrow in the quarterfinals and, heart be still, the chance for sports history: Serena going for the first singles Grand Slam since Steffi Graf swept the four major tournaments 27 years ago.

Serena would join a truly select group; she would be only the sixth tennis player ever to win a season Grand Slam. The last man to win the Slam was Rocket Rod Laver 44 years ago.

Fireball Junior is jacked; straight outta Compton, baby!

 

[Fireball Jr.]

I thought Djokovic had a good shot at the grand slam this year - come up one match short. He should be favored in all 4 majors next year and I'd be surprised if he doesn't win at least two of them.

Love Djoker