Early Rounds
As most of you will likely know I am a big tennis fan, so thought I'd also do a thread for the US Open, won't be quite as detailed as the Wimbledon one. Hopefully a few will be interested.
So it's the last Grand Slam of the year in The Big Apple and a few stories have developed. Amazon Prime now have have the exclusive rights to it in the Uk/Ireland and not all has gone smoothly. Some damning comments have come there way, though of course those satisfied about a service can be less likely to be public about it, however fair to say there have been technical issues. On the 2nd day the Match Of the day eventually went up but on Tv app it said could not currently play as needed licence though was later resolved. http://www.adnews.com.au/news/tennis-fans-slam-amazon-s-us-open-coverage my picture quality has been good enough but not quite standard I have been used to from other broadcasters. I have also found the catch up service to be poor (was only supposed to be 1 replay up to quarters) from day/night matches but see today an improved offering of 3 men's and women's matches.
Anyway news on some of the action, some brutal conditions due to the heat/humidity and in Dokovic's 1st round match he was suffering and somewhat dazed, at one point he asked for a sick bucket! However eventually got past Fucsovics in 4. https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/temperatures-rise-in-new-york-as-federer-and-djokovic-book-se... Notice the satorial elegance of Italian Fabio Fognini , perhaps he attends a few pyjama parties 
Conduct warning (which many thought unfair) for French player Alize cornet for changing shirt on court after noticing it was wrong way round also got folk talking . https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2018/08/29/us-open-alize-cornet-surprised-shirt-change-h... Andy Murray returned to Grand Slam action and had fairly tough opener against Australain Duckworth, another returning from injury but his movement improved as the match progressed in a 4 set with some flashes of former glory. He stepped up against Fernando Verdasco last night where his shotmaking and fitness was more like his old self but match sharpness and consistency not quite there. Had chance in 1st, took 2nd convincingly 6-2 but lack first serves issue in 3rd which he lost 6-4 and Verdasco (playing best I've seen for a while) had edge in decider. However at 5-4 a mammonthy game and ensued with Andy showing great fighting spirit but could not take capitalise on the break points and so his campaign was over. A bit of controversy though, in this heat they were implementing a heat break and Murray claimed the spaniard had received coaching against the rules but Verdasco had different story. https://talksport.com/sport/tennis/416672/andy-murray-ferndando-verdasco-us-open/
Thus far Nadal and Federer have been smooth progress in slightly cooler conditions in the evening sessions. For the 2nd succesive slam Stan Wawrinka unseeded put out Grigor Dimitrov and this time only 3 sets required,3 times Slam winner who had knee surgery in 2017 went out in 3rd though to former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic who has now gone out in 5 to Isner.
Controversy early on was Nick kygriios apparently having a "pep talk "by the umpire Mohammed Layhani in his 2nd round encounter which some believe turned round his match with Herbert.. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tennis/us-open-tennis-2018-nick-kyrgios-begged-by-chair-umpir... In the end their there was no sanction but the experienced umpire was made aware of the protocols and will be no subject to monitoring for rest of event. Different umpire for match against Roger but the Australian did not really focus sufficiently,after getting better of initial play once Federer kept him at bay to take first 6-4 the muttering began and basically went walkabout in the 2nd. Whilst he challenged again in the 3rd a bit late and the Switz star was through in straights.
All Brits out in singles already as Cameron Norrie exiited at around same time , Kyle Edmund had disappointing exit on Monday to Lorenzi suffering from cramps and Johanna Konota was no match for 6th seed Garcia on Tuesday. Big upset on opening day as top seed Simona Halep failed to deliver going out rather tamely to Kaia Kanepi having reached 2 finals and taking Premier title in lead up events. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-28/us-open-history-as-womens-number-one-simona-halep-crashes-out/... Former Wimbledon champ Muguruza had other poor slam after going out to Muchova in 2nd round and followed soon after by 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki going down 6-4,6-2 to Tsurenko and more carnage as Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber lost 6-3 in third to Cibulkova who can cause problems for some of the top players . Petra Kvitova also out in 3rd round to Sabalenka who's had some big scalps and whilst a bit surprised at 6-1 2nd set , thought this may well be outcome. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/45385388 http://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32833/11486210/caroline-wozniacki-out-of-us-openhttp://www.wtatennis.com/news/marvelous-muchova-revels-perfect-muguruza-us-open-upset Defending champ Sloane Stephens was also in trouble in 2nd Round but rallied to beat Kalinina 4-6, 7-5,6-2. Looked in control of 2nd but went from 5-3 to 5 all and then tight game before eventually took control after easy opener in title defence. She had more straightforward win over Azarenka. Litle trouble for Serena in opening rounds and her clash with Venus did not live up to the billing as she crushed older 6-1,6-2 showing some great form but Venus struggled with serve.
First big upsets in the Men's contest, firstly Sacha Zverev again underperformed in a slam as he lost 6-3 in 4th to his fellow German Kohlscreiber in 3rd Round, now only once been past last 16 with Quarter Final showing at French in slams. Kohlscreiber countered weapons and returned very well even if the yoiung star had an inconsistent performance. Ivan Lendl recently joined his coaching team but there was to be no quick fix. https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2018-09- 01/philipp_kohlschreiber_stuns_alexander_zverev...
