Are you team Ben Shelton or Djokovic?

[marylander1940]

 

I  hope Ben Shelton makes history becoming the first American to defeat Djokovic in the US Open and hopefully winning the final after! 

 

Ben Shelton believes he can 'disrupt' Novak Djokovic as both players prepare for hyped US Open semi-final - Eurosport

 

Ben Shelton takes down Frances Tiafoe in stunning US Open upset to...

NYPOST.COM

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Frances Tiafoe was right when he said his U.S. Open quarterfinal match against fellow American Ben Shelton was going to be a win for tennis.

 

 

[Guest]

You've got to be kidding, right? Must be a rhetorical question. I can't stand that asshole Djokovic. 

What a complete waste of good looks. It looks as though he's straight. 😭 And married, too! 😞

 

[Becket]

Ben is a real cutie. I love it when a new hot tennis player explodes.......on the scene. Tennis is a great sport to watch if you're a butt man like me. Man, the times in my youth lusting after Stefan Edberg!  I enjoyed Jim Courier's somewhat brief run as a top......errr....player. 

Definitely in the Ben camp. Hope he's not just a one hit wonder. I've always found it hard to root for Novak. Besides, his contemporary Nadal plays with so much more grace and style.  And that ass......that.....as he once called it himself.....that "world famous ass!"

Edited September 7, 2023 by Becket
spelling and grammer. LOL

[BSR]

Honestly, my brain short-circuits a bit when I hear Ben Shelton referred to as black because his black father (mom's white) is the spitting image of one of my uncles, who is Filipino with a bit of Chinese blood.  I have to think his dad Bryan is at least part Asian.

Anyway, I suspect that Bryan & Lisa  Shelton are some of the nicest people in tennis, or anywhere for that matter.  They grew close and fell in love, sadly, when Bryan's best friend/Lisa's brother Todd was dying of brain cancer.  Todd Witsken is famous for upsetting Jimmy Connors in the 3rd round of the 1986 US Open, the first time since 1973 that Connors failed to reach the semifinals.  Todd was also legendary for being one of the all-time nicest human beings ever to grace the sport.  I'm guessing his sister and best friend are very much like him.

Dad Bryan also played pro, reaching a career-high ranking of #55 and winning 2 ATP titles, but his greatest accomplishments are arguably as a coach.  He led both a women's and a men's team to Division 1 national championships, the only college tennis coach ever to do so.  He quit his job at UFlorida to coach his son, and Ben's improvement since Dad joined the team in June has been impressive.  I'm not always a fan of having a parent as coach (cases in point:  Coco Gauff & Stefanos Tsitsipas), but Ben is in very good hands.

Who's gonna win their semifinal?  Ben hits with monster power, like 149 mph serves (a "big" serve is anything 124+ mph) and 107 mph forehands (90+ mph is considered a "big" forehand), but I gotta go with Novak.  The man's won 23 Grand Slams (the men's record) for a damn good reason:  he chews up Big Bang players like Ben for breakfast.

But applying Joaquín Andújar's baseball wisdom to tennis ... you can sum up tennis in one word:  you never know.

Edited September 7, 2023 by BSR
Wording

[+ Charlie]

Because of the unlimited tie-break between Spectrum and Disney, I have not been able to watch any of this. Cute as Ben is, and much as I like his father, I still would be unlikely to bet against the Djoker, since up to now Ben has been basically only a two tournament wonder.

[+ azdr0710]

12 hours ago, Becket said:

.that "world famous ass!"

time to re-up that!

 

[BSR]

12 hours ago, Charlie said:

Because of the unlimited tie-break between Spectrum and Disney, I have not been able to watch any of this. Cute as Ben is, and much as I like his father, I still would be unlikely to bet against the Djoker, since up to now Ben has been basically only a two tournament wonder.

I heard that 15 million households are caught in the middle of the Spectrum-Disney standoff.  Sorry to hear you're one of them.

Outside of the Australian and US Open, Ben hasn't been able to win 2 matches in a row whereas in Australia he won 4 in a row and at the USO (so far) 5 in a row.  So 9 wins to 1 loss in 2 tournaments, but 8-19 at all the rest.

[BSR]

Pretty much the score most predicted, a staight-set win with Novak, 1 tiebreak.  The stat that surprised me was that Shelton, he of the 149 mph serve, hit just 2 aces in 3 sets.  I haven't seen the match yet; it's ready & waiting on the DVR.  Will comment more after watching.

[+ Charlie]

I managed to see the first two sets of the Medvedev/Alcaraz semi-final yesterday. I will go out on a limb and predict that Medvedev will beat Djokovic in tomorrow's final; after all, he was the last player to beat Djokovic at the US Open, and that was also in the final.

[BSR]

10 hours ago, Charlie said:

I managed to see the first two sets of the Medvedev/Alcaraz semi-final yesterday. I will go out on a limb and predict that Medvedev will beat Djokovic in tomorrow's final; after all, he was the last player to beat Djokovic at the US Open, and that was also in the final.

True, Backboardvedev played the best tennis of his career, like a tennis version of the Terminator.  But you have to wonder if he can play like that 2 matches in a row.  That said, 90% of that level should be enough to beat Novak.

Novak & Shelton played out as expected.  Novak, arguably the best returner in tennis history, returned enough serves to force Ben into neutral rallies.  Only Alcaraz and Medvedev are good enough to win the majority of neutral rallies against Novak.  Shelton simply lacks the game.  Also, I think Ben's shoulder was bothering him because he wasn't booming the serve as he normally does.

First Novak mocked Ben's celebratory gesture after match point, then the two exchanged a rather frosty postmatch handshake.  Clearly there's some saltiness between the two, but I don't know the story behind it.

[marylander1940]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:09 AM, BSR said:

 

First Novak mocked Ben's celebratory gesture after match point, then the two exchanged a rather frosty postmatch handshake.  Clearly there's some saltiness between the two, but I don't know the story behind it.

Based on your reply I guess you never played competitive sports by yourself or with a team. I'm not surprised!

In most cases a handshake is just a gesture and folks are obviously upset about being defeated and happy if they want!

[Jakeenct]

When Novak was just starting on the tour, I liked his attitude and sense of humor.  Now I guess he morphed into an idiot with statements like "you can will toxic water pure...."   Glad I'll never be invited to his house for dinner.  Once Shelton is able to harness his power into winning shots, I think he will be a fierce competitor.  At this year's Open he hit a 141 MPH serve.  The hardest ever was Reilly Opelka at 144 MPH.  Hate to have to return that cannonball.

The 2023 US Open match between Novak and Daniil was a bore.  Medvedev is more than 8 years younger than Djokovic and he moved like he was arthritic.

[+ Charlie]

43 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

Based on your reply I guess you never played competitive sports by yourself or with a team. I'm not surprised!

In most cases a handshake is just a gesture and folks are obviously upset about being defeated and happy if they want!

The handshake is pretty much obligatory in tennis, and Novak is normally very friendly during the meeting at net, whether he has won or lost.

[+ Charlie]

30 minutes ago, Charlie said:

The handshake is pretty much obligatory in tennis, and Novak is normally very friendly during the meeting at net, whether he has won or lost.

I didn't see the match with Shelton or the meeting at the net, but BSR is pretty sensitive to the dynamic between pro tennis players, and if he says the meeting at the net was "frosty," it probably was.

[BSR]

Crazy stat:  of the 72 Slams Novak has played, he has reached the final in 36 of them and has won the title 24 times.

Daniil was very good in the final, especially in the second set, but Novak was great.  Congratulations also to Coco Gauff, women's singles champion.  Coco was already making $1 million/year as a 15-year-old junior before she upset Venus Williams at Wimbledon (all in endorsements because juniors make no prize money).  Now that she's won the US Open, her endorsement income must be jaw-dropping.  Oh, and the $3 million check Novak and Coco each collected ain't exactly chicken feed.

[+ Charlie]

6 hours ago, BSR said:

Crazy stat:  of the 72 Slams Novak has played, he has reached the final in 36 of them and has won the title 24 times.

Daniil was very good in the final, especially in the second set, but Novak was great.  Congratulations also to Coco Gauff, women's singles champion.  Coco was already making $1 million/year as a 15-year-old junior before she upset Venus Williams at Wimbledon (all in endorsements because juniors make no prize money).  Now that she's won the US Open, her endorsement income must be jaw-dropping.  Oh, and the $3 million check Novak and Coco each collected ain't exactly chicken feed.

By yesterday, New Balance already had new ads on Tennis Channel featuring Coco.

[+ WilliamM]

Not Novak

[Guest]

[samhexum]

Neither.  Team Sampras all the way.  He was so cute. (Isn't that the only reason to pay attention to tennis?)

His wife is currently sick.

[BSR]

9 hours ago, samhexum said:

Neither.  Team Sampras all the way.  He was so cute. (Isn't that the only reason to pay attention to tennis?)

His wife is currently sick.

Thanks for the news about Pete's wife.  I didn't know she was battling cancer.  In that long 2 years before the 2002 US Open, tough times when his ranking dropped and he didn't win a single tournament, his wife's support never wavered.  I remember him saying that was the one silver lining in all his struggles, at least he knew he married the right one.  Now it's his turn to support her.  I pray she beats the cancer and gets back to 100%.

[Andy768]

Team Carota.

[BSR]

1 hour ago, Andy768 said:

Team Carota.

For those who don't get the reference, Team Carota is a group of guys who support Jannik Sinner by wearing goofy carrot costumes in the stands.  I, like most I think, assumed the carrots were a nod to Sinner's red hair, but it's actually because Sinner has the odd habit of eating carrots during changeovers.

The Djoker-Shelton drama resurfaced in this Australian Open, with Novak saying that Shelton showed disrespectful behavior in their USO match.  Unfortunately, no rematch on court.  Although they were slotted to meet in the 4th round, unconventional veteran Mannarino upset Ben in the 3R.  Ben's dad & coach Bryan admitted that the drama was a distraction for Ben, who when asked about it said he just wanted to put it behind him.

Here's a video about Sinner's carrot-garbed supporters:

[mike carey]

@BSR, in the crowd at the final of the AO just now, there was a sign, 'Sinner, Sinner, Carrot Dinner'!

[BSR]

You're in Rod Laver?  I am green with envy.  Unfortunately, my favorite is trailing 2 sets to love right now.  Nothing against Medvedev, I'm just a bigger fan of Sinner.

[mike carey]

11 minutes ago, BSR said:

You're in Rod Laver?  I am green with envy.  Unfortunately, my favorite is trailing 2 sets to love right now.  Nothing against Medvedev, I'm just a bigger fan of Sinner.

No such luck, if I'd been anywhere today it would have been in Brisbane at the cricket where the West Indies narrowly won its first test match against Australia in this country since 1997. But alas, I've watched both the cricket and the tennis on the TV.