AgassiSuperSlam11
Hall of Fame
I put this thread in Odds and Ends since I know there are 2 trolls that consistently get my threads deleted by starting flame wars and attacks with no way to block them from doing this every time.
Rybakina got in quite early as I saw her enter near the Arther Ashe credential area. As others have mentioned she is quite tall. Nonetheless, I caught several of the qualifiers in the Grandstand and outer courts. I saw the first set of American Vandecasteele and he defintely needs more work on his BH and accuracy of serve. Argentine player Bagnis won that easily. One set was enough to know how that will end. I caught the final games of Bouchard and she looked very focused and good shape with her easy win. Taro Daniel known mainly for his AO Win over Djokovic was electric in one of the outer courts and won.
The wind was kicking big time and many players were struggling with their serve (most notably Zverev will discuss later). Jabeur had a good morning session at P1 (practice court 1). She was practicing with a male player, and I was told she had a later session at Arthur Ashe. Some of the early birds in the practice sessions included Kasatkina and Medvedev. He was at Arthur Ashe early. He did later go to Practice court 1 and I saw him sign for many kids. The intelligent players already had pre-signed balls and just gave them to people.
Rumor was that Badosa was going to practice with Stefanos but she practiced with his brother Petros at Louis Armstrong. This was one of the better practices of the day.
There weren't many errors and they played at a decent pace. Badosa seemed the most relaxed out of most players often dancing to the music on the speakers (R&B). Petros showed good hands with his net play and Badosa sweated up a storm and she spoke about dealing and overcoming the stress fracture and she feels that the USO environment will help her comeback. It was a mere coincidence that I bumped into her as she was exiting the premises as she was signing for a family, and I got a fist pump and made her giggle with a quick Spanish joke.
Some other players that practiced today included Speed Demon, Rublev-Karatsev, and Zverev-Rune. I saw the entire Rublev-Karatsav session and Zverev did his first
session at P5 at 4Pm and later came to P1 to Practice with Rune. The Rublev and Karatsev session was very solid and both teams greeted each other like family. This wasn't the same with Zverev and Rune with Patrick and Zverev's dad keeping a good distance. Zverev was the only player I saw today who slammed a racquet during practice (what a shock?). Zverev also kept shaking his head and appeared irked as his dad was with him. His practice with Rune was intense but I caught only 45 minutes as I have to work tomorrow unlike some of the tourists who have the week off. Wawrinka-Ruud were the last major practice i believe at Arthur Ashe. Using Opera Glasses helps in seeing all the practice courts closely at once.
I won't mention the sensitive info that I know about the USO, but they need to train their employees better. Rude spectators it something you can't always control, but the staff screaming at people for trivial matters because they want to make more room in the practice courts needs to handle with better tone. Of course, this isn't DIsney World where guests are treated like family but they can do better. I also took offense about admonishing people "that nobody can hold your seat", well the USO had numerous problems in the past and former Mayor Dinkins and New Yawkers bailed them out as they were going to leave. There were issues with the planes in Laguardia airport and the re-routing of the planes with the eventual change from Forrest Hills to Flushing Meadows. FWIW, maybe one day the YEC comes back to Madison Square Garden or gets a new temporary home at Barclay Center.
Rybakina got in quite early as I saw her enter near the Arther Ashe credential area. As others have mentioned she is quite tall. Nonetheless, I caught several of the qualifiers in the Grandstand and outer courts. I saw the first set of American Vandecasteele and he defintely needs more work on his BH and accuracy of serve. Argentine player Bagnis won that easily. One set was enough to know how that will end. I caught the final games of Bouchard and she looked very focused and good shape with her easy win. Taro Daniel known mainly for his AO Win over Djokovic was electric in one of the outer courts and won.
The wind was kicking big time and many players were struggling with their serve (most notably Zverev will discuss later). Jabeur had a good morning session at P1 (practice court 1). She was practicing with a male player, and I was told she had a later session at Arthur Ashe. Some of the early birds in the practice sessions included Kasatkina and Medvedev. He was at Arthur Ashe early. He did later go to Practice court 1 and I saw him sign for many kids. The intelligent players already had pre-signed balls and just gave them to people.
Rumor was that Badosa was going to practice with Stefanos but she practiced with his brother Petros at Louis Armstrong. This was one of the better practices of the day.
There weren't many errors and they played at a decent pace. Badosa seemed the most relaxed out of most players often dancing to the music on the speakers (R&B). Petros showed good hands with his net play and Badosa sweated up a storm and she spoke about dealing and overcoming the stress fracture and she feels that the USO environment will help her comeback. It was a mere coincidence that I bumped into her as she was exiting the premises as she was signing for a family, and I got a fist pump and made her giggle with a quick Spanish joke.
Some other players that practiced today included Speed Demon, Rublev-Karatsev, and Zverev-Rune. I saw the entire Rublev-Karatsav session and Zverev did his first
session at P5 at 4Pm and later came to P1 to Practice with Rune. The Rublev and Karatsev session was very solid and both teams greeted each other like family. This wasn't the same with Zverev and Rune with Patrick and Zverev's dad keeping a good distance. Zverev was the only player I saw today who slammed a racquet during practice (what a shock?). Zverev also kept shaking his head and appeared irked as his dad was with him. His practice with Rune was intense but I caught only 45 minutes as I have to work tomorrow unlike some of the tourists who have the week off. Wawrinka-Ruud were the last major practice i believe at Arthur Ashe. Using Opera Glasses helps in seeing all the practice courts closely at once.
I won't mention the sensitive info that I know about the USO, but they need to train their employees better. Rude spectators it something you can't always control, but the staff screaming at people for trivial matters because they want to make more room in the practice courts needs to handle with better tone. Of course, this isn't DIsney World where guests are treated like family but they can do better. I also took offense about admonishing people "that nobody can hold your seat", well the USO had numerous problems in the past and former Mayor Dinkins and New Yawkers bailed them out as they were going to leave. There were issues with the planes in Laguardia airport and the re-routing of the planes with the eventual change from Forrest Hills to Flushing Meadows. FWIW, maybe one day the YEC comes back to Madison Square Garden or gets a new temporary home at Barclay Center.
