[wildemu]

I saw him play copil, garcia lopez, and a little bit of nieminen. I think he made a pact with the devil because this was just an uncappable performance tonight. He was so much worse in the other matches, and he served like a god tonight.

I am stunned by what i just saw, felt pretty confident with nishikori. No percentage/statistic/watching analysis led me to believe he would serve and hit the bh like that tpmoght, it's been a year (last AO) since he pulled out that form.

S h i t i hate this sport sometimes.

[EmpireMaker]

Stan played like a Champion today.

[SirtySree]

Wawrinka is usually a 50% 1st serve guy and 60% on a good day. Today I swear he was close to 70% and hardly missed a backhand.

That's the thing about Wawrinka though, he has the ability to turn it up even when he wasn't playing great previous rounds. I mentioned before he is possibly the only player to be able to turn up a gear for a whole 5 sets whereas others usually only play above their norm for a set or set and a half at the most.

[EaglesPhan36]

It's what the best can do if they want. There's two school of thoughts about early rounds. Expend energy, try to smoke everyone quick and get rest. Or expend less energy knowing you're better and you're likely going to win even if it means a little extra court time. You save that energy for the matches you know you're going to need it, like this one.

[wildemu]

Wawrinka is usually a 50% 1st serve guy and 60% on a good day. Today I swear he was close to 70% and hardly missed a backhand.

That's the thing about Wawrinka though, he has the ability to turn it up even when he wasn't playing great previous rounds. I mentioned before he is possibly the only player to be able to turn up a gear for a whole 5 sets whereas others usually only play above their norm for a set or set and a half at the most.

It is very true, he flipped the switch. Kei wasn't perfect in the earlier rounds, but he really played better tennis from stan as a whole this tournament. He had to be perfect to even stand a chance against this wawrinka.

He ended around 63% but it's deceiving. He missed all of his serves on 40-15, 30-0, 40-0. But when it was 40-30, deuce, 30-40... he just freaking bombed every serve in. Kei didn't have one good look at a second serve in any of those situations.

I feel like I got punched in the gut, and am definitely not touching his semi.

[wildemu]

It's what the best can do if they want. There's two school of thoughts about early rounds. Expend energy, try to smoke everyone quick and get rest. Or expend less energy knowing you're better and you're likely going to win even if it means a little extra court time. You save that energy for the matches you know you're going to need it, like this one.

yea but he was in serious trouble against garcia lopez if not for the choke. He was a lot worse than whatever he displayed tonight. It's like you guys suggest, he had this play in his back pocket and could pull it out when he felt like it.

I can't cap that...

[EaglesPhan36]

Well he also admitted in that one that he turned the jets off in the 3rd and had a hard time getting pumped back up. Goes back to the whole energy conversation. He was up 2-0 and a break, cruising and should have just kept pushing instead of coasting. Cost him a set and almost a lot more.

Tonight, I think he kept his level up pretty high for 2.5 sets with just some slight letdown at moments in the 3rd. TB I think he just got tight at the end for whatever reason, nothing more.

[jtoler]

Wawrinka shows this level from time to time, he's show it in the US Open before and other tourneys like Chennai which he loves, pros will tell you they dont pay attention to stats of other players during tourneys, its meaningless alot of times, thing is the players practice in between matches and get into form even more. Ive seen players have great stats, serve etc. and the next match they cant do anything and vice versa, its one of the reasons head scratching upsets happen, tennis is a fickle sport I tell ya.

[FoxMulder]

He's been playing well since Chennai. This is Stan though, you'll never know when he penetrates up and he usually penetrates up when least expected

[poet]

He could have dome this at the USO (after winning the 1st set) when I had more than a grand on him. Instead, he sat back and played passive tennis, hoping Nish would self-destruct or run out of gas. What a mistake that was.

[kenz]

I watched highlights from youtube Stan against Copil, Nishi vs Dodig and Nishi vs Ferrer. Then I changed my mind from Nishi ML to Wawa +3 @1.80. I dont know what you watched

[Snowball]

Stan nailed the exact areas of the court that Nish is weakest in. Especially on serve he
was winning almost 100% serves on the right side to Kei's forehand.
I think he is getting advice from RF on opponents.. check his cell phone records.

[wildemu]

I watched highlights from youtube Stan against Copil, Nishi vs Dodig and Nishi vs Ferrer. Then I changed my mind from Nishi ML to Wawa +3 @1.80. I dont know what you watched

You just watched highlights...of course they are going to pick the best parts of the matches. It was more about the body of work. Congrats, it worked for you this time.

[thecutter]

Oil base test is amazing isn't it

[thecutter]

But on a serious note he's pushed himself into legit conversation for a repeat. I think Stan is hungry for a more proper win after nadal getting "hurt" took away from his big moment last year

[jtoler]

I watched highlights from youtube Stan against Copil, Nishi vs Dodig and Nishi vs Ferrer. Then I changed my mind from Nishi ML to Wawa +3 @1.80. I dont know what you watched

Highlights, you can't be serious.

[w@lt]

But on a serious note he's pushed himself into legit conversation for a repeat. I think Stan is hungry for a more proper win after nadal getting "hurt" took away from his big moment last year

+975

[kenz]

Highlights, you can't be serious.

Dead serious. 10 minute highlights for each game. Wawa looked very explosive/powerful to me. Crazy BH winners against Copil who played very well too. while Nishi was passive and not impressive against Dodig and Ferrer .I had watched their US Open clash live, Wawa was passive and could not win points from baseline still he voided an imaginary +3 there.Was not too hard to make the decision

[MCherry281]

It will be interesting to see which Stan comes out to play Djoker. The absolute beast on serve and laser beam backhands vs Nish or the much less powerful guy from the earlier rounds that tricked me into thinking he was injured. I will probably play over 38, sleep, and hope for the best. If Stan from early rounds comes out he gets destroyed. If the beast returns I think it's going 5 sets and Stan might win.

[wildemu]

I rarely touch his matches because I think he is a nutcase and I usually get his matches wrong. He decides to play whatever he feels like that day.


It would not surprise me if he goes back to the earlier tournament form and shits the bed against novak with errors.

It would not surprise me if he blasts novak off the court and serves like a god again to take it in 4 or 5.

I don't even feel like watching that semi after that FU performance he gave in the QF

[jtoler]

Dead serious. 10 minute highlights for each game. Wawa looked very explosive/powerful to me. Crazy BH winners against Copil who played very well too. while Nishi was passive and not impressive against Dodig and Ferrer .I had watched their US Open clash live, Wawa was passive and could not win points from baseline still he voided an imaginary +3 there.Was not too hard to make the decision

10 mintute highlights from each game? Perhaps you mean set, still I couldnt be convinced by watching highlights of any match, it worked out for you this time. Murray played aggressively against Dimitrov and if one watched highlights of that theyed probably think he would have destroyed Krygios, but Murray reverted back to his natural defensive self in that match and got a push on the spread, luckily for him Krygios is still green and not consistent enough on his groundstrokes so it didnt matter much. Just dont think watching highlights is a good indication of determining form, JMO.

[kenz]

I would love to watch the game live but I cant. Extended highlights are my only option

[jtoler]

I would love to watch the game live but I cant. Extended highlights are my only option

Try live stream bro, can also catch replays of full matches.