A preview of Week 2 of the American Slam. The women’s draw – Williams, Osaka, or someone else? Djokovic and his new Professional Tennis Players Association. Steve talks a little more about his outstanding new book on Pete Sampras.
While far apart and unable to record their traditional end-of-the-day recaps, Ubitennis’s Ubaldo Scanagatta and his colleague and Hall-of-Famer Steve Flink set up a telematic rendezvous to discuss the first week of the 2020 US Open, and to speculate on what will happen next. Here’s their chat:
VIDEO SCHEDULE
00:00 – Steve Flink says a little more about his new book, “Pete Sampras. Greatness revisited”, which was published on September 1.
02:30 – Flink on Djokovic: “He’s a perfectionist, against Struff he was almost flawless.” For Ubaldo and Steve, Djokovic is the big favourite of the tournament.
04:35 – Shapovalov vs Goffin to book a showdown with the Serbian: “Very interesting match.”
06:40 – For the first time since 2001 two Australians reached the fourth round – De Minaur and Thompson. Coric’s great comeback against Tsitsipas: “There was a lot of on-court tension…”
09:00 – Ubaldo’s recollection of the match between Vilas and Orantes, the 1975 US Open semifinal at Forest Hills, discussed in another one of Steve’s books, “The greatest tennis matches of all time”.
11:45 – Zverev vs Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard is the Cinderella Story so far. Flink: “It is difficult to make predictions on Zverev. He hasn’t impressed me so far…”
13:30 – Berrettini vs Rublev. Ubaldo: “Matteo held his serve 45 times in a row and is yet to be broken.” Flink: “Rublev is a tough one”. Does the Russian have the solidity to avenge his defeat from last year?
17:00 – Tiafoe vs Medvedev – how tough of a match-up can the American be for last year’s finalist?
18:30 – Pospisil vs De Minaur: “Nobody thought Pospisil would beat Bautista Agut, he has his chances…”
20:50 – “Félix Auger-Aliassime is playing the best tennis of his life!” The rise of Canadian tennis.
22:30 – Djokovic and the PTPA: “It’s not true that they don’t want women on board. Even if Federer and Nadal disagree, it was clear that something was wrong…”
25:10 – “The players only get a small fraction of the revenues from the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000. It’s unfair they are the ones who create the show, so that they ask for more money.”
29:50 – Ubaldo: “I am surprised by the reaction of Federer and Nadal…” Flink: “This has nothing to do with the big guys, it’s about protecting the players with a lower ranking.”
32 – “Who would be easier to talk into this – Gaudenzi, Federer or Nadal?”. Ubaldo on Gaudenzi: “I was disappointed that he didn’t go to the US, since he also has responsibilities”.
36:40 – The women’s draw: “If Kerber wins the next match, she becomes a serious contender for the title!”
39:25 – Osaka and Kvitova – who has looked like a potential winner so far?
41:30 – Williams Vs Sakkari.”Serena will want to exact revenge from last week. However, …”
46:00 – Flink on Azarenka: “Looks like old Vika, she might have a shot.” Mothers who have won Majors.
Transcript by Andrea Canella, edited by Tommaso Villa
