Jasmine Paolini (ITA) World Rank #8 takes on Maria Sakkari (GRE) World Rank #65 on Center Court on this day. Paolini was victorious in straight sets with a score of 7-6 7-6.
Sakkari with the serve….
Paolini waiting patiently.
There’s the return.
One more for the road.
I’ll be honest, when I first saw these pictures I had no idea who was playing in this match. I don’t particularly know Sofia Kenin (USA) world rank #29 or Varvara Grachevka (FRA) world rank #103. There aren’t a lot of pictures, so I must not have been there very long. Maybe the heat was getting to me?
Sofia Kenin (above)
Grachevka with a serve.
Fault!
Not…. a fault.
Daniil Medvedev (Voldemort) ATP Rank #13 taking on Adam Walton (USA) ATP Rank #85 should have been a slam dunk for Medvedev. If you are asking who Adam Walton is, I asked the same question. However, Medvedev appeared to be struggling not only with the excessive heat but also with his game and lost in 3 sets. Fun fact: Medvedev’s coach was sitting three rows in front of us on the Champions’ Court and every time he started yelling at his coach it felt like he was yelling at us because that is where he was focusing his attention. I felt bad for his loss because I really like Medvedev, hopefully he will return to form sometime in the near future.
We’re going to start off with Walton’s serve. Interestingly enough, his eyes always seem to bug out like that when he serves.
The Medvedev serve….
Walton with the return volley.
No shirt, ice towel on his head…. this is how he spent the changeovers. I was jealous.
I like both of these pictures of Walton, good action shots.
How about a close-up?
Daniil in a full sprint to the ball.
I’ll close out with the last pictures here, lots of pictures…. loved being able to see him play in person.
This was a fun match to watch a bit of if I may say so myself. Alex De Minaur (AUS) ATP Rank #8 took on Reilly Opelka (USA) ATP Rank #73 in the Grandstand. There wasn’t a huge turnout for this match, at least while I was there, but it was fun nevertheless. As I post this, De Minaur is making a deep run at the U.S. Open and Opelka has length, you can’t teach that, and a huge serve.
De Minaur and his serve.
Opelka and his big serve.
The aftermath of that big serve but can he stick the landing?
De Minaur with the return.
Opelka winds up for the return!
De Minaur on the stretchout…
I don’t think that De Minaur is short but Opelka is tall. Really tall.
After leaving the Sinner practice session, I wandered to the Champions Court nearby and popped into this match for a little while. Veronika Kudermetova (Voldemort) WTA Rank #36 pulled off an upset against Belinda Bencic (SUI) WTA Rank #19 in straight sets.
I spent time at my second practice session of the day seeing Maya Joint. I even managed to get an autograph after the session.
Caroline Garcia (FRA) could not get past Karolina Muchova (CZE) WTA Rank #14 despite both sets going to tiebreakers on Center Court.
Garcia (on left) and Muchova (on right) display their serving prowess.
Garcia levitates while hitting a return.
Muchova waiting for a serve.
Garcia carefully examining a selection of balls prior to the serve.
Garcia on the run, chasing down a return.
Muchova practicing for take-off.
While in Cincinatti, we did not see Jannik Sinner play a match but I did go watch his practice session for a while. The stands were packed with people to see the #1 player in the world from Italy practice.
Jannik, look out!
I know this one isn’t as good as the Jasmine Paolini picture but I’m happy with it. Thanks for looking!
On Day 6 of the tournament we had Center Court seats and saw Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), ATP Rank #2, defeat Damir Dzumhur (BIH), ATP Rank #56, in three sets. This set is going to be a little different as I’ve got a couple of sequential shots that I want to use because, well, it’s Alcaraz. On to the fun!
Let’s start off with Dzumhur getting ready to serve…
Alcaraz waiting for the ball to return to Earth for his serve.
Dzumhur with the return…
Here’s the first of the Alcaraz sequences:
Let’s go ahead and give the second one:
Nice, there we go.
I think seeing the shadow of the ball on the racquet is cool in this one.
One more serve….
Boop!
Finally…. what do you look like when you win? Probably something like this
This match at the Grandstand Court features Francis Tiafoe (USA) ranked #14 in the world takes on Roberto Carbelles Baena (ESP) ranked #87. One of the nice things about the Grandstand, as a venue, is that only part of the seats are sold in advance. The tickets on both levels, around the ends, are sold but the upper level seating on the sides is first-come, first serve so you can wander in there and if you can find a seat then it is yours. That is what I did for this match. It was fun to see the man I call “Big Toe” for a couple of games.
Tiafoe with the serve.
Eye on the ball…. wait for it…..
Carabelles Baena with a nice return.
He looks so happy to be returning the ball.
Carbellas Baena slides into action!
Batter up!
Choosing which balls to use is a big deal for a player.
Carbelles Baena ready to serve!
Tiafoe going airborne for this one!
The Matlock Report 