Well, here we are… at the brink of “week two” at the US Open… We are at the round of sixteen.. How delightful… and how did that happen… oh right, no rain delays… No major hurricanes in the south… kind of boring, really… I am not happy without a moment of a trailer park going up into a cyclone of some kind… you know… they don’t just recycle cans, they recycle dreams…

Now the tennis has been interesting… women are now clashing with the seeds and it is getting CRAZY out there… and the boys are meeting a seed or a person who beat a seed… or they beat someone who beat a seed… you understand… and if you don’t, sheesh… what a delight you are… Let’s start with the Men… because, just get it out of the way…

Zverev finally gets a game he can handle straight through against #25 Tabilo of Chile… eh, he has a better clay court game… but, not a bad run at the US Open for Mr. Sea Bass… Darderi made quick work of Sweeny of Australia in straight sets… Gea, who replaced Ruud ousted a very competitive and allegedly smart Zheng of the USA… Zheng played at Columbia… yes, I saw those eyebrows raise… Tommy Paul could NEVER… he was too busy trying to get his truck out of repo… van de Zandschulp is a winner over #31 Bergs of Belgium… five sets… looked like a good match up to me… both players really working hard for each point in four and a half hours… Khachanov over Bonzi of France in straight sets… Tien ousts #17 Mensik in a five set 3 hour and 24 minute match… I am sure no one was disappointed in that match other than the man from Czechia… Cerundolo takes out #9 Fritz of the USA… I did see an article in which the American stated he needed to serve better to have won the match… Really Einstein? you think? You served at 53% first serve in and that is your reflection on the match… great job… I am sure that took a lot of maths to work out… bye felicia… yeah, you don’t even get a capitol “F” for that… Blockx takes out the Italian #5 Cobolli in four sets… eeek… I know that Blockx has some talent… I thought he would break out at Roland Garros… but no, he has to delay his growth for the US Open… Merde… Medvedev… who are YOU… I thought you were going to go and play some pickleball for awhile… join up with Jack Sock and have a party… which is a deep dig at pickleball and that culture… Medvedev doesn’t know when to stop… but straight sets over #26 Rinderknech of France… and speaking of cousins… #22 Vacherot of Monte Carlo is out to Tiafoe in straight sets… Michelsen over Merida of Spain… Etcheverry over Navone of Argentina… they are both from Argentina… remember that Navone beat both Djokovic and Berrettini… Shelton in four over Shapovalov of Canada… Tsitsipas has a resurgence and takes down #18 Lehecka of Czechia… to me this is the biggest surprise… he has been down and out… I think I am going to definitely watch this match with Shelton… I haven’t seen Tsitsipas successful in a bit… so, buckle up… #15 Bublik of Kazakhstan aka Russia loses to Paul… he has his truck back and does a comeback of 1 set to 2 and wins in 5… Alcaraz… still here… his win over Wu of China was impressive… I don’t think that Alcaraz is at 100%, but it doesn’t seem to matter… He can take 10 – 15 miles off his strikes and still win with ease… <shrug shoulders emoji>

The ladies… oh, so many great matches and match-ups… and more to come… Sabalenka ousts Rakhimova of Uzbekistan aka Russia in straight sets… Do you see a theme here? They are all abandoning Mother Russia and the Tsarina (#$(&)… Seriously… Potapova to Austria… Kasatkina to Australia… the others to Kazakhstan… It doesn’t take a brain surgeon, right Fritz? Idiots… Townsend downs the warmonger (#15 Shnaider)… tee-hee-hee… Kostyuk over #18 Alexandrova in straight sets… Noskova needed three to get past #29 Li of the US… Pegula also needed three to get past the feisty #31 Fernandez… she is so intense… Cirstea over #19 Paolini of Italy… Kalinskaya over #9 Svitolina in three… eek… there goes a bracket or, well all of them… kidding, a couple of you had the Russian through here… but no one had Navarro over #7 Muchova of Czechia… Muchova seems to be a commentator favorite to watch play… Andreeva over Bartunkova of Czechia in straight sets… Potapova over #10 Anisimova and last year’s runner-up… it was a bit tight at the end but the new Austrian took out the American in two sets… Match of the day goes to Jovic ousting #17 Eala of the Philippines… now, there is a LOT of controversy surrounding the fans of Eala… They are screaming out at times that are not usually allowed… in between first and second serves… I am sure you all know that I am a big fan of following etiquette… yes… Eric & Rob are likely the most familiar… lucky them… but, just see what other people are doing, and mimic that… it isn’t too difficult… really, it isn’t… this isn’t football or baseball… it is tennis… the match was fantastic… neither one giving an inch to the other… Gauff ousts Busca of Spain in two… Swiatek needed two tiebreakers to get #25 Bouzkova of Czechia out of the tournament… Zheng takes out #22 Keys of the United States… this was gutsy… and took a lot of energy… down 2-5 in the third and rang off 5 games in a row to take the third 7-5… Osaka, through pain and torment, takes down #23 Mertens of Belgium… twenty minutes shy of three hours… but… a win for Osaka… the person not the City… please… Rybaknia takes out Stardubtseva in straight sets… I thought the Ukrainian player was going to pull that first set out… but no, it wasn’t to be… too many little errors and home she goes…

For YOU… things are heating up… the men’s draw is basically a mess… but… while Kelly is still leading, Tim is right there… Eric & James P have also entered the competition… Denise is hanging on by a thread… and Kresimir and Dan haven’t even crossed the 100 point threshold… Don’t even say we deserve it… I hear the cackling… Eric has pulled out in front of the women’s draw and although Rob is second, Dan is closing in… Eric had 13 of the 16 correct… that is pretty impressive… tips hat in your general direction…

Men’s Draw

(Bold underline – Champ; Bold – Runner-up; Italicized Semifinalist; nothing – quarterfinalist)

Name	Points	Quarterfinalists Left
Kelly	108	Alcaraz / Zverev / Medvedev
Tim	107	Zverev / Alcaraz / Tien / Tiafoe / Shelton
Eric	105	Alcaraz / Zverev / Tiafoe / Paul
Denise	104	Alcaraz / Zverev / Tiafoe / Shelton
James P	104	Zverev / Alcaraz / Medvedev / Shelton
Rob	100	Zverev / Alcaraz / Medvedev / Shelton
Kresimir	96	Shelton / Zverev / Tiafoe / Paul
Dan	88	Zverev / Shelton

Women’s Draw

(Bold underline – Champ; Bold – Runner-up; Italicized Semifinalist; regular script – quarterfinalist)

Name	Points	Quarterfinalists Left
Eric	135	Sabalenka / Gauff / Pegula / Rybakina / Noskova / Andreeva / Swiatek
Rob	129	Sabalenka / Gauff / Pegula / Rybakina / Noskova / Andreeva / Swiatek
Dan	122	Gauff / Pegula / Sabalenka / Swiatek / Kostyuk / Rybakina
James P	120	Sabalenka / Pegula / Osaka / Kostyuk
Kelly	120	Sabalenka / Gauff / Pegula / Rybakina / Noskova / Andreeva / Swiatek
Tim	117	Pegula / Rybakina/ Gauff / Kostyuk / Swiatek
Kresimir	117	Gauff / Kostyuk / Pegula / Swiatek / Sabalenka/ Andreeva / Osaka
Denise	113	Gauff / Pegula / Sabalenka / Rybakina / Noskova / Andreeva / Swiatek

I hope that makes sense… and helps you understand where you are and where you are going… as well as the others… In the women’s draw… it would appear that Rob & Eric have all the same picks through the rest of the tournament… So Rob, you cannot beat Eric #sorrynotsorry… and almost anyone can beat you if the picks go right… so, maybe you will be miserable last… <another shoulder shrug emoji)… I don’t have the bandwidth to figure out the men’s draw… too many variables… and it is looking like Kresimir and Dan are going to hold hands at the bottom while the darkness closes in… but… If Shelton pulls this out… Kresimir could rise up… and no, I am not going to take you with me… That is about the size of it… Enjoy the round of 16 in each draw…

The Commish!