kenneth in the (212): Weekend Tennis Roundup

Monday, August 23, 2021

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Alexander Zverev and Ash Barty must be considered favorites going into the U.S. Open after winning the Western & Southern Open on Sunday. Full report from Cincy plus lots of leggy tennis players BELOW.

Which Novak Djokovic will we see in the Big Apple?

Alexander Zverev completed his dominant week at the Western & Southern Open Sunday by cruising past Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 to lift his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title and become the first German champion in Cincinnati since Boris Becker in 1985. Most notable was his semifinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsispas, where the Greek choker blew a two-break lead in the third set after stirring up lots of controversy with a mysterious bathroom break during which Alex accused him of cellphone communication on the crapper.

Another No. 1 performance for Ash Barty, who didn't lose a set en route to the Cincinnati title, capping off her flawless run with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jil Teichmann in Sunday's final. Barty defeated three major champions along the way in Victoria Azarenka, Barbora Krejcikova, and Angelique Kerber, which was nearly as noteworthy as her Swiss victim, who took out Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova en route to her first big final.

Marcel Granollers, of Spain, and Horacio Zeballos, of Argentina captured the men's doubles crown, defeating Americans Steve Johnson and Austin Krajicek, 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

My favorite Zverev (far right)

Diego Schwartzman turned 29 on the 16th

And getting hammered and then felt up by Casper Ruud was quite the present

Andreas Mies returned to the tour just in time to turn 31

After being one point away from beating Luca Pouille in the Winston-Salem Open quallies, Noah Rubin lost -- only to come back an hour later to play Andy Murray as a lucky loser when Nick Kyrgios bowed out at the 11th hour.

He didn't have much to give, but he did look like this.

Reilly Opelka and his pink tote bag weren't as successful this week in Cincinnati

Tommy Paul and his sunglasses

Raise your hand if you prefer Sam Groth bigger

Here's hoping Fernando Verdasco was grooming Lorenzo Musetti

Tobias Simon says

To be the guy working on Pospisil's gams

Twitching with Mikael Torpegaard

The return of Ryan Harrison?

Corentin Moutet's lower body won Cincinnati

Benoit Paire actually tried this week in Cincinnati -- and it got him to the quarters of a Masters 1000 event

J.J. Wolf is ready for NYC

But he needs to learn the difference between Ons Jabeur and Pebbles

Taylor Fritz is going back to basics

Matteo Berrettini's divine hammer

Cam Norrie flaunts it

Albano Olivetti's in love

LaCoste picked a winner

Coming this fall: Scarecrow and Mr. Brooksby

Hot couple alert: Luca Pouille and Arthur Rinderknech

With the way I follow him, you'd never guess Thomas Fabbiano is ranked No. 213 in the world

Who wannts Matt Ebden to eat their pocket?

Borna Coric surprised no one by pulling out of the U.S. Open

Dave Pfister

Christian Harrison knows how to pick 'em

Except when he doesn't ...

What Would Kenneth Do ... if he spotted Nikola Mektic on the streets of Manhattan?

Ditto for Liam Broady

or these boys

Haroon: Guess who I ran into at JFK baggage claim…(clue: his shirt may give it away)

Marcelo Demoliner and his cute friend

Miomir Kecmanovic ...

and Filip in the same gym

Denis Shapovalov: Got ass?

German hunk Daniel Altmaier edged past Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the final of the inaugural Platzmann-Sauerland Open in Lüdenscheid, Germany, on Sunday, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3.

In doubles, Ivan and Matej Sabanov of Crotia narrowly edged Denys Molchanov from the Ukraine and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan 6-4, 2-6, 12-10.

Marius Copil's body is ranked much higher than his tennis (228!)

David Vega Hernandez takes Paris

Danish teenager Holger Rune claimed his third ATP Challenger title, defeating Nino Serdarusic 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday's singles final of the inaugural Internazionali Di Tennis Verona in Tuscany, Italy.