Weekend Tennis Roundup

Although I am taking the Labor Day holiday off from blogging -- I have to work at my "day" job, so it's the least I could do for myself -- I did want to do a photo dump from our day at the U.S. Open. After years of buying tickets for Ashe Stadium -- where you only see two matches -- Damian and I have opted for grounds passes the last few times we have visited the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and once again it's paid dividends, as you can see BELOW.

It was nice to finally see Tommy Paul in the flesh ...

And that the young American agreed to this photo told me his restraining order was never approved

Was great to see Matteo Berrettini again -- even if he wasn't wearing his see-through shorts this time. 

Corentin Moutet took him to four sets, but really never seemed like much of a threat. 

At least the hunky Frenchman has his rap career  to fall back on 

Karolina Pliskova looked very intimidating on the practice court, towering over her hot husband

Jack Sock was looking strong as he took out Alexander Bublik. The American then seemed like he had a real chance against Alexander Zverev before a groin injury ended his run

Damian wasted no time moving in on David O'Hare, who I like to think of as his other Irish boyfriend. The doubles specialist was there coaching Mitchell Krueger, who we also saw in action.

Damian also noticed O'Hare chatting with Max Schnur ...

whom we also spotted at Wimbledon (above)

We were witness to one stunning upset, when top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia -- who were riding high off their Olympic gold medal and eight titles including Wimbledon -- fell to American wild cards Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, 6-2, 7-5. 

Jackson Withrow

Nikola Mektic

Nathaniel Lammons

Damian recognized Withrow from his days playing with Jack Sock, but I only had eyes for Lammons, who might just be the hottest man on tour.

Damian and I offered to console them but ...

I noticed Pavic's former doubles partner Oliver Marach nearby

Got to see adorable Matt Ebden play some doubles

Later, Bianca Andreescu looked very scratchy against Lauren Davis. But she survived -- and Damian and I actually wound up on the big screen in Louis Armstrong during the match!

We also caught a lot of Jenson Brooksby's upset of Taylor Fritz. The match was described as a "four-hour war of blazing winners, crazy tiebreakers and one around-the-netpost miracle." But more than anything it just made me think Taylor either isn't dedicated enough to his training or maybe just doesn't have what it takes to take his career to the next level. 

(A friend pointed out the department store heir has failed to advance to the second week in 22 straight majors.) 

Denis Kudla vs. Oscar Otte was a bit of a Sophie's choice for me ...

But that Oscar won and has followed it up -- the German now faces Berrettini in the round of 16 -- made the outcome seem justified

I got distracted watching Frances Tiafoe play doubles with Nic Monroe

We saw Alex Zverev being interviewed outside the media center

Dusan Lajovic put on a little show for us on an outer court

Looking for Ponce de León 

Frances marched into the round of 16 ...

before coming up short against Felix Auger Aliassime

Hot ballboy alert

Great seeing the Pride flag on display 

Stefanos Tsitsipas went home early ...

But not before his physio, Lefebvre Frédéric, gave us a Manspread Monday moment

Flushing Meadows After Dark

We saw Marton Fucsovics coming off after losing his doubles match. He was even hotter than on TV so we lost our nerve to say anything! 

Note to fellow tennis fans: If you ever get the chance to go to the U.S. Open, do it. It's one of the few events that allows you such intimate access to the athletes, whom you will see walking around among the mere mortals.

And now for some photos we didn't take ...

If you're watching, you know that 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez upset Naomi Osaka and then followed it up by beating Angie Kerber. And that 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz took out Stefanos Tsitsipas and followed it up with a win over Peter Gojowczyk. I've been watching tennis for over 40 years and I must say these wins were some of the most exciting stuff I have ever seen. 

Former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro has arrived in NYC to take in some of the action

Ben Bonzi is the champion in Saint-Tropez, claiming a tour-leading fourth ATP Challenger 🏆 of 2021! This time he beat No. 2 seed Christopher O'Connell when the Aussie retired after splitting sets.

Poor Neal Skupski's doubles run ended when Jack Sock got injured

Andreas Mies is back in action, and though Kevin Krawietz isn't playing with him, Mies definitely has a type

Julian Knowle puts the meat in a Kevin and Horia Tecau sandwich

Karen Khachanov in the wild

Jenson and his pretty hair will face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals 

Reilly Opelka, who faces Lloyd Harris in the round of 16, had some fun with the officials after getting fined $10,000 for having a logo on his tote bag that was too big

Dave Pfister has it, flaunts

Jonny O'Mara is having a good run

Tom Hill -- Maria Sakkari's coach -- and a coffee buddy

Steven Goldstein and Jan-Michael Gambill

Stanford stud Tristan Boyer

Andres Molteni: Another day, another hot Argentine 

An early exit gave Tommy more time to party

I finally met him, but wasn't able to pull this off

Former Wake Forest stud Eduardo Nava and friend

Steve Nash, maybe. I guess Vasek is a legend in the Body Department

Another Jan-Mike sighting

Sam Groth is daddy

At least Stan Wawrinka looks fetching during his futile comeback attempt

Albano Olivetti and his hot friend Santiago Franchini of ... you guessed it, Argentina

Remind me to never fall asleep in front of Vasek Pospisil ...

The beautiful David Vega Hernandez

Benjamin Lock 

Is Jan-Mike getting closer to joining the cause?

Kudos to Vasek for this photo of Vincent Millot

At least Taylor's pretty

Andreas takes Manhattan

German engineering

When Vasek thinks you're a beast ...

JMG at Suicide Point

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had the hottest injury to date 

And last but not least: I don't claim to understand the heterosexual lifestyle -- from what I've seen, relationships revolve around the woman speaking baby talk and asking the man if he's "mad" at her while the man has no interest in anything the woman says or does. But here's hoping J.J. Wolf and his cute girlfriend have it figured out.