Torque

Raonic has no chance at the US Open - not unless the draw opens up like it did for Bartoli at Wimbledon years ago and even then I wouldn't want to rely on him. When it comes to the crunch moments he just can't seem to get it done, even with something as potent as his serve to help him. Against Djokovic just now he won the first set for the loss of just one game having broken Djokovic twice - that takes some doing as Raonic is poor on return and it's likely the only reason he managed it was because Djokovic was injured or ill or distracted or whatever and he still couldn't get over the line and win.
He had Djokovic on the ropes at 15-30 early in the second set and didn't convert which is fair enough, then in his next service game he lost three points in a row from 40-30 to get broken and that was the second set done. He did well to go a break ahead right at the start of the third, but to lose seven points in a row on serve and go from a break up to a break down just isn't good enough at the highest level where the margins between success and failure can be wafer thin. If Isner got a break up on Djokovic in the final set of a match I'm pretty sure he would close it out and that's the difference between a big server who is able to maximise his talents and Raonic unfortunately.

..and right on cue, Milos being Milos.

I backed Raonic for a couple of years, for Wimbledon, expecting big performances. But he's a mental midget against the top players. 
Its good to see him recover from his injury problems, but I doubt his game will return to his best levels from a few years ago.
The US Open will be interesting for Raonic and many other players because of the much weaker field, but only if someone can take out Novak first.
 

Well, we are getting a Grand Slam after all – and chances are that we’re going to get another one soon after as well!
Looking at the US Open, it’s hard to be confident with one’s bets when it comes to those players that haven’t played since the coronavirus break and there’s certainly a case to be made for staying away from the first round in many match-us. I’ll be in the action, though, so let’s take a look at some of the matches.
Outright-wise, Djokovic is the big favourite in the men’s draw and that’s obviously right for many reasons. We did see him struggle in the warm-up event though and I don’t want to back him at this sort of odds no matter what. I liked Raonic, though, and I’ll be backing him to win his quarter.
On the women’s side of things, the bookmakers know that Williams isn’t such a big favourite as the media are making her out to be and there’s not much that I like honestly. Osaka has been surprising me lately with how good she is, but getting back-to-back events in such a short time frame will be tough. She’s also withdrawn from the finals as I’m writing this, so there’s that.
Now for the matches – I might add a few more later on, but, for now, I’ve got theses ones lined up. First, I’ve got Feliciano Lopez to win against Carballes Baena. The latter was pretty average on clay in Europe and the conditions in this US Open are quick enough to give Lopez a good advantage, especially given that he’s kept himself in some for during the coronavirus break. I’m taking the set handicap, as I’d reckon that RCB will win if he drags the match on and on.
Next, I’ve got Dennis Novak beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for largely the same reasons. Novak can be great in quick conditions, Fokina can’t – and he’s also been disappointing me for quite some time now. I had him down as a big talent, but he’s been struggling to establish himself on the main tour.
Then, I like Corentin Moutet to beat the underperforming Jiri Vesely. Vesely has some wins under his belt and that’s fine, but not against the level of Moutet and the Frenchman has been keeping himself busy on hard in the off-season against top-class players, which should do him a world of good here.
I also like the odds for Bedene to beat Ruusuvuori, as I liked his performances in New York before that and especially his win over Fritz. That was a long match in which he stayed collected throughout and was serving really well.
And, as a small double, I’ll be taking Christian Garin to beat Ulises Blanch together with Ricardas Bernakis to beat Federico Gaio. Both are way better and have played on hard recently.
On the women’s side of things, I’ve got Pera to beat Diyas. She’s been the surprise package for me since the restart and she even has mental resilience after facing Serena and doing well, while Diyas has played just a single match against Li and lost with no resistance whatsoever.
I also like Golubic to beat Lapko. She’s got a good game for faster conditions and she has one of the better serves on the WTA, if that can be even said. Moreover, Lapko hasn’t played since March and has just three wins this year against poor players. Golubic has been keeping herself busy, on the other hand, and can make an impact here.
Milos Raonic to win the 4th quarter at 5.50 with Unibet
Feliciano Lopez (-1.5 sets) to beat Roberto Carballes Baena at 2.07 with Sbobet
Dennis Novak (-1.5 sets) to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at 2.03 with Sbobet
Corentin Moutet to beat Jiri Vesely at 1.74 with Pinnacle
Aljaz Bedene to beat Emil Ruusuvuori at 1.84 with Pinnacle
Christian Garin (vs. Blanch) + Ricardas Berankis (vs. Gaio) at 1.70 with Bet365
Bernarda Pera (-3.5) to beat Zarina Diyas at 1.84 with Pinnacle
Viktorija Golubic (-3.5) to beat Vera Lapko at 1.86 with Pinnacle

Novak was given a soft draw. Isner could be a possible problem in R4 and then Tsitsipas in semifinal. Other part of draw is way trickier.

"The new Laykold courts have a Court Pace Rating (CPR) of ~ 43. A CPR between 40 and 44 is “medium fast,” while a 45 CPR is “fast.”. https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/SB-Blogs/SBJ-Unpacks/2020/08/26.aspx  
 
 

The draws are out
 
 

Darts makes no sense sometimes. Anderson loses 7-1 and loses 15pts of his last match average. Ofcourse he does. Luckily Smith did the job and so did Peter Wright. Rather annoyingly I was going to singularly tip up Durrant too but i put it in the accy instead but a small profit of 2.5pts lastnight.
Despite Gurney winning lastnight I think Wright beats him tonight and I'm also taking Durrant to beat Cross. Cross once again under-performed with a 93 average. Durrant once again played well and hit a 105 average.
5.5pts P.Wright to beat D.Gurney 8/11 betfair
6pts G.Durrant to beat R.Cross 5/6 betfair
1pt accy - Wright, Durrant, Price & Smith 11/1 betfair

Very brave thinking considering that he should have lost to Krajinovic last night. Somehow he slipped trough.

And who said there is no spectators in stadium?
There was one to watch this particular match

Not long now until this starts, so I'm starting to think about who might win it. For the men, it's hard to look past Djokovic especially with no Nadal or Federer in attendance and for the women I have absolutely no idea - it could be any one out of about ten and I'd imagine the draw will have a big part to play. One player who definitely will not be winning it - famous last words - is Serena and that's regardless of withdrawals and despite how high up she is in the betting. I'd love to see her win it because I think she deserves to have the Slam record for her career's work, but I just can't see it. 
Since the tour restarted she's been absolutely nowhere near the standard required to win a Slam from what I've seen. She's been struggling massively against players she would be expected to beat easily if she was on top of her game. She should have lost today against Rus in what was an unbelievable performance given what you expect from a player of her stature against an average opponent. She took the first set in a tie-break, immediately went a break up at the start of the second and at that point you'd expect her to put her foot down and win with ease. Instead, she got broken twice in a row on the way to losing the second set. Like the second set, she got ahead early in the third and then served for the match. At that point she got broken and then got broken again which saw Rus serving for the match. Somehow she clawed the break back before racing away in the deciding tie-break. She said afterwards that she thought she'd played well but deep down she must know she was nowhere near good enough, just like in her last match when she lost to Rogers - another player she would have expected to beat without too much trouble. She said after that match that she knows she can play better but I didn't see any signs of improvement against Rus and it makes you wonder; if she thinks she can play better then why isn't she.
There's no way she should be losing to Rogers and struggling to beat Rus if her game is working well, and if the talk is right that she's got a 'new and improved' serve - I've also heard something about a new racquet - she might want to think about going back to the way things were. Being broken by a player as limited as Rus as many times as she was should set alarm bells ringing in her camp about her chances at the US Open. If her serve isn't firing, if she isn't getting easy points from it then she's in big trouble because once it gets into a rally that's a definite leveller for any opponent. It took about three hours to get the win today and she needs to avoid matches that require that much effort and intensity if she's going to stand a chance at the US Open. It's not like it can even be written off as one sub-par performance - she's needed three sets for all her wins since the restart plus another troubling pattern has emerged which is her winning the first set of a match and still struggling. I'm sure other players will have noticed that which will mean they'll still feel they're in with a chance even at a set down. It used to be that going a set down to Serena would cause a player to lose heart and make winning that much easier for her, but I think those days are gone.
It could be worth going against her if she wins the first set of her matches at the US Open and I'll certainly be looking at that, but in short if you're a recreational punter who's just dropping by to get an idea of what to bet on then it might be best to find someone else to back. Serena may be the best known player and she may be the best to ever play the game, but she's not a good bet in my opinion based on recent form and going back a few years as well.

That was incredible - never seen stats like it. Krajinovic is capable of serving really well but those numbers are something else. The only two points he lost on serve were first serves. It's even more remarkable when you consider that Thiem is obviously decent on return.

All I can say is even if you'd been given the option to cash-out, there's not a chance in my experience you'd be offered anything like £1500. Cash-out offers are always terrible and bear no resemblance to even slightly unfair odds. My advice is always to let your bets run - in the long-term that's the best thing to do. When cash-out became a thing all bookies started licking their lips, as it offers them the chance to offer poor odds not once but twice and therefore increase the amount they make.

Not long now until this starts, so I'm starting to think about who might win it. For the men, it's hard to look past Djokovic especially with no Nadal or Federer in attendance and for the women I have absolutely no idea - it could be any one out of about ten and I'd imagine the draw will have a big part to play. One player who definitely will not be winning it - famous last words - is Serena and that's regardless of withdrawals and despite how high up she is in the betting. I'd love to see her win it because I think she deserves to have the Slam record for her career's work, but I just can't see it. 
Since the tour restarted she's been absolutely nowhere near the standard required to win a Slam from what I've seen. She's been struggling massively against players she would be expected to beat easily if she was on top of her game. She should have lost today against Rus in what was an unbelievable performance given what you expect from a player of her stature against an average opponent. She took the first set in a tie-break, immediately went a break up at the start of the second and at that point you'd expect her to put her foot down and win with ease. Instead, she got broken twice in a row on the way to losing the second set. Like the second set, she got ahead early in the third and then served for the match. At that point she got broken and then got broken again which saw Rus serving for the match. Somehow she clawed the break back before racing away in the deciding tie-break. She said afterwards that she thought she'd played well but deep down she must know she was nowhere near good enough, just like in her last match when she lost to Rogers - another player she would have expected to beat without too much trouble. She said after that match that she knows she can play better but I didn't see any signs of improvement against Rus and it makes you wonder; if she thinks she can play better then why isn't she.
There's no way she should be losing to Rogers and struggling to beat Rus if her game is working well, and if the talk is right that she's got a 'new and improved' serve - I've also heard something about a new racquet - she might want to think about going back to the way things were. Being broken by a player as limited as Rus as many times as she was should set alarm bells ringing in her camp about her chances at the US Open. If her serve isn't firing, if she isn't getting easy points from it then she's in big trouble because once it gets into a rally that's a definite leveller for any opponent. It took about three hours to get the win today and she needs to avoid matches that require that much effort and intensity if she's going to stand a chance at the US Open. It's not like it can even be written off as one sub-par performance - she's needed three sets for all her wins since the restart plus another troubling pattern has emerged which is her winning the first set of a match and still struggling. I'm sure other players will have noticed that which will mean they'll still feel they're in with a chance even at a set down. It used to be that going a set down to Serena would cause a player to lose heart and make winning that much easier for her, but I think those days are gone.
It could be worth going against her if she wins the first set of her matches at the US Open and I'll certainly be looking at that, but in short if you're a recreational punter who's just dropping by to get an idea of what to bet on then it might be best to find someone else to back. Serena may be the best known player and she may be the best to ever play the game, but she's not a good bet in my opinion based on recent form and going back a few years as well.

Not long now until this starts, so I'm starting to think about who might win it. For the men, it's hard to look past Djokovic especially with no Nadal or Federer in attendance and for the women I have absolutely no idea - it could be any one out of about ten and I'd imagine the draw will have a big part to play. One player who definitely will not be winning it - famous last words - is Serena and that's regardless of withdrawals and despite how high up she is in the betting. I'd love to see her win it because I think she deserves to have the Slam record for her career's work, but I just can't see it. 
Since the tour restarted she's been absolutely nowhere near the standard required to win a Slam from what I've seen. She's been struggling massively against players she would be expected to beat easily if she was on top of her game. She should have lost today against Rus in what was an unbelievable performance given what you expect from a player of her stature against an average opponent. She took the first set in a tie-break, immediately went a break up at the start of the second and at that point you'd expect her to put her foot down and win with ease. Instead, she got broken twice in a row on the way to losing the second set. Like the second set, she got ahead early in the third and then served for the match. At that point she got broken and then got broken again which saw Rus serving for the match. Somehow she clawed the break back before racing away in the deciding tie-break. She said afterwards that she thought she'd played well but deep down she must know she was nowhere near good enough, just like in her last match when she lost to Rogers - another player she would have expected to beat without too much trouble. She said after that match that she knows she can play better but I didn't see any signs of improvement against Rus and it makes you wonder; if she thinks she can play better then why isn't she.
There's no way she should be losing to Rogers and struggling to beat Rus if her game is working well, and if the talk is right that she's got a 'new and improved' serve - I've also heard something about a new racquet - she might want to think about going back to the way things were. Being broken by a player as limited as Rus as many times as she was should set alarm bells ringing in her camp about her chances at the US Open. If her serve isn't firing, if she isn't getting easy points from it then she's in big trouble because once it gets into a rally that's a definite leveller for any opponent. It took about three hours to get the win today and she needs to avoid matches that require that much effort and intensity if she's going to stand a chance at the US Open. It's not like it can even be written off as one sub-par performance - she's needed three sets for all her wins since the restart plus another troubling pattern has emerged which is her winning the first set of a match and still struggling. I'm sure other players will have noticed that which will mean they'll still feel they're in with a chance even at a set down. It used to be that going a set down to Serena would cause a player to lose heart and make winning that much easier for her, but I think those days are gone.
It could be worth going against her if she wins the first set of her matches at the US Open and I'll certainly be looking at that, but in short if you're a recreational punter who's just dropping by to get an idea of what to bet on then it might be best to find someone else to back. Serena may be the best known player and she may be the best to ever play the game, but she's not a good bet in my opinion based on recent form and going back a few years as well.

Yeah, I've never really done doubles on two tournament wins. Hard enough to get one winner of a tournament but Squirrel is correct in that Bet365 are bang on it with their times and will be well ahead of anything you're watching the golf on.

Just a couple of notes from my side:
- The surface seems extremely fast and it will be faster as the tournament progresses, the bounce of the ball is low, which the tournament in Lexington has already indicated, and it fits into the trend.
- it was a very warm and steamy late summer day in NYC
- the corona rules work,there were almost no problems 
- Krajinovic struggled a lot against Caruso,if he continues with such a game,Thiem will destroy him in next round

Nishikori has returned another positive test. Looking like he'll be forced to miss the US Open.

Pella and Dellien are in quarantine after a physio they share got a positive test.

Great to see the older generation strutting around a snooker table again, The Whirlwind looked impressive again when getting his confidence back after a dodgy first frame, but I have to say the highlight for me was seeing Michaela Tabbs serenity around the table.??

Blimey, must admit I'm not too suprised. It's too easy to do with these small events. Also makes sense why I find it so hard to read the players. Because they are cheating scumbags

Halep has now confirmed she's skipping the US

Nishikori has tested positive for Coronavirus and will miss the US Open warm-up events as a result

Bencic has pulled out of the US Open

US Open latest is that Andreescu has withdrawn - not directly due to the virus but indirectly as it's affected her ability to recover from injury, Halep is expected to pull out because of the virus and Djokovic has confirmed his participation - apparently it was a difficult decision. I'm not buying that though, as I'm pretty sure there could be an apocalypse going on and he'd be taking part given that it's an opportunity to add to his Grand Slam tally without Nadal and Federer potentially getting in the way.

The new football season will obviously be starting later than normal and although there is an International set of fixtures on Sept 5th, it makes more sense for us to start when the Premier season begins a week later on the 12th.
With that in mind and to keep the 4 mini-seasons this year's competition will be for 36 weeks, split into four 9-week seasons.
Proposed dates (subject to change)
TC 1: Sept 12th - Nov 7th
TC 2: Nov 14th - Jan 9th 
TC 3: Jan 16th - Mar 13th
TC 4: Mar 20th - May 15th
 
Full details to follow if anything changes.
 
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