In this pod episode, Vansh and I are Joined by Judson wall, a tennis twitter friend and tennis fan, to chat about what were the some of the highlights and lows of the US Open's first week. Most impressive player? Best match? Story of the week? Biggest upset? Biggest surprise? And also we re-calibrate our predictions... except now Novak Djokovic is out of the tournament, so we're immediately wrong. 

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Tennis in Aloha: @jwallmizzou

Website: https://tennisinaloha.wordpress.com/

90's tennis: @1990sTennis

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In men's tennis, an ATP Masters 1000 is worth 1000 points in rankings. There are 9 of those as opposed to 4 Grand Slams. By all means, they have overall half the value of Grand Slams, at least. Considering they account for a total of 9000 points, whereas the Slams are at 8000, these tournaments hold a very important place in the calendar, as they can define who becomes number 1 at the end of the season. And our Big 4 cares about them: only 43 titles went to non Big 4 players since 2003. And Djokovic just tied Nadal's record of 35 total, and broke his own by completing the Double Career Golden Masters, a truly novel and unique feat that is unlikely to be reproduced in many years.

Why then, so many disregard this category in relation to the Grand Slams? Why do we place so much more importance to the majors while almost not caring about any other thing when comparing records? Why do so few people outside the tennis fan base recognize those tournaments, but most likely know about Wimbledon or the US Open? 

Vansh and I are not exactly looking for an answer, but we try and discuss some of the reasons as to why the Masters 1000 category has not been able so far to live up to the 2nd most important in the tennis world.

Follow Vansh on Twitter @vanshv2k

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The draw at the 2020 US Open is pretty wide open in the women's side: 6 of the top 10 out, Serena Williams not playing her best, and Karolina Pliskova yet to impress at the Grand Slam level. But this is no problem at the women's field, to be fully honest. Women's tennis is springing with new talents, the depth of female tennis right now is encouraging and really exciting. If we cannot tell with much certainty who will be the winner, it is not because the top players aren't there, but because there are too many good contenders. This promises to be a fantastic fortnight.

Many thanks to Alex Gruskin for such a fun discussion!

Follow Alex on Twitter @GreatShotPod

Check out the amazing content at https://www.crackedracquets.com/ and make sure to listen to their podcasts: Great Shot Podcast, Cracked Interviews, and The Mini-Break Podcast, all right there when you access their website!

Follow Vansh on Twitter @vanshv2k

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The US Open will be the second Grand Slam of the year. And it comes after months of quarantine and a weekend after the Cincinnati Masters 1000. Several players are not in the draw, including 2 of the Big 3, Rafael Nadal, who chose to not come to North America, and Roger Federer, sidelined with a knee injury. 

But the field is still full of great talents, and promising new players. Plus, Novak Djokovic is playing. Who is the favourite? What will be the matches and draws sections to put in your must-follow list? Owen, Vansh, and I discuss the draw and make our (probably wrong) predictions. What are your picks?

Follow Owen on Twitter @tennisnation and Instagram @theracketblog

Read his blog: http://racketblog.com/ and listen to our GOAT episode https://bit.ly/2Osdfcq

Follow Vansh on Twitter @vanshv2k and read his new article about the dark horses of the ATP: https://www.crackedracquets.com/us-open-2020-men-darkhorses-200827/

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Big tennis tournaments are finally here!! 

Follow Luke, brand ambassador for @CrackedRacquets on Twitter and Instagram @lmoorhead24 

Join us as we make horrible predictions for the WTA Premiere tournament of Cincinatti, or actually the Western and Southern Open in New York this year because of the pandemic. Luke and I picked Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova, while Vansh picked Naomi Osaka. Vansh, you are our only hope of giving this podcast any credibility now. Why no one picked Serena Williams is beyond me... 

Follow Vansh Vermani on twitter @vanshv2k

Follow Tennis and Bagels: 

Twitter @AndRolenberg

Instagram @tennisandbagels 

Facebook/tennisandbagels 

Thank you for listening! 

What are YOUR picks?

Big tennis tournaments are finally here!!

Follow Luke, brand ambassador for @CrackedRacquets on Twitter and Instagram @lmoorhead24

Join us as we make horrible predictions for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament of Cincinatti, or actually the Western and Southern Open in New York this year because of the pandemic. 

All of us said Dominic Thiem would beat Novak Djokovic in the Final. We were all wrong, as I write this description too late.

Follow Vansh Vermani on twitter @vanshv2k

Follow Tennis and Bagels:

Twitter @AndRolenberg

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Thank you for listening! What are YOUR picks?

Throughout tennis history, exceptional players have blown our minds with extraordinary seasons. Unbelievable winning streaks and percentages, great head to head against their biggest rivals, swapping most of the Grand Slams plus several titles, and more accomplishments that made records still yet to be broken - and we're talking from seasons as early as 1969.

With the immense knowledge from Steve Flink, tennis historian, journalist, and writer, and the investigative talents and in-depth analysis of Vansh Vermani, tennis enthusiast and writer for Cracked Rackets, we go through 4 of those stellar seasons: 

- Guillermo Vilas 1977

- John McEnroe 1984

- Andre Agassi 1999

- Roger Federer 2006

It was just a wonderful time listening to Steve talk and immerse us in the exact time and context of these mighty players, the greatest of all time. I hope you enjoy it, this episode was one of the most fun and humbling to record.

Follow Steve Flink on twitter @@sflinko and MAKE SURE you get his new book: Pete Sampras: Greatness Revisited, coming out September 1st 2020! 

Follow Vansh Vermani on twitter @vanshv2k

Follow Tennis and Bagels:

Twitter @AndRolenberg

Instagram @tennisandbagels

Facebook/tennisandbagels

Thanks for listening!!