Don't normally follow the mens but saw it on the highlights at the pub - brilliant

The draw has really opened up, with Bops & Mergea (  ) (9) having dumped out the Bryans in four sets yesterday & only the fourth seeds, JJR & Tecau, reaching their appointed place in the semis...

There is a proper report by Alyson Rudd in today's Times on Jamie's & John's triumph, with some interesting reflections on doubles:

Doubles is often a source of light relief, an interlude full of tit-for-tat volleys and joke shots, audacious lobs and laughter.  After his tortured-soul routine in the men's singles, Nick Kyrgios engaged in a mixed doubles match with Madison Keys and never stopped smiling.

"I think everyone has a bit more fun in the doubles," the controversial Australian said.

If you had turned up to No 2 Court hoping for a barrel of laughs, though, you would have been disappointed.  This was serious stuff; holding serve mattered, tactics mattered, focus mattered.

"it wasn't amazingly spectacular or anything like that," Jamie said, but that was the secret to [sic] their success.  Occasionally, he would dart across the court and kill a point with an acute-angled shot and the crowd loved the balletic nature of his movement, but otherwise it was simple and thoughtful doubles paly.  It is the variety of their approach that has befuddled opponents, they believe.

Rudd then goes on to explain how Jamie & John came to start playing together:

Three years ago, they got together for no other reason than them playing at a similar ranking and Jamie having no partner.  "This is a breakthrough for us, stepping up at the biggest tournament there is," Jamie said. 

indiana wrote:

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Sorry, just was thinking that I tend to look at the phrase "draw opening up" as being a bit fortunate that others do the work for you rather than Mergea + themselves beating the no 1 seeds and then facing the no 4 seeds in the semi finals.

Nothing much really has been opened up for them, having to face the leading two seeds in their half of the draw.

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 I'd argue that 'opening up' simply refers to the higher ranked players/teams that previously 'stood in the way' (as such) have been taken out by other players/teams - which is certainly the case of Jamie and John. Instead of the 2nd seeds in the semis they have an unseeded pair, whilst they would 'only' have to beat the 4th seeds in the final (as opposed to the top). That's pretty much the definition of a draw opening up. It's not disrespectful to the players/teams who knocked out the top players/teams, and doesn't always necessarily mean the match will be any easier, but from a mental perspective the prospect of Erlich and Petzschner instead of Dodig and Melo, and the prospect of Mergea and Bopanna (say) instead of the Bryans seem far more achievable than the alternative.

So yeah, I don't really see how it's particularly misleading or unfair - just a mere observation from SC.

indiana wrote:

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TMH wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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Sorry, just was thinking that I tend to look at the phrase "draw opening up" as being a bit fortunate that others do the work for you rather than Mergea + themselves beating the no 1 seeds and then facing the no 4 seeds in the semi finals.

Nothing much really has been opened up for them, having to face the leading two seeds in their half of the draw.

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 I'd argue that 'opening up' simply refers to the higher ranked players/teams that previously 'stood in the way' (as such) have been taken out by other players/teams - which is certainly the case of Jamie and John. Instead of the 2nd seeds in the semis they have an unseeded pair, whilst they would 'only' have to beat the 4th seeds in the final (as opposed to the top). That's pretty much the definition of a draw opening up. It's not disrespectful to the players/teams who knocked out the top players/teams, and doesn't always necessarily mean the match will be any easier, but from a mental perspective the prospect of Erlich and Petzschner instead of Dodig and Melo, and the prospect of Mergea and Bopanna (say) instead of the Bryans seem far more achievable than the alternative.

So yeah, I don't really see how it's particularly misleading or unfair - just a mere observation from SC.

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Apologies, my bad ( apologies for that as well  ), I clearly was not reading properly therefore misinterpreted.

I took it that SC was commenting on the draw opening up for Mergea + ( and being unhappy about that ), whereas while yes she indicated she was probably not a fan of Mergea, the draw opening up was really talking in respect of Jamie and John.  It was Mergea + that I was talking about,

So yes, the draw opening up comment is absolutely appropriate for Jamie and John.  They've done well so far, let's hope they can take further advantage of this though clearly the remaining pairs must still be playing well too.

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Nope, Indie, TMH was spot-on (& eloquent) in his analysis of the sense in which I was using the "opening-up" of the draw, so I thank him for that. The was merely to indicate my continuing disapproval of the way in which he appeared to dump Dom.