Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him, his team and the whole nation of Germany!
Kalevi Kolttonen <kalevi@kolttonen.fi> wrote:
Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him, his team and the whole nation of Germany!
I forgot to mention it was pretty hilarious that
Sasha did not realize he was serving the match
at 5-2. He just won his service game and turned
away, ready to keep on playing. Then it dawned
on him that the match was over!
br,
KK
On 9/13/26 3:14 PM, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:Ironically to your statement, perhaps, it was Connors himself who handed Zverev the trophy.
Kalevi Kolttonen <kalevi@kolttonen.fi> wrote:
Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him, his team and the whole nation of Germany!
I forgot to mention it was pretty hilarious that
Sasha did not realize he was serving the match
at 5-2. He just won his service game and turned
away, ready to keep on playing. Then it dawned
on him that the match was over!
I saw it and sorta chuckled.
But then I remembered something Connors said back when he was playing
when asked how he seemed to be able to ignore pressure and he said, basically, that he did not think beyond the point he was playing,
isolating him from worrying about being behind, or tending to back off because he was ahead.
...and I wondered if that was going on with Zverev today.
On 14.9.2026 0.59, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:
Hello!
I just watched Sasha Zverev beat Ben Shelton in
a US Open final that was pretty exciting and the
quality was all right. We saw some amazing serving
from both men.
Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him,
Indeed. Congrats Z!
his team and the whole nation of Germany!
I don't know what Germany has to do with anything.
What happened to Shelton? Two breaks of serve in the fourth is a lot for
his serve. I guess he couldn't handle it in the end.
On 9/14/2026 3:00 AM, Pelle Svansl”s wrote:
On 14.9.2026 0.59, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:
Hello!
I just watched Sasha Zverev beat Ben Shelton in
a US Open final that was pretty exciting and the
quality was all right. We saw some amazing serving
from both men.
Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him,
Indeed. Congrats Z!
his team and the whole nation of Germany!
I don't know what Germany has to do with anything.
What happened to Shelton? Two breaks of serve in the fourth is a lot
for his serve. I guess he couldn't handle it in the end.
Maybe Shelton was spent after that Alcaraz match? Or maybe Zverev has reached a level that is on par with healthy Sinner?
On 9/14/26 5:26 PM, Scall5 wrote:
On 9/14/2026 3:00 AM, Pelle Svansl”s wrote:
On 14.9.2026 0.59, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:
Hello!
I just watched Sasha Zverev beat Ben Shelton in
a US Open final that was pretty exciting and the
quality was all right. We saw some amazing serving
from both men.
Sasha really deserved to win so congratulations
to him,
Indeed. Congrats Z!
his team and the whole nation of Germany!
I don't know what Germany has to do with anything.
What happened to Shelton? Two breaks of serve in the fourth is a lot
for his serve. I guess he couldn't handle it in the end.
Maybe Shelton was spent after that Alcaraz match? Or maybe Zverev has
reached a level that is on par with healthy Sinner?
I think part of the way the match played out was a combination of skills match-up, and degree of confidence.
For quite a while it has been apparent to me that Zverev has the tools
and stamina to be in the top 5 consistently, with a fair degree of
majors wins. What has stopped him is his odd headspace. He can become
very flat and uninspired and this costs him against the top level. I
suspect that this lingering negativity is the deep self-doubt he built
up by failing at crucial times earlier in his career.
But when he played Shelton for the US OPen, his head-to-head was 5-0 in Zverev's favor. This did a lot to keep him out of the negative headspace
and this allowed him to basically play his game without silly lapses.
And on the opposite side, it possibly put a bit of doubt into Shelton
when he could least afford it--the finals--although Shelton seems to
have much less trouble with the confidence part of the game.
Now, because Zverev was relatively free of doubts, it became a skills
match up. Their games are very similar, although mirrored, but it
appears to me that in every aspect, FH. BH, rally consistency, etc.
Zverev is a little better. And, by god, his serve is even a bit better-- which I did not think was the case until Sunday.
Anyway, that's about how I see it.
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