2016 US OPEN: Schedule of Play For My Labor Day Visit

I will be returning to the U.S. Open today.  Yesterday was amazing so I hope today is even better! I have courtside tickets in Louis Armstrong Stadium. I never buy tickets to Ashe because there is never anything reasonably affordable where you can actually see the players well. (And by affordable, I mean less than a round trip plane ticket from Los Angeles to New York!) Venus and Serena Williams will be playing their fourth round matches in Ashe at the same time, against Karolina Pliskova and Yaroslav Shvedova, respectively.

Here's what I'm scheduled to see today:

WOMEN'S SINGLES - R4

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) [11]

vs.

Simona Halep (ROU) [5]

MEN'S SINGLES - R4

Illya Marchenko (UKR)

vs.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3]

MEN'S SINGLES - R4

Not Before: 3:00 PM

Kei Nishikori (JPN) [6]

vs.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [21]

MIXED DOUBLES - QF

Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)Marin Draganja (CRO)

vs.

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) [7]Rajeev Ram (USA) [7]

It should be fun!! Happy Labor Day!

2016 US OPEN: #Fedal Era Officially Ends As Pouille Nips Nadal In 5th Set TB R16 Win

Wow! In one of the best matches of the year, 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille heralded the final death knell for the "Big Four" era by eliminating 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal in the 4th round of the 2016 US Open in a thrilling 5-set, 4-hour affair. The score was 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6). With 17-time major champion Roger Federer out for half the year rehabbing a knee injury neither Federer or Nadal reached a major final this year. In fact, Nadal has only reached 2 major quarterfinals in his last 10 major appearance dating back to 2014  Wimbledon. Federer reached (and lost) 3 major finals in the same time period. In contrast, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have each made the QF or better in 9 of the last 10 majors they competed in, with Djokivic's loss coming at the 2016 Wimbledon (to Sam Querrey in the 3rd Round) and Murray's here last year to Kevin Anderson (I saw that match in person!) in the 4th round. The two played against each other in the first two major finals of the year and then Murray won Wimbledon for the second time so it's becoming clear the Big Four era is now over and the era of Djokovic-Murray has begun, with the next generation battling to see if they can break through.

Pouille became the third French player to reach the final 8 of the 2016 US Open, reaching his career first major quarterfinal. He joins his countrymen Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the first time France has had 3 quarterfinalists in the major era (which is somewhat surprising considering they have had 4 separate Top 10 players in the last decade: Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Tsonga and Monfils).

Pouille's match against Nadal was an astonishing performance, especially since it was Pouille's 3rd consecutive 5-set match, and despite bludgeoning Nadal off the court in a smoking 6-1 opening set in about a half-hour and after losing the second set 2-6, he squeezed out the 3rd set 6-4. However, after losing the 4th set 6-3, Pouille fell behind 0-2, 1-3 and 2-4 in the final set until he finally came back to break at 4-all and both players held serve to reach the 5th set tiebreak (which should be mandatory in all slams!) Pouille played an awful first point but then won 4 consecutive points to go up 4-1, but Nadal fought back and despite going down 3-6, the Spaniard was able to level the match at 6-all when he made a horrofying forehand error into the next, giving Pouille his 4th match point (on Nadal's serve) and after a tense groundstroke battle Nadal was forced into an error and lost the match.

I was in the crowd of tens of thousands of people waiting for Nadal's match to end the the day session before the night session began. There were few cheers when Nadal lost, but even his fans could appreciate the high level of tennis played and the effort it took for Pouille to complete the stunning upset in his very first time playing on the renovated Arthur Ashe, tennis' biggest stage.

2016 US OPEN: Andy, Nole, Rafa, Delpo, Stan, Serena, Venus, Angie, Aga, Garbi, Simona All Win 1R Matches

The first two night of the 2016 US Open are complete and there has been very little drama so far. All of the pre-tournamnet favorite (and top seeds) have made it through their first round: Novak Djokovic [1], Andy Murray [2], Stan Wawrinka [3], Rafael Nadal [4], Milos Raonic [5] and Serena Williams [1], Angie Kerber [2], Garbine Muguruza [3], Aggie Radwanska [4], Simona Halep [5] and Venus Williams [6] all are throuhg to Round 2.

Only Venus, Muguruza and Djokovic had some difficulties in theiir first round, with each of them losing a set (of course in 3-sets matches this is pretty dire).

Following up on my list of first round matches to watch:

• Serena Williams defeated Ekaterina Makarova in two high-quality (not close) sets 6-3 6-3
• Camilla Giorgi lost to Sam Stosur (6-1 in the 3rd)
• Taylor Townsend lost to Caroline Wozniacki
• Yulia Putintseva beat Sabine Lisicki
• Sara Errani lost to Shelby Rogers 

• John Isner beat Frances Tiafoe despite losing the first two sets and Tiafoe servnig for the match in the 5th set, Isner won a 5th set tiebreak
• Stan Wawrinka defeated Fernando Verdasco in straight sets
• Gael Monfils beat Gilles Muller in straight sets
• Jack Sock defeated Taylor Fritz in 5 sets
• Janko Tipsarevic beat Sam Querrey to win his 1st match at a major in 3 years
• Fernando Lopez beat Borna Coric when the youngster retired on serve 3-4 in the first set!

One of the notable matches of hte first round was the clash between Madison Keys and Alison Riske which ended a 1:48am when Keys came back from a set and a break down to win 4-6  7-6(5) 6-2. America's #1 male player Stevie Johnson was 2 sets and down 2-5 down before rallying to win a 3rd set tiebreak and the final two sets against Evgeny Donskoy.

MOVIE REVIEW: Jason Bourne

The Bourne movies (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Legacy, Jason Bourne) are a guilty pleasure of mine. The Other Half and I went to see the latest one (which is the fifth in the franchise but only the fourth one to feature Matt Damon as the titular character). We mostly did so because The Bourne Ultimatum is really quite a good movie (Th Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner is not.) Also, director Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremacy) is back on board, so we said "why not?"

The cast is surprisingly good, with Oscar-winners Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black,  No Country for Old Men) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl) in addition to Vincent Cassell (Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Black Swan), Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Riz Ahmed (HBO's The Night Of).

Sadly, the movie is not as good as its cast (59%/62% on rottentomatoes). I did not even recognize Vikander was the same actress who played the android in Ex Machina! (Maybe that's why she won an Oscar this year.) She was one of the best parts of the movie, and happily she has a huge role. Jones is playing the (cartoonishly corrupt) CIA Director and we find out more and more about the back story of Damon's Jason Bourne character. These are all fun and familiar aspects of a Bourne film.

However, it really was not a particular enjoyable cinematic experience. Greengrass is a kinetic, exciting director and it was this energetic style which brought him acclaim in his helming of the earlier films in the Bourne franchise. But, here it just seems frenetic and motion sickness-inducing. One aspect of Greengrass's direction which I did appreciate was that the final cut of scenes that were depicted in the trailer (like Damon knocking down a guy with one solid punch with his left hand and the scene where the CIA realizes that Bourne is back: "My god that's Jason Bourne!") are slightly (but noticeably) different. In other words, the best parts of the film which are sometimes given away in the trailer as an inducement to get the audience to fork over their cash to see the entire film, this time were still fresh. I'm sure Greengrass made this conscious decision and I appreciated it.

That being said, despite one of the most harrowing car chases ever put on film (take THAT, The French Connection) it is doubtful that Jason Bourne will be remembered as a success despite doing (relatively) well at the box-office. I will certainly think twice about going to see the next Bourne in the theaters, but I would happily watch it on cable.

Title: Jason Bourne.
Director: Paul Greengrass.
Running Time: 123 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language.
Release Date: July 29, 2016.
Viewing Date: August 7, 2016.

Writing: B+.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B-.

OVERALL GRADE: B/B+ (3.16/4.0)

TENNIS TUESDAY: Cilic Wins Cincy; Serena Will Tie Graf's #1 Record; Stevie Is A Top; #Santina Splits

MARIN CILIC WINS FIRST MASTERS SHIELD BY BEATING ANDY MURRAY IN CINCINNATI
2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic became only the fifth player since 2010 other than the Big Four (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal) to win an ATP Masters shield event by beating Murray 7-5 6-4. The other four are Robin Soderling (Paris 2010),  David Ferrer (Paris 2012), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Toronto 2014), Stan Wawrinka (Monte-Carlo 2014). Murray was hoping to continue his 22-match winning streak after triumphing at the 2016 Wimbledon championships and 2016  Rio Olympics this summer. Not only was this Cilic's first Masters 1000 win, it was the first time he had even reached the semifinal of a masters in 8 previous tries.

SERENA WILLIAMS WILL TIE STEFFI GRAF'S RECORD OF 186 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS AT #1 BUT FOUR PLAYERS WILL VIE FOR #1 IN NEW YORK
By Angelique Kerber losing in straight sets to Karolina Pliskova in the Cincinnati Final, World #1 Serena Williams will remain at #1 for three more weeks and tie Steffi Graf's record of 186 consecutive weeks at #1. However, to break the record Serena will probably need to win the 2016 US Open (which would also simultaneously surpass Graf's major singles title haul of 22) because she is defending semifinal points from the 2015 US Open and none of her rivals: Garbine Muguruza, Agnieska Radwanska or Kerber have very many points to defend. Theoretically any of these four could conceivably be #1 on Monday September 12th. The most exciting scenario would have Serena and Kerber facing off for the #1 ranking in the final.

STEVIE JOHNSON IS THE NEW #1 AMERICAN MALE PLAYER
Fresh off of winning the Men's Doubles Bronze medal with partner Jack Sock (who also won the Mixed Doubles Gold with Bethanie Mattek-Sands) Stevie Johnson is now the highest ranked male American player by reaching the #21 spot on the ATP rankings while John Isner (who had been the top-ranked American since July 2013) fell to #22 with Sock at #28 and Giant-Killer Sam Querrey at #31.  This also means that there i no American male in the Top 20 of the ATP World rankings while on the women's side there are three American women in the Top 10: Serena (#1), Venus Williams (#6), Madison Keys (#9).

MARTINA HINGIS AND SANIA MIRZA SPLIT UP, FACED EACH OTHER IN CINCY
During the Rio Olympics it was confirmed that despite winning 3 grand slam titles, the 2015 Year-end championships and a 41-match winning streak in the last 18 month, the doubles team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have decided to split up. (They have agreed to play the 2016 year-end championships together, having already qualified!) Awkwardly, the two former partners faced each other in the very first tournament after the Olympics in the Cincinnati finals, and the team of Mirza and Coco Vandeweghe defeated Hingis with Barbora Strycova.

US OPEN SEEDS REVEALED: WILLIAMS, DJOKOVIC SEEDED #1 
The seeds for the U.S. OPEN have been revealed, and the only notable absences are 2015 Champion Flavia Pennetta who retired soon afterwards, Victoria Azarenka who is pregnant. On the men's side Roger Federer (is missing the rest of 2016 with injury) and Tomas Berdych has appendicitis.

MOVIE REVIEW: Finding Dory

Finding Nemo is one of my favorite Pixar films (and is also beloved by a lot of other people) so I have been psyched ever since the sequel Finding Dory was announced way back in 2013. The husband and I went with a couple of friends (all gay, average age over 50) to see the film on opening day, at the Arclight Pasadena. (I have gotten out of the habit of writing my reviews of films immediately after seeing them so that is the explanation for the delay in this post.)

Finding Dory is an excellent sequel to Finding Nemo. (Actually a fair amount of the story takes place in a timeline before the events of Nemo so in some sense it is also a prequel.) The main characters are all anthropomorphic fish: Dory (played by Ellen Degeneres), a blue tang fish who suffers from the inability to maintain memories of most events for more than a minute, the inquisitive and adventurous Nemo, and his overprotective dad Marlin (played by Albert Brooks). Nemo was about Dory helping Marlin find Nemo who went exploring and got lost. Dory is about Dory finally realizing that she has gotten lost, and is trying to get back to her parents. In the course of events, Dory gets separated from Marlin and Nemo and so they spend a good deal of the movie having harrowing adventures trying to reunite with their friend, whose well-being they are quite worried about, because of her memory deficiency.

One of the best parts of Dory is the new character of Hank (played by Modern Family's Ed O'Neill), a chameleonic octopus who tries to take advantage of Dory as his meal ticket out of a marine life facility where Dory finds herself. It's amazing to watch the contortions that the octopus (and the script!) take to get our water-logged friends across vast stretches of dry land and around corners and into locked rooms. When the octopus starts to drive a truck, you know things have gotten way out of hand! But it makes for an action-filled, PG-rated night at the movies which is a whole bunch of fun, and well worth seeing more than once.

Title: Finding Dory.
Director: Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane.
Running Time: 97 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for mild thematic elements.
Release Date: June 17, 2016.
Viewing Date: June 17, 2016.

Writing: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

OVERALL GRADE: A/A- (3.84/4.0)

TENNIS TUESDAY: Monfils Wins DC; Serena+Big 3 Skip Rogers Cup, Konta Beats #6 Venus

MONFILS WINS CITI OPEN IN WASHINGTON OVER IVO KARLOVIC
I visited the Citi Open in Washington, DC for the second time this weekend. In 2013 I saw Juan Martin del Potro beat Joh Isner in the final. This time I saw Gael Monfils beat Sascha Zverev in the semifinals. Monfils then faced Ivo Karlovic in the final the next day, which was played in brutally hot conditions (90-plus degrees, 50-plus percent humidity, court temperatures exceeding 140 degrees). I elected to stay home and watched on TV while Gael faced a match point but managed to win the match 5-7 7-6(6) 6-4 to claim the biggest title of his career. Gael had previously lost 8 of his 9 previous finals and has now won only 6 of the 25 finals in his career. The win jumped Monfils to World #14 (and #9 in the Race to London).

CANADA'S ROGERS CUP WITHDRAWALS: SERENA(1), MURRAY(2), FEDERER(3), NADAL(4) 
The summer tennis  schedule this year is overly packed and something had to give. It looks like it is the Rogers Cup tournament in Canada. The men's tournament was hit by a raft of high-profile withdrawals: three of the Big Four: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. The  women's draw was hit by the withdrawal of the World #1 player Serena Williams.

VENUS WILLIAMS RISES TO WORLD #6 RANKING AFTER LOSING STANFORD FINAL TO JOHANNA JONTA
36-year-old Venus Williams has reached the WTA ranking of #6 after a good run at the Bank of the West Classic on the campus of Stanford University. Even though she was the Top seed, Venus lost in the final 5-7 7-5 6-2 to Johanna Konta of Great Britain, who won her first WTA title, and is now ranked at #14.

FILM REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond

I had heard that Star Trek Beyond was not getting great reviews, but since I have been a longtime fan of the franchise (beginning with watching the original series reruns in the early 1970s as a kid and continuing with the Star Trek: The Next Generation series in college). I think I have seen every Star Trek movie there is (except perhaps one of the last movies with the ST:TNG cast). I've also seen and enjoyed) the first two Star Trek movies 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness and 2009's Star Trek with the rebooted cast starring Chris Pine as  Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Bones. Anyway, with me, it was not whether I would see this movie, but when. And after hearing that John Cho's version of George Takei's Hikaru Sulu would be depicted as openly gay (having a male partner he's raising a daughter with) I got tickets to see it opening weekend!

My worries about reviews were unfounded since Star Trek Beyond is certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with an 85% rating. This is (slightly) lower than the first two movies, which had 95% and 86% ratings, respectively.

One interesting difference of the latest entry into the Star Trek movie franchise is that it was co-written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty, primarily as the comic relief) and  JJ Abrams has relinquished the director's role to Justin Lin but still is listed as a producer.

The most compelling aspect of the film is the killer casting and the nuanced performances as updates of the original characters. The three leads are (mostly) excellent, but in the smaller roles, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Cho as Sulu and and Pegg as Scotty all standout. As with most summer blockbusters, the effectiveness of Star Trek Beyond is dependent on how good (or bad) the villain is. The villain in Star Trek Beyond is Krall, played quite well by a mostly unrecognizable Idris Elba. There's also a new female character named Jayla played by Sofia Boutella (last seen as the woman with the crazy blade legs in Kingsman: The Secret Service).

The story this time is built around central themes of loss as we see Spock learning about the death of Ambassador Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy of course) who actually represented Quinto's Spock from a different timeline that intersected in the 2009 Star Trek. We also learn that Spock is thinking of leaving Starfleet and has broken up with Uhura again because in light of the destruction of his homeplanet he is feeling compelled to try and go to New Vulcan to find a Vulcan mate and contribute to rebuilding Vulcan society and culture. Unbeknownst to Spock, Kirk is also thinking of leaving the crew of the Enterprise, and has applied to become a Vice-Admiral at a huge space station near a mysterious nebula.

Of course, the Enterprise ends up exploring the nebula where it gets attacked by a huge swarm of powerful alien spacecraft that forces the crew to abandon ship as the saucer section is forced to separate and crashes on a planet. Krall captures most of the crew (with Uhura and Sulu) but Bones and Spock, Chekhov and Kirk and Scotty land on the planet in separate groups. It was good to see that Chekhov had a larger role than in previous films due to a freak accident that killed the 27-year-old actor Anton Yelchin last month which means he will not be appearing in any more sequels.

In the end, the crew is reunited and we learn that even Starfleet officers can become corrupted and that people will come up with all sort of rationales to justify horrific actions. The visuals are exciting and the action is frenetic but overall this was a better than average entry into the Star Trek movie franchise.

Title: Star Trek Beyond.
Director: Justin Lin.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Release Date: July 22, 2016.
Viewing Date: July 23, 2016.

Writing: A-.
Acting: B+.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B-.

Overall Grade: B+ (3.33/4.0)

2016 CITI OPEN: I saw Monfils Beat Zverev

I'm in Washington, D.C. For the summer and so I decided to check out the CitiOpen.

I have attended the final before but it was supposed to be 100 degrees (and 60% humidity) so instead I went no the semifinals and saw Gael Monfils put on a clinic against Next Gen phenomenon Sascha Zverev (the youngest player ranked in the Top 30).

Gael won 6-4 6-0. He broke on the very first game of the match and only faced 2 break points (in the same game), which he saved with good serving and excellent movement.

After losing the first set Sasha was very disconsolate and just started going for too much and lost easily.