I will just say that I am glad that I won it in the semis, because the idea of needing Zverev or Sabalenka to win the tournament for me to win the contest would be on my nerves.  And Sabalenka lost.

Zverev is trying to pull a Kerber, by getting in 2 slams out of 3 finals in the year of getting that first slam.  I am curious to see how Shelton will handle the pressure.

Also speaking of Kerber, watching Gauff lose to Rybakina made me think that while ESPN's commentators want to build up Gauff as the next Serena, her game is more Kerber, excellent movement and counterpunching which leads to multiple slams, but she can get beaten by power players.  I think Gauff has more power than Kerber did, but she can be overpowered.

Or maybe this is all just me blabbing on.

Bencic and Djokovic are our biggest losers.  No points for either of us there.

Botic van de Zandschulp is in the men's quarterfinalists and has the most negative body language of any player that I've ever seen since late career Lindsey Davenport.

Also, I am going to admit that I am surprised that Zverev is getting all the night matches.  Yes, he's the first seed and won a slam this year, but I would have thought that they'd try to get Alcaraz there, and he seems to be doing day matches (though probably to allow his matches to be seen in Spain).

The final contest.

1. Pick quarterfinalists, semifinalists and champions for both men's and women's draws. You will receive 7.5 points for each correct quarterfinalist, 5 points for each correct semifinalist and 20 points for each correct champion.

2. SUBSTITUTE PICK: Pick a player from each draw to replace one of your quarterfinalists. If this player makes the quarters, they will take the place of whomever you picked in that section of the draw.

3: BIGGEST LOSER: Pick the highest seed that will lose in the earliest round from each draw. The player must be a top 16 seed. You will get 5 points if your seed is the highest to lose and 2 points if your seed falls in the same round as the highest seed to lose.

Picks must be posted before the start of play or soon afterward or at least before the trophy presentations at the end of the tournament.

I'm going to pat myself on the back for causing Ben Shelton to crumble under the pressure of being Forehand_lob's pick to win it all.

Serena's out in round 1!  Maybe she'll continue to get a few wildcards up through the US Open, but if she doesn't make it to as least a QF in any of them, I think she'll go quietly back into retirement.

Ladies

Quarterfinals

Sabalenka (Osaka) v. Andreeva
Pegula v. Gauff
Svitolina v. Swiatek
Anisimova v. Rybakina

Semifinals

Sabalenka d. Pegula
Rybakina d. Svitolina

Final

Rybakina d. Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2

BL: Swiatek

Gentlemen

Quarterfinals

Sinner v. Medvedev
Auger-Aliassime v. Djokovic
De Minaur v. Shelton
Fritz v. Lehecka (Zverev)

Semifinals

Sinner d. Djokovic
Shelton d. Lehecka

Final

Shelton d. Sinner 6-1, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3

BL: Medvedev

Serena to round 2.