US Open 2021

 This Grand Slam has no dramas which is so much better!🙂🎾

 Unless, toilet breaks count as one.🚽

That's a debate in itself. I'm not in favour of them unless it's a long match and then it should be as short as possible. Personally, I'd be annoyed with myself if I needed a toilet break during a match because it would break my concentration. I can quite honestly say that I wasn't aware of anything during my matches, but the match itself. But then players differ and maybe some concentrate better when allowed a break. Most matches are played in hot conditions so staying hydrated is important and when you drink a fair amount you are going to need toilet breaks. So, it's difficult to have hard and fast rules about it.

Or the size of your logo. 👕

Reilly Opelka's logo (which was in fact the name of an art gallery so not technically a sports logo) on his 'unapproved' pink tote bag was apparently too large. Oh, shock, horror! 🙄 Was it the logo or the colour? I'll leave it there.

This has to be one of the most tedious, petty rules. I suffered from it in my first tournament and at that level it's a major distraction and affects your concentation. In my case, it was my top 👕 despite the fact that my logo was the right size but she insisted she didn't like the stripes on my Adidas top. They were too large. But that was the design! Not the logo! So I ended up in a hut off-court changing into a top my mother ran to fetch from our on-site hotel room. Totally crazy! Only my opponent's coach was watching and maybe a cat or two.🐈🐈 My mother didn't watch my matches court -side except in France because I was having knee problems on-and-off. There was no umpire, no lines people. Unlike Opelka though, I wasn't fined.

I was disappointed that Serena and Venus withdrew from the US Open as did Federer and Nadal. That's 4 excellent crowd pullers that didn't compete this year.😥 And top players on the women's side have not held their own but have been beaten by, in the main, lower ranked players. 

Giorgi, winner in Montreal lost to Halep (in the round of 128) who is ranked higher but hasn't played much recently. Gauff went out to Stephens in the next round. In the same round, silver Olympic medallist, Vondrousova lost to Kasatkina. However, greater upsets occurred in the round of 32. Three big names went out: Osaka, Barty, and Kvitova. The same was true in the round of 16, Halep, Kerber, and Swiatek lost to Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez, and Bencic respectively.

The big story so far is Canadian Leylah Fernandez who beat Osaka in 3 sets then went on to oust Kerber. Fernandez is having a tremendous US Open! She's in the QF's! She next plays Svitolina. A tall order! Fernandez, who is still a teenager, has a career high of 66 (14 June 2021) and in 2019 she won the girl's singles title at Roland Garros, and, in so doing, became the second Canadian (female) to win a junior Grand Slam, after Bouchard, who was the 2012 Wimbledon girls champion. All eyes will be on her in the QF's!