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This episode is made possible by IBM. They're the official technology partner of the usta and this year they're bringing the.
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Open right into the heart of New York.
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Don't miss the IBM AI Sports Club US Open Edition September 4th through 7th at Madison Square Park. AI powered ping pong, tennis trivia and live match viewings. It's all there.
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This is Quick Serve, brought to you by IBM WatsonX. Hey everyone. Welcome to Quick Serve. It is day 47 of the US Open. We start. Props to arena Sabalenka getting through Jess Pugula. But MVP of the day might go to Jess Pugula's picture with a honey deuce with the caption when you lose four points on your own serve in the third set but still lose the match as techie Sean just. She's, she's hilarious, she's awesome. I think the entire stadium was pulling for her. She's just turned herself into such a good player. But Irina Sabalenka is going to be one of the all time greats. If Your list is 10 players, she's quickly working away up that list. Lost a couple Grand Slam finals this year, maybe exercising some of her own demons. And she will get the chance against Amanda Anisimova in a rematch of their Wimbledon semifinal. Anisimova is tough. Like there's no way around it, right? What she's gone through the last five, six years personally, you know, losing 00 in a Wimbledon final and then coming back and beating Wiatek. Getting back to work, set down, like scrapping, clawing against Naomi Osaka, who is resurgent. And you know, the cause for optimism for Naomi Osaka is obvious. She's a champion. First time she's ever lost when she's made it past the round of 16, which is like Looney tunes type stat. But Anisimova is gritty, she is tough. She's in this thing for real. Like, I think Sabalenka is the favorite and don't listen to me because I've missed every single pick on the women's side for like this entire tournament, but number one in the world, you know, was consistently there. This is going to be a big one. You know, their, their, their match at Wimbledon went, went pretty deep. I think it was four in the third for Anisomova. I went into last night and I remember saying to someone before the matches started, I was like, we haven't had a lot. We haven't had like a ton of dramatic matches. This, this tournament so far, right? None of the kind of barn Burners where it's, you know, late in the fifth set, late in the third set, and we got two. They, they corrected last night. Didn't the ladies put on an absolute show. The men kick off at 3, 3pm surprise to some that Carlos and Novak wasn't the night session. I'm assuming someone made some requests, maybe looking towards a potential final if they win this match on recovery times. And Carlos and Novak are playing in the afternoon. I think Carlos is the favorite. I don't know that he's like a runaway favorite though. I mean, the guy's won 24 Grand Slams and is playing great. Has beaten him obviously in the finals of the Olympics last year on a surface that's not his favorite, meaning Novak. And then we kind of have, we kind of have short memories in tennis sometimes. And if you think way back when, to January of this year, Novak beat Carlos on a hard court. You know, so this one, this, this one's going to be amazing to watch. Obviously the legend versus one of his successors, you know, that being Alcaraz and Sinner. Look for Novak, what he's been doing a little bit more during this tournament. He's been serving and voling a lot as like a mix up, right? He has a really good little swing or serve on that deuce side, open up the court. We'll see if he wants to make Carlos hit a bunch of backhand passing shots. He's going to try to control through the middle of the court, not let Carlos work his magic from the edges, right? If Carlos gets pulled this way to a forehand, it opens up the entire court because he has angles to the left and then obviously you can bleed your line as well. I think you're going to see Novak a lot, as much as he can, because you know, Carlos is Carlos and there's only so much that you can control. But depth through kind of the center of the court is going to be a comfortable place for Novak because even if Carlos hits great shots or is taking risks from there, you'd rather have him doing it from there than when he's extended or inside the court on the lines, right? Because then that brings in droppers, that brings in, you know, fire line, that brings in him able to kind of whip the ball cross court. He has all those options available when he gets a little wider, when he's pinched towards the middle, especially on that back inside. Novak has a better, better understanding of where he's going to distribute. Novak hits a deep. Carlos is fighting for space. He's two, three feet behind the baseline. That's not one where he's going to where it's going to be a good idea for him to take a bunch of risk. So look for that early. You know, I think Novak is going to open up the shoulders a little bit more and Carlos is, you know, I'm interested to see how much he wants to stress test Novak's physicality early. You know, the guy is an absolute miracle worker at 38 to be doing what he's doing. And he made the semis of all four slams this year. So it's crazy. But has been looking for air. This tournament has been kind of first round, second round breathing the physicality at 38 is obviously not what it's going to be at 28. So, so curious to see if Carlos goes and is just all out aggression or is happy to kind of get into those early exchanges and stress test the legs for Novak. Can't wait to see it. Like, let's enjoy greatness while it's here. Novak Djokovic has been unbelievable so far. I think Sinner rolls against Felix Ojay Ali Azim, who deserves so much props for making the semis beating two top 10 players. By his standards, he's not happy being know ranked 28 in the world or seated 28 in the world. You know, he's been up inside the top 10 comfortably before a couple of semis before. Was someone that we were kind of looking at as a collective group of of tennis nerds as someone who might be able to kind of enter that, that conversation with his ve as like the next tier hasn't quite made it there. But I, I don't think it's for lack of intent, hard work going about things, trying to improve. You know, sometimes you just go through peaks and valleys in your career. But it's nice to see FAA have a peak at this tournament. I'm not sure what he can do to affect Jannik Sinner negatively. That doesn't bring in just insanely crazy levels of risk. Right. So when you see him missing a ball that he's going for that seems like it's irrationally aggressive. That's something he has to do. If he's neutral with Sinner and starts letting Sinner distribute, that's like a slow death as opposed to giving yourself a chance. It's not in his comfort zone. FAA to serve in volley, I think he's going to have to a little bit. He has to confuse center a little bit and center might employ a little bit of what he does against Ben Shelton where it's like, okay, let's not overthink this. I'm going to pepper the backhand all day and let's see if FAA could actually make inroads from his weaker side. Right? Maybe he's more consistent, but his weaker side and just pin him in that corner. And center's able to do that because of weight of shot. Right. He can take that forehand line. He can obviously take the backhand cross. I think the strategy is a little bit more straightforward for Jannik center. I think FAA has to take cuts on second serves. FAA's first serve percentage needs to be up around like 65% to be getting through service games comfortably. He's going to have to take a lot of big swings on center serve. Knowing what you have to do is, is, is the simpler part. Executing it for four or five hours against someone like a Jannik sinner is, is more difficult. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. I expect to see a sinner Alcaraz final, but I can't wait for this Novak Kalitos matchup. Thank you for watching. This has been brought to you by our friends at IBM WatsonX who by the way, I was arguing with. I thought the percentage for Anisomova was too high yesterday. What the hell do I know? This is quick served IBM Watts next. We'll see you tomorrow.
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This episode is made possible by IBM. They're the official technology partner of the USTA and this year they're bringing the.
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Open right into the heart of New York.
A
Don't miss the IBM AI Sports Club US Open Edition September 4th through 7th at Madison Square Park. AI powered ping pong, tennis trivia and live match viewings, it's all there.
Date: September 5, 2025
Host: Andy Roddick
Guest/Co-host: Unnamed (Jon Wertheim and others often feature, but main commentary here appears to be Andy Roddick)
In this brisk "Quick Served" episode, Andy Roddick breaks down the thrilling Day 12 action from the US Open and previews the men’s semi-final matchups. The episode spotlights the resilience and drama of women’s singles—particularly Anisimova’s rise and Sabalenka’s consistency—while offering analytical previews of the highly anticipated matches: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (FAA). Roddick blends technical insight, moments of humor, and genuine admiration for the players as he discusses tournament storylines and keys to the next round.
[00:21-01:14]
[01:15-02:06]
[02:06-02:25]
[02:26-05:02]
[05:03-07:51]
[07:52-08:33]
On Sabalenka’s growth:
"Irina Sabalenka is going to be one of the all-time greats. If your list is 10 players, she's quickly working her way up that list." – Andy Roddick [00:38]
On Anisimova’s Grit:
“Anisimova is gritty, she is tough. She's in this thing for real.” – Andy Roddick [01:38]
On Women’s Drama at the US Open:
"...none of the kind of barn burners...They corrected last night. Didn't the ladies put on an absolute show." – Andy Roddick [02:18]
Alcaraz vs Djokovic tactics:
"Novak has a better, better understanding of where he's going to distribute. Novak hits deep, Carlos is fighting for space, he's two, three feet behind the baseline." – Andy Roddick [04:10]
On Djokovic’s longevity:
"The guy is an absolute miracle worker at 38 to be doing what he's doing." – Andy Roddick [04:24]
On FAA’s challenge against Sinner:
“If he's neutral with Sinner and starts letting Sinner distribute, that's like a slow death as opposed to giving yourself a chance.” – Andy Roddick [06:04]
Andy Roddick maintains his signature mix of sharp analysis, dry humor, and heartfelt admiration for both emerging and legendary players. He speaks conversationally—at times self-deprecating, always passionate about tennis.
If you missed the action or want expert context for the US Open’s key matches, this episode delivers focused, insightful, and often witty guidance on what to watch for—on and off the court.