2012 US Open Week 2 Men’s Preview
2012 US Open Week 2 Men’s Preview
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
An exciting week of high intensity tennis has finished up at the final slam of the year and it is time for the business end of the tournament with just 16 men left vying for the title. The top four seeds have all generally advanced with ease, but the big story is Andy Roddick, who announced he will retire from Tennis after the Open in a impromptu press conference the day before his 2nd round match.
Roddick has made it to the round of 16 and will play Del Potro Tuesday, so he will carry the torch of American tennis at least a few hours longer.
Here is a breakdown of the eight round of 16 match ups.
Roger Federer vs. Mardy Fish
Federer is looking sharp and rolled in straights over Donald Young and Bjorn Phau, then dispatched Fernando Verdasco in the same fashion in what was a disappointing performance from Fernando. Fish beat Go Soeda in straights, came back from 2 sets down to defeat Nikolay Davydenko, who ran out of gas the last 3 sets, and thumped Gilles Simon in 4 sets.
Fish will likely have the crowd behind him in this match, but that is about the only thing going for him as Federer looks confident and cunning and should get another solid win.
Nicolas Almagro vs. Tomas Berdych
Nico and TBerd will meet again for the 4th time this year and they have a habit of being irritants to one another going back to this year’s Australian Open.
Almagro beat a Statue-of-Liberty-shirt-sporting Radek Stepanek in 4, Phillip Petzschner in 5 long heavy ball striking sets and young American Jack Sock, who did well to reach the 3rd round, in 4 sets. Berdych beat David Goffin and Jurgen Zopp in straights, then got past Sam Querrey in 4 after dropping the 1st set.
This match leans Berdych as he has had an easier time so far but Almagro may be able to snatch a win.
Andy Murray vs. Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic survived a 1st round 5 setter against Santiago Giraldo, then beat Paul-Henri Mathieu and James Blake in straights. Blake had previously turned back the clock and dispatched Marcel Granollers in the 2nd round. Murray overcame a slow start to beat Alex Bogomolov in straights, then dispatched Ivan Dodig and needed 4 grueling sets and 3 tiebreaks to get past Feliciano Lopez, who threw everything he had into their 3rd round encounter on a hot Saturday afternoon.
This is an interesting match-up as Murray as struggled with his serve in his first 3 matches, while Raonic serves so well most of the time it could be close and possibly be a long match if Raonic is serving well and Murray isn’t.
Marin Cilic vs. Martin Klizan
Cilic won two 5 setters against Marinko Matosevic and Daniel Brands in the first 2 rounds, then got past Kei Nishikori in 4 sets in what was a bit of a surprising match. Klizan, probably the most unheralded name left in the draw, made his way by beating Alejandro Falla in straights then scored the biggest win of his promising career in 4 sets against 5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who simply appeared wilted and worn out and could not get his game nor his shots together. Klizan kept his composure and his game together in gutting out the massive win. He followed that up by beating Jeremy Chardy in straights, making it look easy out there and proving he belongs.
Cilic will be a favorite here but the 23-year-old lefty Klizan, who will break into the top 50 after his run here is said and done, has the talent to get yet another upset. This could honestly go either way.
Janko Tipsarevic vs. Phillip Kohlschreiber
Tipsarevic survived an upset scare in the 1st round, clawing back from 2 sets down to defeat Guillaume Rufin in 5. He then took out Brian Baker and Grega Zemlja in straights. Peppo Kohlschreiber beat Michael Llodra in 4, won a testy 5 setter with Benoit Paire in which both players simply did not like each other and then upset John Isner in a late night 5 setter. It was a disappointing result from Isner, who had given his previous opponents Xaiver Malisse and Jarkko Nieminen their chances, winning both matches in 4 sets and it finally caught up to him against Kohlschreiber, who earned a well-deserved win.
Tipsarevic will be the favorite and you have to wonder if two 5 set battles in a row will take it out of Kohlschreiber, but it should be a fun match stylistically-speaking.
David Ferrer vs. Richard Gasquet
Ferrer beat Kevin Anderson and Igor Sijsling in straights, then played 4 gladiator sets of tennis with Lleyton Hewitt in which two of the greatest grinding road runners in the game were both trying to outwit, outhit and outrun one another. The 1st and 2nd sets were great but then Ferrer pulled away over an exasperated Hewitt, who had played a 5 setter with Gilles Muller the previous round. It was Hewitt’s 25th career 5 setter.
Gasquet beat Albert Montanes in 4, then Americans Bradley Klahn and Steve Johnson in straights to advance. Klahn had played a crowd fueled 5 setter against Jurgen Melzer in the 1st round, notching the upset, while Johnson knocked off Ernests Gulbis in the 2nd round (who had come back from 2 sets down and beaten Tommy Haas in the opening round).
Ferrer is a favorite against Gasquet, but both guys have a great shot at the quarterfinals in this match up that will be the grit and substance of Ferrer vs. the style and flash of Gasquet.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Andy Roddick
Former US Open champion Del Potro will try to send Roddick into retirement Tuesday night on Ashe. So far he has beaten lucky loser Florent Serra in straights (who replaced David Nalbandian who withdrew with injury), Ryan Harrison in 4 and countryman Leonardo Mayer in straights in what was a very close match between friends. Roddick has kept his career alive dispatching Rhyne Williams and Bernard Tomic in straights and then scoring a 4 set win over Fabio Fognini, who was simply too inconsistent to capitalize on the chances he had.
The road for Roddick likely ends here as Del Po has played strong and his wrist has looked fine in the 3 matches he has played. Barring some magic from Roddick or Del Potro coming out flat, this could be Andy’s curtain call.
Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Novak Djokovic
Wawrinka has struggled to shut the door in the 3 matches he has played, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky in 4, Steve Darcis in 5 intriguing sets (in which Darcis was hurting for most of the final 2 sets but still managed to get the 5th to 7-5) and Alexandr Dologopolov, who he beat in straights but not without struggling to convert break points. Dolgo beat Baghdatis in the previous round in what was an exciting display of baseline rallies and aggressive tennis. Djokovic, on the other hand, has shown no weakness and has only dropped 15 games in 9 sets of tennis. He beat up on Paolo Lorenzi, Rogerio Dutra Silva and Julien Benneteau. Benneteau had previously beaten surprising American Dennis Novikov in 4.
Djokovic will be a heavy favorite against Wawrinka and should calmly notch another victory.
Predictions:
QFs
Federer d. Berdych
Murray d. Cilic
Tipsarevic d. Ferrer
Djokovic d. Del Potro
Any of these matches could easily go 5 sets.
SFs
Federer d. Murray
Djokovic d. Tipsarevic
Final
Federer d. Djokovic
2012 US Open: Not a Great Day for American Singles, Not Worse than Wozniacki’s Day
Woz-zup with You?
Sloane Stephens rocked. Kalamazoo winner Dennis Novikov got by Jerzy Janowicz. Querrey won as expected. Roddick, Venus and Serena won, but they took out Americans Rhyne Williams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Coco Vandeweghe respectively in the process. Jesse Levine let a two-set-and-a-break lead slip away in five. Vania King and Irina Falconi were upset. Thank god for the doubles victories yesterday.
Christina McHale was the saddest story of the day for the US, though. Although her match was announced as a possible move to Arthur Ashe stadium and it was available, they made McHale wait seemingly forever on Grandstand. She was ready to play by noon but wasn’t able to get on Grandstand until evening. After her three-set loss, a USOpen.org contributor gave her a parting kidney punch with the headline, “No. 21 seed crashes in first round McFail”. That’s right! The USTA’s own tournament website insults one of their own marquee trainees!
Headline Fail
So, American tennis had a middling day at best. Caroline Wozniacki’s was worse. She looked bothered from the outset of her match against Irina Camelia-Begu. Begu won her first Grand Slam match in nearly five years. After Wozniacki’s 2011 semifinal appearance at the Open, she’s poised to drop out of the top ten with a Bartoli victory. I suspect the Danish press will be less harsh on her than their New York counterparts are on McHale.
–S. Fogleman
2012 Arthur Ashe Kids Day: Who Knows Pro Tennis, Carly Rae Jepsen or Glee’s Matthew Morrison?
Not Even Close
Carly Rae Jepsen was a huge crowd pleaser performing her sensation, “Call me Maybe” during Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the US Open this weekend, but she knows less about pro tennis than I do about camera work in our brief encounter:
TV’s Matthew Morrison, who plays a teacher on the hit series “Glee”, is obviously a bit of a tennis historian in real life. He confidently declared that he missed the “old fights of Agassi and McEnroe” and says Billie Jean King was his All Time Favorite women’s competitor.
Winner: Morrison in a walkover. Sorry, Carly. He gets to hang with Missy Franklin and her Olympic Gold. Morrison should offer Jepsen a few educator tips on how to study up for the next exam.
Schooled her.
Morrison will touch the Gold while Jepsen leaves empty-handed
–S. Fogleman
2012 US Open Week 1 Men’s Preview
2012 US Open Week 1 Men’s Preview
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
US Open
Grand Slam
July 27-August 9, 2012
The final slam of the year and the conclusion to the American summer hard court series begins Monday and it will a chance for a 2nd slam this year for Federer or defending champion Djokovic and another chance for Murray to earn his first slam. While they are the most likely contenders, someone else could very well break through like Del Potro did at the ’09 Open.
Top 8 seeds
1: Roger Federer
2: Novak Djokovic
3: Andy Murray
4: David Ferrer
5: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
6: Tomas Berdych
7: Juan Martin Del Potro
8: Janko Tipsarevic
The only players from the top 50 missing from the Open are the obvious big one Nadal, and a habitually injured Gael Monfils.
1st round matchups to watch:
Michael Russell vs. Gilles Simon
Muscles Russell has had a good summer hard court season as the tested 34-year-old veteran made the quarters in both Atlanta and LA. He also qualified in DC and he has had some memorable matches at the US Open, including taking Andy Roddick to four sets in a thriller at last year’s US Open.
He will take on Simon, who has struggled mightily ever since the French Open. While Simon remains in the top 20, he had to pull out of Cincy with a shoulder injury and lost his 1st round match to Tommy Haas in Toronto, his only two results on hard court this summer. This match is ripe for an upset if the right Russell shows up and Simon continues his well below average level of play.
Jack Sock vs. Florian Mayer
Sock, one of the main draw wild card recipients, has been a stalwart of the of the US Open series this summer and all three of his ATP wins this year have come in the past couple of months. The 19-year-old will take on German Florian Mayer, who is probably the least heralded top 30 player on the tour. That being said, he does his best on clay and hasn’t made an impression on the hard courts this summer, so it is an interesting matchup and will show whether Sock can make an impact at the Open.
Will Berdych Bow to Boy King David?
David Goffin vs. Tomas Berdych
Goffin and Berdych are a couple of players who have had a rollercoaster of a year. Both started off great and did well in the spring, slumped through the summer, and now may be coming back when the time is right as both have scored solid wins and are still in contention for the title in Winston-Salem. Berdych, the 7 seed, is a heavy favorite but Goffin is a dangerous player. Depending on which Tomas shows up, this one could be very close.
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Benoit Paire
Dimitrov and Paire are two of the more interesting characters on the tour and both are young at 21 and 23. Neither are in form even though they have talent to spare and this matchup is mainly interesting from a fitness perspective as both guys have had issues keeping in shape. Expect a lot of cramping and complaining and probably some fireworks in this one, especially if it is a day match in the heat.
Ernests Gulbis vs. Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas remains one the hottest players on the tour going into the US Open. He made the final in DC, the quarters in Toronto (pushing Djokovic to three), and lost to Del Potro in the 2nd round of Cincinnati. All of this fine play has continued to propel his ranking higher and he is now in the top 25.
Gulbis is well known as one of the streakiest players on the tour and another with talent to spare if he can keep his game together. Gulbis recently dropped a three-setter to Marcel Granollers in Winston-Salem in what was a bit of a choke, so this match could either be a brisk one or a competitive one.
Benjamin Becker vs. Ryan Harrison
Benjamin Becker made a memorable run at the 2006 US Open, reaching the 4th round as a qualifier, while Harrison is always well hyped but has struggled this year. He lost in the first round of both Atlanta and Cincy and is only .500 on the year overall. While Becker hasn’t done anything of note recently besides a quarter in Newport on grass and a semi in Memphis all the way back in February, he still seems to have something in the tank. If Harrison comes out cold, Benni Becker, one of the nice guys on the tour, could be ripe to pull off the upset.
Federer’s Quarter:
Wimbledon and Cincy champ Federer opens his bid for another slam against Donald Young, who just broke his 17 match losing streak in Winston-Salem but lost in the next round. After that, Fed will face Bjorn Phau or a qualifier, and then in the 3rd round likely faces Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco is just coming back on the tour after being sidelined by injury. It will be interesting to see what type of form Nando is in. Albert Ramos, a qualifier or Robby Ginepri are also options. This is a superb early draw for Federer.
Mardy Fish, the 23 seed, who appears to be in form as he reached the DC Semis and Toronto and Cincy quarters, opens up against Go Soeda and then could see Nikolay Davydenko or a qualifier. In the 3rd round, he could get the winner of Simon/Russell, big serving Ivo Karlovic or a qualifier. Another pretty good early draw.
Nicolas Almagro, the 11 seed, who has been out with injury, opens up against Radek Stepanek in an interesting match and the winner will face either Nicolas Mahut or Phillip Petzschner. In the 3rd round, the winner will square off against the winner of Mayer/Sock, Flavio Cipolla or Blaz Kavic.
Sam Querrey, the 27 seed, who is in the running for the US Open series bonus title and is still playing in Winston-Salem, opens up against Yen Hsun-Lu and then faces Somdev Devvarman or Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. In the 3rd round, he will meet the Berdych/Goffin winner or Denis Istomin or Jurgen Zopp. A Berdych vs. Querrey 3rd round match up would be a good one and Querrey is playing above his ranking right now.
Murray’s Quarter:
Olympic Gold Medalist Andy Murray, who has had less than impressive performances in Toronto and Cincinnati, starts off against a continually struggling Alex Bogomolov. Even though these two have some history, Murray will pull it out. Then he will meet either Ivan Dodig or a qualifier. In the 3rd round, Murray could tangle with 30 seed Feliciano Lopez, Robin Haase, Thomaz Bellucci or Pablo Andujar. This isn’t a bad early bracket for Murray.
24 seed Marcel Granollers, still in the running in Winston-Salem, will take on American wild card Denis Kudla and then will face either Lukas Lacko or more likely James Blake in the 2nd round. If he can undo Blake, he will likely face Milos Raonic, the 15 seed, who starts against Santiago Giraldo and will face the winner of the wily vets, Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Igor Andreev.
12 seed Marin Cilic will face fellow lanky big man Marinko Matosevic then Adrian Ungur or a qualifier and in the 3rd round likely faces 17 seed Kei Nishikori (who will take on a pair of qualifiers in his first two matches).
5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also still in the running in Winston-Salem, will face a qualifier and then Martin Klizan or Alejandro Falla. He is expected to face fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the 3rd round.
Ferrer’s Quarter:
David Ferrer is the 4 seed, but likely isn’t the favorite in this quarter. He will open against a slumping Kevin Anderson, who just lost another early round match to Ernests Gulbis in Winston Salem, then face a qualifier or countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver. In the 3rd round, he could meet 28 seed Mikhail Youzhny, Atlanta finalist Gilles Muller, Tobias Kamke or the wild card Lleyton Hewitt (who just beat Youzhny in Cincy a couple of weeks ago).
13 seed Richard Gasquet, the Toronto finalist, will take on Albert Montanes and then a struggling Jurgen Melzer or a qualifier in the 2nd round. After that, he likely draws the dangerous 21 seed Haas in what would be a thriller. Also in this part of the draw are two wild cards, Americans Steve Johnson and Rajeev Ram. Also worth a mention is…Haas plays Gulbis.
John Isner, the 10 seed who is still in the running to defend his title in Winston-Salem and was a Toronto and Atlanta semi finalist, opens against veteran Belgian Xaiver Malisse, who still has moments of brilliance at times. Big John would then will see either Mikhail Kukushkin or a struggling Jarkko Nieminen in the 2nd round. Peering into the 3rd round, Isner could draw the man he beat in Toronto, Phillip Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber plays Michael Llodra in the 1st round and the winner of Paire/Dimitrov.
29 seed Viktor Troicki opens against young German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who we haven’t heard much from in a while, and then he’ll face a qualifier. He would then battle the likely favorite in this quarter, 8 seed and Toronto semi-finalist Janko Tipsarevic, who opens up against wild card Guillaume Rufin of France and then a streaky Brian Baker or Jan Hajek.
Djokovic’s Quarter:
Toronto champ and Cincy finalist Novak Djokovic will face Paolo Lorenzi in the 1st round, then Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil or a qualifier. For the third course, he’ll be expecting 31 seed Julien Benneteau on the menu. Also in this section is Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who is a player to watch. He will face wild card Dennis Novikov in the 1st round. Djokovic should cruise through the first three rounds.
18 seed Stan Wawrinka, a Cincy semifinalist, will face Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine and then the winner of Steve Darcis vs Malek Janziri. Darcis just beat Roddick in Winston Salem but fell to Berdych thereafter. If Wawrinka gets through, he could face 14 seed
Alexandr Dolgopolov. The DC champion appears to have his act together and is still in the running for the Winston-Salem title. Dolgo will face Jesse Levine and then Marcos Baghdatis or a qualifier. If he and Wawrinka meet in the 3rd round, it will be a match you’ll want to see.
10 seed Juan Monaco faces Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and then either Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Fabio Fognini. Monaco has been slightly disappointing on the hard courts this summer and could use a good run here. He should tangle with 20 seed Andy Roddick, who just lost to Darcis in Winston Salem-and has been up and down. Roddick will face a qualifier and then Carlos Berlocq or Bernard Tomic. This could be the most open part of the draw.
7 seed Juan Martin Del Potro, one of the favorites outside the top three, faces countryman David Nalbandian, who has struggled mightily, and then will face the winner of Becker/Harrison. Del Po could then see 26 seed Andreas Seppi of Italy, who has disapponted on hard courts or Lukasz Kubot, who plays Leonardo Mayer.
Dark Horses (1 for each quarter of the draw): Sam Querrey, Marcel Granollers, Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic
Marcel is a surprising Dark Horse
Querrey is an in form player who faces a struggling seed in Berdych and has an easy 1st and 2nd round match up, then likely gets Stepanek or Almagro in the 4th round.
Granollers has been pretty solid this summer, and while he likely faces Murray in the 4th round, if he can get through Blake and Raonic and if Murray has any sort of moody collapse, Granollers is talented enough to capitalize. It isn’t highly likely, but he has a chance.
Hewitt continues to grind his way around the tour and seems to do his best at the slams. Kamke is a good match up (just beat Youhzny). Hewitt would then see Ferrer in the 3rd round (who hasn’t been very sharp on the hard courts this summer). Anything is possible with a guy as tenacious as Rusty.
Tomic isn’t playing that well, but he did beat Harrison in Cincinnati and has a good 1st round match up style-wise with Berlocq. Tomic avoids the most dangerous seeds in this section as Roddick is struggling and Monaco has been off.
Week 1 Predictions (4th round matchups)
Federer vs. Fish
Stepanek vs. Querrey
Murray vs. Granollers
Nishikori vs. Tsonga
Tipsarevic vs. Isner
Haas vs. Ferrer
Del Potro vs. Tomic
Wawrinka vs. Djokovic
Quarters:
Federer d. Querrey
Murray d. Tsonga
Tipsarevic d. Haas
Djokovic d. Del Potro
Tsonga will have a shot against Murray. Haas and Del Po will also have chances, but the higher seeds should advance.
Semis:
Federer d. Murray
Djokovic d. Tipsarevic
Murray doesn’t seem trustworthy enough at the moment to beat Federer again and Djokovic handled Tipsarevic in Toronto.
Final:
Federer d. Djokovic
It will likely be closer than their encounter in Cincy, but Federer is on his game and appears ready to take home another title in a 1 vs. 2 battle.
NCAA Champion Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) Faces Big US Open Warm Up vs. Petra Kvitova Tonight
NCAA Champion Nicole Gibbs already has a wild card to the main draw at Flushing Meadows next week, thanks to her stellar season at Stanford. The best way to warm up for a Slam is to win in a WTA main draw. She did just that on Monday against Alexa Glatch. As a result of that debut main draw win, she’s earned the right to face 2011 Wimbledon Champion and world #5 Petra Kvitova tonight under the lights of Stadium Court at New Haven for a place in the quarterfinals.
I spoke with her on Monday about the Open, the NCAA rule change proposals, her decision to stay in school and what keeps her motivated. I’d tell you what she said, but you’ll have to watch the video as I am horribly late for the ITF matches in College Park, Maryland this morning. Let’s just say that the NCAA protest movement has found its new leader!
2012 US Open National Playoffs Champion Alexandra Mueller Begins Qualifying Today
This afternoon, Pennsylvania’s Alexandra Mueller will take the court at the US Open against Beatriz Garcia Vidagany of Spain on Court 11. Mueller won nine straight matches to get here, so she’s ready to make the most of it.
I sat down with her on Monday following her clinching of the USO qualifying wild card in New Haven. She’s excited about a chance to make a run at Flushing Meadows. She’s also looking to a break after the Open to spend more time at home with her family and her three dogs. Not surprisingly, she’s not in favor of tinkering with the college scoring system as the NCAA is considering. Wish her luck. She’s on third on Court 11, after the Sam Crawford and Dan Kosakowski matches.
2012 US Open Men’s Qualifying Preview #USO12
All hail Steen Kirby for the following 2300 word Men’s Qualifying preview! Due to travel, I was not able to post it this morning.
–S. Fogleman
2012 US Open Men’s Qualifying Preview
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
In what is a competitive and respectable “mini” tournament in its own right, qualifying for the final slam of the year, the US Open kicked off today at Flushing Meadows in New York. On the men’s side, 128 players will vie for 16 main draw qualifying spots. The tournament will also be televised for the first time. While the players may not be big names, they bring big game to every match and here is your long preview.
Top 16 Qualifying Seeds (32 Total)
1: Igor Sijsling
2:Aljaz Bedene
3: Ricardas Berankis
4: Lukas Rosol
5: Roberto Bautista
6: Grega Zemlja
7: Vasek Pospisil
8: Horacio Zeballos
9: Florent Serra
10: Fredrico Gil
11: Matthias Bachinger
12: Michael Berrer
13: Ruben Bemelmans
14: Joao Sousa
15: Daniel Brands
16: Frank Dancevic
The rankings cut-off for the main draw was right around 100, so the players competing usually split their time between lower level ATP main draws, ATP qualifying and challengers in addition to competing in the grand slams.
First round matchups to watch:
Vasek Pospisil vs. Rhyne Williams
Pospisil is becoming a somewhat familiar name on the ATP World Tour as the Canadian #2 has played in all three majors this year, Canada’s Davis Cup tie against France in February and a couple of the Masters series events. His only win at the ATP main level this year came in Canada at the Rogers Cup over Andreas Seppi. He has had success at the challenger level, winning two this year in Canada. He is a talented player who is still trying to live up to the hype.
Williams is a former University of Tennessee standout and has only played one match at the ATP level in Indian Wells, where he lost in three sets. He did win one futures event and reached the final of another this year and he was also one of the hitting partners for the US Davis Cup Team. Time will tell if he breaks through and becomes another American standout at the pro level.
(15) Daniel Brands vs. Thiemo De Bakker
Brands and De Bakker are a couple of guys who have shown they have talent and have played well in the past, but this has just not been their year… For the German Brands, who had a career high in the top 70 just two years ago, his best result this year is a quarterfinal in Bucharest. Otherwise, his results have been lowly.
De Bakker was once ranked 40 in the world just a couple years ago, and was once the number one junior in the world and one of the top Dutch players. He now languishes just inside the top 200. De Bakker did manage to win two futures and a challenger this year, but otherwise both guys are in quite a funk and could use a kick-start at the USOpen.
(16) Frank Dancevic vs. Teymuraz Gabashvili
Dancevic is a veteran Canadian who was actually having a good early part the year before being sidelined with a pretty serious back injury that kept him off the tour for almost two months. He has also struggled with injuries in previous years and will be trying to get his groove back.
Gabashvili is a veteran grinder who has had some success on tour but has been stuck playing challengers most of the year, reaching one final.
James Ward vs. (25) Dmitry Tursunov
Tursunov is a Russian Olympian and former solid performer in a year-long slump. He has a 1-10 record on the ATP World Tour this year and was even quite amused that he had to qualify for the Aptos Challenger, tweeting “U know u r not a hot commodity when u can’t get a WC into a challenger anymore! Screw glamour, bring on the grind!!!”. He is awesome with twitter if you can’t tell…
While the Brit Ward is a veteran challenger-level player who did manage to win a futures event this year, otherwise he hasn’t done much to catch attention.
(31) Guido Pella vs. Michael Yani
Pella is a rising young Argentine player who could be their next great one. He has won a pair of challengers in South America this year and is at a career high-ranking of 150. At the age of 21, he possesses a solid and mature game. Yani is an American journeyman who won the Binghamton challenger this year.
Izak Van Der Merwe vs. Rik De Voest
In a battle for South African bragging rights, Van DerMerwe, who made the quarters in Newport, will take on De Voest, who is ranked above Van Der Merwe but is 0-3 at the ATP main draw level this year.
Paul Capdeville vs. J.P Smith
After the retirement of Fernando Gonzalez, Capdeville became the top ranked Chilean tennis player and usually splits his time between the ATP and challenger level. The Chilean vet and grinder won a challenger and reached the final of two others this year. He prefers clay.
Aussie lefty J.P Smith was a standout at the University of Tennessee alongside Rhyne Williams and Smith is one of the rising Australian players. He most recently won the Winnetka Challenger in Illinois, along with another futures event this year. He has a good chance to pull off an upset in this match.
First Quarter Draw Preview and Predictions
Igor Sijsling
Top qualifying seed Sijsling, who has won three challengers on the year and broken his way into the ATP level, takes on Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in the first round. After that, he likely faces Uldzimir Ignatik of Belarus, who has won a futures event this year and is a young Belarussian looking for a breakthrough. Radu Albot is also an option.
In the final round of qualies, Sijsling could face Josselin Ouanna of France, a former top junior who played an outstanding match at the French Open a couple of years back, beating Marat Safin in a marathon five setter. VIDEO: http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/french-highlights-safin-ouanna/12saf3w7?cpkey=d89c248e-c7c9-4f3d-8c40-47de8a18d072%7C%7C%7C%7C
Qualifies: Sijsling
2 seed Bedene is a Slovenian player in the draw along with Grega Zemja and the winner of four challengers this year, one of which was on hard court. He faces Ze Zhang of China and could get veteran Dutchman Jesse Huta Galung or young American Daniel Kosakowski in the second round. Kosakowski is a former UCLA standout and is just 20 years old.
In the third round, the winner likely faces scowling veteran Wayne Odesnik, who keeps moping his way around the tour and is 4-6 at the ATP level this year. Clement Reix, a former Clemson standout and Frenchman is also an option.
Qualifies: Odesnik
Odesnik
3 seed Ricardas Berankis, the still young ATP LA finalist, who has broken back into the top 100 after dealing with injuries, takes on Maxime Teixeria of France and could face former USC standout and Aptos Challenger finalist Roberto Farah in the second round. Farah plays Austrian vet Martin Fischer who tends to prefer clay.
In the third round, Berankis likely faces Dustin Brown, one of the more interesting players on the tour. He was once in the top 100 and has a 4-5 ATP level record this year. Another option is Tim Smyzcek who enjoys the hard court and who will play Harri Heliovaara of Finland in the 1st round. It is a matchup of great names!
Qualifies: Berankis
Lukas Rosol, the Nadal beater, takes on Kamil Capkovic of Slovakia in the first round and then the winner of Farrukh Dustov vs. Alejandro Gonzalez.
In the third round, Rosol could face Guido Pella or Michael Yani or another young American Tennys Sandgren. He shouldn’t have too much trouble with this draw, though, as he has played most of his matches at the ATP level this year and has a .500 record.
Qualifies: Rosol
Second Quarter Draw Preview and Predictions
Roberto Bautista-Agut, who is at a career high ranking inside the top 100 but is only 1-7 at the ATP level this year, just won the Pozoblanco challenger on hard court. He starts off against Marek Michilicka and will face either Israeli Amir Weintraub or Mathieu Rodrigues of France in the second round.
In the third round, he could face veteran Karol Beck of Slovakia, who was once ranked in the top 40 but is only 2-8 at the ATP level this year. Beck will play Alex Kuznetsov, who has not had a very good year but did qualify for the Aussie Open this year.
Qualifies: Beck
Grega Zemlja will take on wild card Christian Harrison (Ryan’s brother) in the first round and then will face the winner of Czech veteran Jan Herynch vs Dutch journeyman Matwe Middlekoop. Herynch was once ranked in the top 60 and has won one challenger this year, along with being 2-1 at the ATP level, so he has potential here.
In the third round, the winner could face either Belgian Yannick Mertens, Yuichi Sugita of Japan, Adrian Menedez Macerias or Thai veteran Danai Udomchoke. This is a pretty open draw for anyone who wants to seize it.
Qualifies: Herynch
The winner of Pospisil vs. Williams will take on either former top 40 player Andrey Golubev or Augstin Vellotti of Argentina. Golubev has talent, but he has slipped considerably in the rankings.
In the third round, the winner could face Spaniard Inigo Cervantes, who reached the 2nd round of Wimbledon this year, Austrian Phillip Oswald, Peter Gojowcyzk or Frenchman Jonathan Dasnieres DeVeigy.
Qualifies: Pospisil:
The Argentine vet once near the top 50, Horacio Zeballos will take on Yuki Bhambri and then the winner of Maxime Authom vs.Matteo Viola. Zeballos prefers clay and is only 3-8 at the ATP level this year, while 20-year-old Indian Bhambri has won a challenger this year.
In the third round, the winner of all that could face Thiago Alves of Brazil (former top 100), Canadian Peter Polansky, fellow Brazilian Julio Silva, or Argentine Facundo Bagnis. Most of these guys prefer clay, so this is another open draw.
Qualifies: Alves
Third Quarter Draw Preview and Predictions
Florent Serra, a veteran Frenchmen who was once top 40, will start off against Carlos Salamanca and then likely faces former top 70 player Ivo Minar in the 2nd round. Serra is 5-6 at the ATP level this year and has made the second round of all three majors this year, along with beating Brian Baker in DC.
In the 3rd round the winner likely faces the 3rdbest Swiss player Marco Chiudinelli, who was once top 60 but is only 2-6 at the ATP level this year. 2 Argentines Diego Junqueira and Marco Trungelliti are in this part of the draw as is American Bradley Klahn.
Qualifies: Serra
Former top 70 player and top Portugese player Fredrico Gil starts off against young Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert and will face the winner of Guido Andreozzi of Argentina vs. Josh Goodall, a veteran Brit. Gil is a respectable 11-13 at the ATP level this year and has much more experience compared to the rest of his draw.
In the third round, his most likely opponents are Sergei Bubka of Ukraine or German Stefan Seifert.
Qualifies: Gil
Matthias Bachinger is 9-14 at the ATP level this year and starts off against Arnau Brugues-Davi. He would then see countryman Mischa Zverev or Marsel Ilhan of Turkey in the second round. Ilhan and Zverev are both former top 100 material. Zverev was once top 50, though his results have been pretty poor this year.
In the third round, the winner of will face Gastao Elias of Portugal, who is at a career high ranking, Dominik Meffert of Germany or Adrian Mannarino. Mannarino plays a flashy style, but has taken a nose-dive in the rankings from top 50 last year to outside the top 200 now.
Qualifies: Bachinger
Serve and volleying veteran Michael Berrer of Germany, who is 4-7 at the ATP level this year, will take on Thomas Schoorel a former top 100 young gun from the Netherlands. He wold then take on the winner of Jan Mertl vs. Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol.
In the third round, Berrer could face Ukranian Illya Marchenko, a former top 70 player who takes on 20 seed Bobby Reynolds in the first round, wild card American Chase Buchanan or young Aussie James Duckworth.
Qualifies: Berrer
Fourth Quarter Draw previews and predictions:
Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium, who is at a career high ranking right around 120, starts off against Ivan Sergeyev of Ukraine and will face the winner of Gianluca Naso vs. Marius Copil in the second round.
In the third round, he could face young Argentine Fredrico Del Bonis (who is 6-8 at the ATP level this year but prefers clay and hasn’t played a tour match since July), Jimmy Wang or former top 70 player Nicolas Devilder of France (who made the third round of the French Open this year).
Qualifies: Bemelmans
Joao Sousa of Portugal, who is a respectable 4-4 at the ATP level this year, starts off against Ricardo Mello of Brazi,l a veteran who was formerly top 70 but is slumping this year. Sousa will then face the winner of Alessandro Giannessi vs Victor Estrella.
In the third round, Sousa likely faces De Voest or Van Der Merwe or Martin Alund of Argentina. Also in this part of the draw is young American wild card Mitchell Krueger.
Qualifies: Sousa
The winner of Brands vs. De Bakker will take on the winner of Capdeville vs. Smith, then likely faces Tursunov/Ward, top 70 Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer, who prefers clay and is only 1-4 at the ATP level this year is also an option.
Qualifies: Capdeville
Last but not least, the winner of Dancevic/Gabashvili will take on either Simon Greul, the German grinder who was once top 60 but is now out of the top 200, or Pedro Sousa of Portugal.
In the third round, the player who advances could face Frenchman Marc Gicquel or Croatian Antonio Veic. Gicquel, a former top 40 veteran, is easily the most familiar name here. Veic is 3-6 at the ATP level this year.
Represent: Rachel Lim On the Road to Longines Future Tennis Aces at Roland Garros
US REPRESENTATIVE RACHEL LIM TO COMPETE AT LONGINES FUTURE TENNIS ACES TOURNAMENT AT ROLAND GARROS, JUNE 7-9, 2012
Lim to Compete for a Chance to Play with Tennis Legend
Stephanie Graf Prior to the French Open Final
WEEHAWKEN, NJ – May 30, 2012 – Rachel Lim, the United States representative for the ‘Longines Future Tennis Aces’ is on the road to the French Open tournament at Roland Garros, and is currently training near her home in Briarcliff Manor, NY in preparation for her first International tournament. Lim qualified for the all-expense-paid trip to Paris following a victory at last month’s Future Tennis Aces U.S. qualifying event at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the U.S. Open, in Flushing Meadows, NY. Ranked No. 22 nationally in the 12-and-under division, Lim will compete against 15 finalists from around the world during the final weekend of the French Open.
In addition to winning an all-expense paid trip to Roland Garros, Lim will compete for a chance to play with former world No. 1 and Longines Ambassador of Elegance Stefanie Graf and member of the Longines Rising Tennis Stars Sabine Lisicki (ranked 12th at the WTA) in an exhibition match prior to the French Open Women’s Final, and financing for her tennis equipment until her 16th birthday, courtesy of Longines.
“I’m very excited to meet and play against other players from around the world,” said Lim. “I can’t wait to experience their different styles of play. This will be my first trip overseas to play a tennis tournament. I am very excited to finally be able to visit the Eiffel tower, learn about the French culture and go to the French Open at Roland Garros and have the chance of a lifetime to play on the brick clay.”
Lim started playing tennis at 5 years of age and appeared in her first national competition at age 8. Last November, she won her first USTA National Open in the 12-and-under singles division and most recently captured her second national title at the USTA National Open at Owning Mills, MD. She also placed 3rd in doubles at the same tournament.
Longines Future Tennis Aces is part of the brand’s global commitment to support and develop tennis’ superstars of tomorrow. All the players who qualified for the World Final event in Paris will have the opportunity to attend the French Open Women’s Final on June 9.
Longines is the official timekeeper of the French Open of Roland Garros. Countries competing at the Longines Future Tennis Aces World Final include: Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italia, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.
A complete schedule of events follows:
Longines Future Tennis Aces World Championship Tournament
Date: Thursday and Friday, June 7-8
Time: 10 am – 6 p.m. local time Paris
Location: Roland Garros Courts 14 & 16
Longines Future Tennis Aces World FINAL
Date: Saturday, June 9
Time: 10:15 am local time
Paris Location: Roland Garros Court 7
Stefanie Graf Exhibition Match featuring finalists from Longines Future Tennis Aces
Tournament Date: Saturday, June 9
Time: 11:15 am local Paris time
Location: Roland Garros Court 7
US Open Presale 12 Days Away: What to Buy
Are you ready for some presale?
Other than league play, the greatest benefit of being a USTA member is the ability to purchase US Open tickets before they go on sale to the public. But don’t fool yourself. You’re not really competing against the general public. You’re competing against your fellow members in a chance to snap up the most-coveted tickets in all of American tennis.
The pre-sale begins in just twelve days, on 9:00 am EDT Tuesday, April 24, 2012 and ends Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. Forget the end date. You will want to purchase on the very first day and maybe in the first five minutes.
Fans may remember the Tennis East Coast editorial about Arthur Ashe last year. Although I’m not espousing that you ever buy tickets in the Ashe upper promenade, how else are you getting into the men’s or women’s final?
What not to buy: Grounds passes and early round sessions generally do not sell out, and never during a member pre-sale. If you wait until July or August, you can score the same seats to the early rounds for less online. You can even get court side Armstrong box seats for less than the face value of a reserved (upper) seat in that stadium. Although the night session at Ashe is not a particularly good value in terms of time or money for a die-hard fan, the USTA’s buy-one-get-one-free deals may make it worth your consideration.
How much do you love the U$ Open?
Here are the top five tickets to purchase quickly at presale:
1. Men’s Final: It has been a hot ticket for a long time, but in the last two years, you can’t find a pair on Ticketmaster after the member pre-sale. In fact, you might miss out if you don’t buy within the first half-hour.
2. Women’s final: Although you may still find a pair a couple of days into the pre-sale, don’t expect them available to the general public on Ticketmaster.
3. Men’s semis: Held on the same Saturday as the women’s final, availability for these tickets will also not survive the pre-sale.
4. Super Saturday/Labor Day weekend: The hierarchy goes like this–Saturday and Sunday are hot, hot, hot and Monday usually has more availability.
5. Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day: Since you think you already knew everything I’ve told you above, I’ve saved the best for last. With Courtside Ashe tickets going for $800 and up, this is the sweetest pre-sale secret of all. For $40, you get a Courtside box seat for Kids’ Day, with up-close views of music and exhibition tennis. While you can purchase a reasonable ticket upstairs to Kids’ Day well into August, the courtside tickets are open to all and sell out within an hour. No little ones? No worries. There’s no rule that you need to bring a child to the event. With these seats, even a kid at heart will enjoy the view.
Our Semi-Annual Very Serious Editorial: How to beat the US Open at its own game
Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this stadium!
Tennis Maryland wants to preface everything we say with the acknowledgment that we love the US Open, and we want to assist, in some small way, in its constant evolution and development.
The Open experience for the average fan at Arthur Ashe Stadium has become somewhat unpleasant. It didn’t feel quite like this ten years ago. But, with the growing popularity of the event, the US Open is starting to smell. If you attend the later rounds of the tournament, it can even constitute a total disappointment. We know of only one way for a fan to beat them at their own game, and it doesn’t involve a major-league boycott.
You pay well over a hundred bucks to sit in seats which might be best suited for an NFL game, which has a much larger playing field. You deal with the machinations of Wall Street-style arbitrageurs who determine that if they stop and start play over many hours and squeeze in a single match on Arthur Ashe before nightfall hits, that you don’t get your money back. Never mind that you paid to see a full day’s worth of matches.
Then, there’s the $20 glasses of sparkling wine, $14 mixed drinks, the long lines for over-priced cafeteria food, the $40 T-shirts and the booths which give away useless junk while requiring your most personal information, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a festival of fan abuse. (Disclosure: Tennis Maryland does buy a $10 beer, but that’s about it)
The Open is even located in one of the most traffic-congested, culture-voided wastelands of an otherwise Great City of the World. It is in an area in which the New York Mets play. Further, it is in an area in which, we are sad to report, there is nothing but a giant cluster of auto-repair shops and landfills and yet still manages to charge $20 and up for daily parking. (We’ll tell you where to park for FREE in the neighborhood in a later post)
There’s been lots of spirited discussion about the lack of a roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium for years. It is the only major tennis tournament in the world without such a contingency plan in effect. For the fourth straight year, the Men’s final was not held as originally scheduled for yesterday. If you’re from out-of-town, you spend money and time to get to New York, to get out the Grand Central Parkway to Timbuktu, on a Manhattan hotel room (or take your chances on a dicey motel in a nearby Queens neighborhood), feeding your family, and then getting to watch a little tennis before they cancel the entertainment portion of your vacation.
The only fans who benefit from the lack of a roof on Arthur Ashe are local New Yorkers who can swoop in and pick up cheap tickets from prior canceled sessions. The rest of us, who New Yorkers derisively refer to as hailing from “the provinces”, foot the bill and get very little in return for our financial support.
If you've never heard of Karin Knapp, I've probably lost you by now
We can’t promise perfection, but the only way a real tennis fan with a net worth of less than 3 million dollars can have a satisfactory experience at the Open is to buy a grounds pass for the first few days of the tournament. Do not buy a ticket to Arthur Ashe Stadium, which temptingly costs only a few dollars more. The cheaper grounds pass entitles you to see, for example, 47 of the 49 singles day matches held during the day sessions on the first two days of the tournament. By not buying a ticket to Arthur Ashe, you will miss the terribly disappointing views, and more importantly, the wasted time of two or three terribly lopsided matches, if you’re lucky.
Imagine that your kids think they’ll actually get to see Roger Federer or Serena Williams play. Well, they won’t. They’ll see an ant playing tennis, and you’ll assure them that the ant is, in fact, Roger Federer or Serena Williams. You’ll confirm the ant is indeed the player by pointing the little ones to the Jumbotron. The Jumbotron at which you’re all gazing that happens to carry the same feed delivered to your home and on the Jumbotron affixed to the front of Arthur Ashe Stadium itself. Which you can see with a grounds pass.
Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of attending a night session. For the aforementioned sub-standard, nose-bleed experience, you’ll only get two scheduled matches on Ashe (at best) and nothing else. The real excitement, the excitement that happens everywhere but Ashe, will have quit for the day. Once the day session wraps up around 7:30, the only tennis to see at the National Tennis Center is the tennis you can’t see. At least if you were naive enough to buy day session tickets at Ashe, you could still wander off and see a perfectly good match in the front row on the outer courts, if only by accident.
In summary, our advice is this: Don’t buy a ticket to Arthur Ashe, well, ever, until they fix Ashe. Buy an early rounds grounds pass and see competitive world-class tennis up close and personal. You’ll still deal with the over-priced food, souvenirs, beverages and depressing surroundings of Flushing Meadows. But, this way, you will definitely send them a message. Fix Ashe. Tear it down if necessary. Make it smaller if needed. But, please, let the fans SEE the players. And let’s guarantee tennis is played there every day and evening during the US Open.
If you’ve been to smaller tournaments, then you know it doesn’t have to be this way. We only expect the Slams to operate with a roof. We don’t expect it from everyone else. At ATP and WTA tournaments all over the country, you get a far more intimate, fan-friendly experience for a fraction of the price. At these smaller events, the winner doesn’t get a $1 million check. But if you can’t even read the words on that giant check from where you’re sitting at the Open, you might as well just watch it on television. What’s worse is that you can’t even read that giant check from your seats and you helped pay for the prize money. And if there’s a monsoon and there’s no roof, then it is a waste of everyone’s time. And money.
On this one issue alone, it’s hard to get an informed opinion from credentialed media, who, although they are highly respectable and independent professionals, don’t feel the full pain of the average fan during the tournament because they are not in the exact same boat.
In closing, we urge readers to get out and see the rest of the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. See Armstrong. See Grandstand. A grounds pass will get you an amazing view without a reserved seat. They’re likely going to tear those stadia down soon. See the new Court 17, the classic Court 13 and the much smaller courts. You’ll be very glad that you did. There have been audible grumblings during this very Open by players and officials as to the US Open management’s bottom-line, my-way-or-the-highway mentality. Sadly for them, only the collective power of the fans and their wallets can improve this priceless American tennis experience.
