U.S. Open 2011

RosyLily

Draws are made; potential match-ups have been suggested. Less than 4 days to go until the beginning of the U.S. Open 2011- the final major of the year.

Men's Draw will probably generate more buzz, what with Novak Djokovic on a hot streak and nursing an injury. He will be many people's pick for the title. Seeded No.1, Nole will face a qualifier in the first round (imagine if it was Sorensen or Niland...fantastic!:D). To be honest, he should not be troubled until the QF where he might face Gael Monfils. Potental SF opponent could be Federer, which could be very interesting as they haven't played each other since Roger halted "The Streak" at RG earlier this year (afaik).

Speaking of Federer, he faces Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in the first round. Quite a tough draw in a way. He could face either Mardy Fish or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the QF. Tsonga seems to have Fed's number this year...could be intriguing. Although Jo is suffering from an arm injury...I expect Fed to target this, if both reach the latter stages of course!

On the other side of the draw lies Rafael Nadal. He hasn't been at his best this hard-court season losing to Fish at Cincinnati and Dodig at Rogers Cup. He is seeded 2nd and will play Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev in the opening round. Andy Roddick and David Ferrer are two players in his quarter that I'd be worried about. Andy has had a terrible season but he seems to be turning it around now and might give Nadal a test if they play each other. Many will remember Ferrer's win over Nadal at Aussie, Rafa will probably be looking for revenge if they meet.

Potential SF opponent for Rafa might be Andy Murray- seeded 4th again. His first round opponent is India's Somdev Devvarman- should cause no trouble for Andy. Must say he has quite a tough draw, a few dangerous floaters in it- Haase, Wawrinka, Soderling, Lopez.
Biggest threat will be Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion. Delpo is improved significantly this season after his wrist injury. He will surely be looking to reclaim the title he never got to defend.

Once again the women's draw is wide open! With Kim Clijsters ruled out due to foot injury, a new champion will be crowned. And once again Caroline Wozniacki is seeded Number 1. She will face Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round. She got a pretty tough draw- Gajdosova, Hantuchova, Kuznetsova, Petkovic and Li are all there! The Dane is definitely not playing her best tennis and I would not be surprised if she fell at the quarter-final stage!

Number 2 seed Vera Zvonareva didn't get a cakewalk either. Lisicki, Cibulkova, Stosur, Petrova and Bartoli are all in her quarter of the draw. Hopefully Vera can hold it together and reach the later stages of the tournament.

Maria Sharapova, recent winner of the Cincinnati Masters, is seeded 3 for the tournament. She'll face Britain's Heather Watson in the first round. Another tough draw for female top seed; Goerges, Radwanska, Kvitova are in Maria's quarter. I expect her to come out of this section...provided Kvitova doesn't find her A-game!

Many people's pick for the title would be Serena Williams. Considering how up-and-down the women's game is and how she decimated the field at Stanford, it would be foolish to rule her out. Potential great match between Azarenka and Serena Williams in the 3rd round!! She will definitely cause headaches for any opponent!

Paddy Power has Novak (@ 11/8) and Serena Williams (@ 7/5) as favourites for the titles.

Predictions
Men's Title: Novak Djokovic..but my heart says Federer!:o:o Dark Horse: Juan Martin del Potro
Women's Title: Maria Sharapova...but I really haven't a clue!!! Dark Horse: Serena Williams

Hope Hurricane Irene blows over in time for Monday!:D

Johnmb

In the men's, Djokovic is the favorite, but confidence might be down a bit after his last match. This might be Murray's best opportunity, but I actually wouldn't be surprised if someone outside the top 4 wins it. I think this could be the one for an unlikely man to win, like the women had in Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

On the women's side, Serena just has to show up. The others need her to pick up an injury to have a chance, and even then, unless she withdraws they probably still wouldn't be able to beat her! If one somehow does manage to pull off an upset, they'll lose the next round (unless it's in the final!).

KINGVictor

Nice analysis there...


My Predictions are:

• Men's Title-

It looks like Novak's title to loose, he is in a great form and shape but somehow I sense that Roger will step up and defeat him in the semis. I think there is a possibility of Murray getting back into winning ways after his Cincinatti victory over Novak, he will get to the semis and meet Nadal and he will loose...I see Nadal or Fed winning this one...

I'll be brave and go with Nadal simply because he can be very coy and deceptive, a trait he probably learnt from his uncle Tony...I think he will take advantage of Novak's fatique, Roger's vulnerabilty and Murray's persistent failure to rise up to the occasion.

• Women's Title:

Far less complicated compared to the mens.

I see Sharapova as a major contender but I am afraid her consistent double faults will let her down at some stage of the competition, possibly in the semis or quaters. The women's No1(?) Wozniaki has no chance in my opinion, she is young and has too much responsibility bestowed upon her at the moment. Lisciki, Li-na, Bartoli will reach the quaters, one of them the semis. Venus W has no chance, she should retire after this tournament.
The top contenders in my opinion are Serena and Kvitova...Serena is a monster of a player and Kvitova is a silent killer.....my verdict? Cant choose...but I think it will be of them to win the competition.

mountain

both Louk Sorensen and Conor Niland through to the main draw..

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/cmatch/04qs.html

the_monkey

KINGVictor wrote: »

Nice analysis there...


My Predictions are:

• Men's Title-

It looks like Novak's title to loose, he is in a great form and shape but somehow I sense that Roger will step up and defeat him in the semis. I think there is a possibility of Murray getting back into winning ways after his Cincinatti victory over Novak, he will get to the semis and meet Nadal and he will loose...I see Nadal or Fed winning this one...

I'll be brave and go with Nadal simply because he can be very coy and deceptive, a trait he probably learnt from his uncle Tony...I think he will take advantage of Novak's fatique, Roger's vulnerabilty and Murray's persistent failure to rise up to the occasion.

• Women's Title:

Far less complicated compared to the mens.

I see Sharapova as a major contender but I am afraid her consistent double faults will let her down at some stage of the competition, possibly in the semis or quaters. The women's No1(?) Wozniaki has no chance in my opinion, she is young and has too much responsibility bestowed upon her at the moment. Lisciki, Li-na, Bartoli will reach the quaters, one of them the semis. Venus W has no chance, she should retire after this tournament.
The top contenders in my opinion are Serena and Kvitova...Serena is a monster of a player and Kvitova is a silent killer.....my verdict? Cant choose...but I think it will be of them to win the competition.

ç





If Fed does beat Novak in the semis, that's it done deal for Nadal...

Johnmb

the_monkey wrote: »

If Fed does beat Novak in the semis, that's it done deal for Nadal...

I think if it was a Fed/Nadal final, Fed would win it. The US Open is probably his best surface to face Nadal on, especially in Nadal's current frame of mind.

the_monkey

Johnmb wrote: »

I think if it was a Fed/Nadal final, Fed would win it. The US Open is probably his best surface to face Nadal on, especially in Nadal's current frame of mind.

Negative .

Fed turns into a great big dripping wet baby girl against Nadal .
Not a Chance - Novak needs to win it to retain dignity in the game and prevent
that cheating disgrace winning it again.

Johnmb

the_monkey wrote: »

Negative .

Fed turns into a great big dripping wet baby girl against Nadal .
Not a Chance - Novak needs to win it to retain dignity in the game and prevent
that cheating disgrace winning it again.

Not so much off clay. The main two times it happened in non-clay major finals, Federer was going for records (overall slam record at the Oz Open, and 6 in a row at Wimbledon). He collapsed under the pressure of the record more than to Nadal. Same thing happened at the US Open against DelPotro when going for 6 in a row. There's no big record, and no associated pressure, this time. On clay, he can't handle Nadal, on Deco he can.

digme

Novak Djokovic VS Conor Niland

Cosmo Kramer

mountain wrote: »

both Louk Sorensen and Conor Niland through to the main draw..

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/cmatch/04qs.html

Niland v Djokovic and Sorensen v Soderling!

Huge matches for the two Irish lads.

RosyLily

RosyLily wrote: »

Nole will face a qualifier in the first round (imagine if it was Sorensen or Niland...fantastic!:D).

Called it!:p
Delighted Sorensen and Niland got huge matches; it will be great for Irish tennis!

More than likely Niland/Djokovic will be played on Arthur Ashe...imagine walking out onto that court...the atmosphere would be amazing!!

At least they'll be on tv anyway, really want to watch those 2 matches! Hope it'll encourage more to play tennis!

the_monkey

RosyLily wrote: »

Called it!:p
Delighted Sorensen and Niland got huge matches; it will be great for Irish tennis!

More than likely Niland/Djokovic will be played on Arthur Ashe...imagine walking out onto that court...the atmosphere would be amazing!!

At least they'll be on tv anyway, really want to watch those 2 matches! Hope it'll encourage more to play tennis!

Absolutely and Djokovic's shoulder is wrecked so you never know ....

digme

Did anyone spot Agnieszka Radwanska is playing (Urszula) her sister later?

Samich

Anyone know why the malisse match is suspended??

RosyLily

Samich wrote: »

Anyone know why the malisse match is suspended??

Malisse match went ahead didn't it? Unless usopen.org is lying!

_Bella_

Really impressed by Watsons performance against Sharapova at the moment, even though Sharapova will probably win, Watson has shown glimpses of her promise. Great match for Niland, looking at the schedule it should be on around 8 our time.

Is anyone else really frustrated by Novak and Roger always being in the same half, it cannot be possible for it too randomly have occured so many times. Its as if the organisers still want a Roger Rafa final.

RosyLily

Watson was impressive! These days, Sharapova seems to be very slow in the 1st set then begin to find her rhythm as the match wears on. At least her double faults were in single figures today!:)

Really surprised Kvitova got knocked out this early! I thought her game might come together for the slam, obviously not! The match was quite painful to watch, especially after her playing so well @ Wimbledon. Her game today was very wobbly and error-strewn. Not the same Petra we've seen before.

Niland/Djokovic on 3rd on Ashe tomorrow...exciting!!! Like Bella mentioned, it probably could be on 8pm our time, maybe sooner if Wozniacki and Azarenka breezed through their matches.

FYI, Victor Troicki just got knocked out in 5 sets by Alejandro Falla. Good match, Falla saved match point in 4th set.

coconut5

What time is the Niland/Djokovic match on? How great for Conor. Is it on TV, or only Sky Sports or something?

rjp123

on around 1930 irish time. sky sports and eurosport should both have it as feature match.

Scanlas The 2nd

I'd love Federer to win this but I have serious doubts he'll make it to the semis now after transforming into Federror for parts of his first round match. Why do tennis players peak younger and decline younger than in other sports?

Stevecw

Looking forward to Nilands match later. Hope he puts up a good show and can take a few games off Djokovic. Gonna be almost impossible to win a set even. But really hope it doesn't end up a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 job.

After so many years playing, at 29 is finally making slams and now gets to play the world no 1 on main court of Flushing Meadows in front of so many people. It must be a dream come through for him.

Samich

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

I'd love Federer to win this but I have serious doubts he'll make it to the semis now after transforming into Federror for parts of his first round match. Why do tennis players peak younger and decline younger than in other sports?

In tennis the conditions stay the same for the most part so the players can fine tune their skills better.

In soccer/golf the conditions change and decisions are made during the course of play and experience comes into it. Maybe that's why? Also younger players tend to be hungrier.

ManwitaPlan

Holy **** Annabel Croft is anorexic. She has always been on the thin side but she looks skeletal:eek:

John.Icy

DAMN....Amazing matchup for Niland, and can't even watch it...eurosport dont seem to have any matches on arthur ashe today...don't have sky sports....devastated.

Stevecw

John.Icy wrote: »

DAMN....Amazing matchup for Niland, and can't even watch it...eurosport dont seem to have any matches on arthur ashe today...don't have sky sports....devastated.

There will be loads of links online to this as it's on the main court.

Try this out for starters:
http://www.vipbox.tv/sports/tennis.html

They have 4 links already for it when it gets started.

Could be pretty soon as Wozniacki is 4-1 up in 2nd set of her match. Conor is on after she wins.

John.Icy

With broadband speeds of 0.10mb, online tv is a thing of the future sadly..

Good luck to Conor anyway, hope he gets a few games at least.

the_monkey

Niland allready down a break in 1st set - i'm confident of a Niland win tho ....
nervy start but he'll prevail .... 1-6 2-6 7-6 7-6 7-6(20-18)...

Stevecw

From Caroline Cheese on Twitter a BBC sports reporter:
Caroline Cheese
Sky saying Irish hero Conor Niland has food poisoning and threw up on court before facing.... world number one Novak Djokovic

Hope its only nerves and not food poisoning

the_monkey

16 min ... Djokovic 5 - 0 Niland ... I'm not worried ...

Stevecw

the_monkey wrote: »

16 min ... Djokovic 5 - 0 Niland ... I'm not worried ...

Geeze its not looking good at all. Hope he can at least win a game or 2.
Nole is strolling thru this, its hard to watch at this stage

Stevecw

Ouch 1st set over 6-0 in 21 mins

the_monkey

Jesus, 21 min and 1st set won 6-0 ... amazing, Niland is a class tennis player
and Djokovic is just making him look like a sunday league player.


edit - Hope he doesn't have to retire ...

Stevecw

He seems ok now, needs to hold here now, new balls too.

the_monkey

GAME NILAND!!

Stevecw

Wahey he won a game, amazing shot 2nd last point in that game!!

the_monkey

What a pity he had to retire - he must be gutted...

Stevecw

Retired at 1-5 down in 2nd

What I posted earlier about the food poison must have been true. So sad, as you could see he was stuggling badly. What a terrible way to ruin the day he has wished for all his career

Rjd2

No surprise to see Li and especially Kvitova out, both have been poor recently, Kvitova struggles with the heat and never does anything here. It does look between Maria and Serena sadly ( I dislike both) Zvonareva and Azarenka are best of the rest.

Men's side is between the usual 4, I can't see Del Potro doing much, he has been muck recently, Fish is probably best of the rest in great form and has the perfect game for this competition.

As I type Nadal making very hard of Golubev...

RosyLily

Louk Sorensen vs. Robin Soderling is first on Grandstand today, 4pm Irish time. Shame it wasn't on Ashe or Armstrong.

Not surprised that Li Na is gone tbh. She's playing very poor after winning RG. All female winners of this year's Grand Slams are gone bye-bye already.

Hard to see past Sharapova or Serena for the Women's title.

Rjd2

RTE TEXT

by Rob Wright

1-0

Sorensen gets off to a poor start with a double fault on his first serve. He's a bit more conservative with his serve after that and leaves is short, a long rally ensues and he wins the point as Soderling hits it out on the right.

The Irishman looks happy to play from the baseline but he's going to have to be more acurate as a long return goes long. He follows that up with another two unforced error and da Silva wins the first game 30-40.

1607 I'm not sure if this match has caught the imagination of the local fans in the same way that yesterday's clash between Novak Djokovic and Conor Niland as there are plenty of empty seats in the stands.

1601 Here we go, both players are out on the Grandstand Court and going through their warm-up routines. It's a balmy 24 degress out there and conditions are almost perfect for tennis.

1445 Ireland's first US Open involvement ended in disaster yesterday evening when a food poisoning afflicted Conor Niland was forced to retire just two sets into his clash with world number one Novak Djokovic.

There are no fitness problems for Louk Sorensen (ATP Rank 678) and he is expected to provide a tougher test for 6'4 Swede Robin Soderling, but the odds are still stacked against the Irish player.

The match is expected to get underway at 4pm and you can follow game-by-game updates here.



http://www.rte.ie/sport/tennis/2011/0831/tennis_sorensenl.html



Soderling pulled out not before the match begun, not sure if the idiot covering it is to sure though:pac:


What match is he watching!!!

bing3

Didnt realise they had stand ins for the first round. How does that work? Sorensen does not look match fit...

Stevecw

Sorensen has recovered well after a terrible 1st set which he lost 6-0. Won 2nd 6-3, and its currently *3-4 in 3rd.
Just had a medical timeout there for treatment on his right arm/wrist. Hope he doesn't have to pull out aswell.

Good link to match here http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/81363/1/watch-da-silva-vs-sorensen-(grandstand).html

Stevecw

Lost 2nd set 6-4, and seems to have an injured thumb and some kind of injury to his leg too. Not looking good

Stevecw

Lost 3rd 6-4. And now retired injured What a disaster this has been for the 2 Irish lads

bing3

Little bit dissapointed with the lads i gotta say. I know that this is their livelihood and all, and you dont want to exacerbate an injury if your not going to win. But these are Grand Slams and you may not make another.
Retirement these days seem far too common. Perhaps a deduction in the purse would make players think twice about it.
Not a rant against our guys just think its creeping in a bit too often.

Johnmb

bing3 wrote: »

Didnt realise they had stand ins for the first round. How does that work? Sorensen does not look match fit...

"Lucky losers". Basically, if you lose the final round of the qualifying, and are willing to show up each day of the first round matches and sign in, if someone withdraws prior to the start of their first round match, you can get their place. Obviously, it can only happen for the first round, and they have to withdraw prior to the match. If they go on court, and withdraw after a few warm-up shots, it's too late for an alternate to step in.

rjp123

bing3 wrote: »

Little bit dissapointed with the lads i gotta say. I know that this is their livelihood and all, and you dont want to exacerbate an injury if your not going to win. But these are Grand Slams and you may not make another.
Retirement these days seem far too common. Perhaps a deduction in the purse would make players think twice about it.
Not a rant against our guys just think its creeping in a bit too often.

So you think players are willingly dropping out of grand slams ?

bing3

rjp123 wrote: »

So you think players are willingly dropping out of grand slams ?

Not so much the slams but certainly in other tournaments these precautionary retirements seem dubious to say the least. You get players pulling out at a set and 5-0 down so as it wont be seen as a 'proper' loss.
Even Djokovic; much as I admire him, retiring in Cincinatti in the final cos he had a sore arm seems a cop out seeing as he played the next week.

rjp123

bing3 wrote: »

rjp123 wrote: »

So you think players are willingly dropping out of grand slams ?

Not so much the slams but certainly in other tournaments these precautionary retirements seem dubious to say the least. You get players pulling out at a set and 5-0 down so as it wont be seen as a 'proper' loss.
Even Djokovic; much as I admire him, retiring in Cincinatti in the final cos he had a sore arm seems a cop out seeing as he played the next week.

I think that due to the intensity of the hitting and basically the grind in the mens tennis that injuries are inevitable. Tennis basically has no off season unlike most other sports. Guys get injuries. The fact that they don't break down more often is actually surprising.

Possibly at the v high rankings (top 20) in the lead up to the slams a certain degree of self preservation comes into it but I'd suggest this the exception to the norm. (i.emaybe djokovic was minding himself but isn't he right?? Cincy or usopen?? Easy choice).

I'd say at the lower levels that guys are playing with all sorts of problems week in week out.

They simply wouldn't last by pulling out on a whim. Its not about fooling people or saving face.You are either playing or your not. If your not your ranking slips down and stays down. No one gives a **** if you pulled out or lost or didn't play- your overall performances speak for themselves.

I don't think djokovic is worried about having a loss marked against him ( he pulled out so it's a loss anyway). He has only one thing on his mind for sept.

People pull out of local club tournaments to save face. It doesn't happen when it's done for a living.

RosyLily

BREAKING NEWS

Andy Murray smiled during his match against Robin Hasse...no joke!:P:pac:

Fantastic match between both players, definite contender for match of the tournament! Everyone had chances to win and it was very dramatic...would love to have been in the crowd for it! Haase is a dangerous opponent, got some great skills!

Quite surprised that Maria Sharapova was knocked out by Flavia Pennetta. Poor first set from Maria. I thought she would definitely up her game for the final set but it didn't happen. She looked pretty tight and her serve broken down on occasion. BAH! There goes my pick for the tournament!!:mad: I'm a jinx!:rolleyes:

Crazily enough, according to a retweet from Alexandra Willis (blogger and tennis writer), Sharapova will reach No. 2 in the world if Serena defeats Azarenka, Lisicki defeats Zvonareva and Schiavone doesn't win the title.

digme

I'm really looking forward to verdasco and tsonga at around 8 tonight