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U.S. Open Tennis: Days 1 and 2

August 26, 2008

The first two days of the U.S. Open produced few surprises. Rafael Nadal began play as the world’s number one with a tough straight set win over qualifier Bjorn Phau, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (7-4). Nadal was up to his  usual antics, switching rackets just before an important Phau service game in the first set and later call for the trainer to attend to an “overly hot foot” - not blisters - during a changeover before Phau served. “Raffa” was obviously a bit shaken by the play of Phau and the fact that the New York crowd was squarely behind the qualifier. Nadal served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, hit some nervous shots, and was broken. But Nadal came through in the tie-breaker.

Number nine seed James Blake barely escaped a first rouynd upset as he staved off #99-ranked Donald Young. After taking the first set 6-1 in 18 minuted blake seemed to let up just a bit and Young took advantage, winning the second, 6-3. Blake then got into the type of groove where he can beat anyone in the world and demolished Young 6-1 in the third set and lead 2-0 in the fourth.

At that point Young dug in, held his serve after facing a break point, then played a long game where he had seven chances to break Blake’s serve before finally converting on the eighth break point opportunity. Young continued to surge and the level of play from both players picked mup considerably.

Young took the fourth set 6-4. The two battled hard throughout the fifth set but it appeared Young tired just a bit late in the fifth and was broken by Blake at 4-4. Blake then served out the match to complete a 6-1 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory in a bit more than three hours.

Roger Federer easily finished off Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in straight sets 6-3 6-0 6-3.

There were two upsets on the men’s side. Sam Querry easily defeated #22 Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-1 6-2 and Tommy Haas defeated #12-seed Richard Gasquet 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 5-7 7-5 6-2.

On the women’s side world’s number one Ana Ivanovic played a nervous match and barely escaped with a 6-1 4-6 6-4 win over Vera Dushevina. Ivanovic was leading 6-1 and was up a break in the second set and had a break point to go up two breaks. She began to guide her forehands rather than swing through them and lost control of her game and for a set and a half, the match. However, the thought of defeating Ivanovic was too much for Dushevina and she succumbed playing two atrocious games to lose the match.

Serena Williams, ranked #4 brushed aside Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-1 6-4. Serena’s sister Venus had an equally easy time with Samantha Stosur, winning 6-2 6-3. Stosur was ranked as high as #27 last year but contracted Lyme’s disease and is working her way back into playing form. Venus looked very good in defeating the tough Stosur, giving the Australian little chance to use her net game and ability to run down shots. Williams constantly beat Stosur to the net using her deep groundstrokes to set up forays to the net. And Stosur found herself constantly wrong-footed by Venus during baeline rallies.

Daniela Hantuchova was upset by Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-4 6-2 and Ekatrina Makarova upset Anna Chavetadze, 1-6 6-2 6-3.

Written by dwil · Filed Under DWil, Odds and..., Tennis 

Comments

One Response to “U.S. Open Tennis: Days 1 and 2”

  1. kos on August 27th, 2008 8:47 am

    I saw the Blake-Young match from the third set on. It was another of those classic U.S. Open matches. It’s a shame that they had to put the two American black guys against each other in the first round. Blake has always frustrated me because of all the talent that he has, yet he’s never seemed to be able to put it together for a solid two weeks. Young needs some big wins to increase his confidence. For all of his tools, he has yet to get that break through win. He gets into a lot of games that he could potentially win, but can’t seem to pull it out. I’m pretty sure that if he could get it, we could see him get to at least the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.

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