OK its time for the first of my posts on the final grand slam of the season, the US Open, based at Flushing Meadows in New York city. Its the second hard court slam of the season as well, which will see alot of the top players competing it out probably more so than before as most players play well on hard court. Anyway here my first look at the first round matches from Day 1 and Day 2:
Soooo to start with the ladies, we first up had the defending champion Sam Stosur out on court playing Petra Martic, who did well at the French Open in getting to the 4th round. However Petra proved no threat whatsoever to Stosur on Arthur Ashe stadium as she wiped the floor with Martic, conceding only two games enroute to an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 victory. This is a mighty impressive start from Sam who might have felt some pressue going in as the champion, but she very well to find her form straight off, which might help her keep the momentum and title defence alive for a while longer. After that Li Na was up against the British No.1, Heather Watson, but unfortunately for Heather, Li proved to be that bit just too good for her, and it was over pretty quick in 6-2, 6-3. Maria Sharapova also had very little trouble against Melinda Czink of Hungary, as she thrashed her in 6-2, 6-2. Marion Bartoli however had a tougher test against the American player, Jamie Hampton, but she overcame her with a 6-3, 7-6 win. Petra Kvitova also got through, and after a tough first set, she breezed past her opponent, Polona Hercog in 7-6, 6-1. Kim Clijsters, the former champion managed to carve up the American, Victoria Duvla in 6-1, 6-3, to set up a 2nd round match with the british Laura Robson, which should be interesting! And finally Victoria Azarenka crushed her first round opponent (which she usually does!) Alexandra Panova, conceding just one game, with a bruising 6-0, 6-1 win.
There were also some upsets for the German players as we saw three seeds go out already, with Julia Goerges who took a shock exit against the Czeck player, Kristyna Plikova in 7-6, 6-1. And Sabine Lisicki went out after battling against Sorana Cirstea from Romania in 6-4, 2-6, 2-6. And finally Andrea Petkovic, who has just recently made her return on tour after sustaining an ankle injury in Stuttgart that put her out of commission for almost half the year, went out to the Swiss player, Romina Oprandi in 6-2, 7-5. This in a way is understandable since Petko has been out of the game so long and she hasn't had much match play so it will take her a while to build her game up again, so let's hope she can do that soon. But its great to see Andrea back on tour as she really is a breath of fresh for the ladies game as she is such a bubbly bright character, although apparently she is doing away with the Pekto dance!
There was also another big upset, in fact the biggest yet on the laides as Caroline Wozniacki went on out in straight sets to Irina-Camelia Begu in a shock 6-2, 6-2 loss. This probably ranks as the single worst defeat of Caroline's career so far as she has lost early on in tournaments farily regularly of late, but never as bad as this. However I think this defeat was largely down to her knee injury, which she sustained last week when she played in New Haven, where she was the defending champion but was forced to retire in her semi final match. So it really sees the ailing Wozzer go from bad to even worse this year, and yet only 18 months ago she was ontop of the world in the rankings and as a player, but its amazing how things can change. Regardless of that I hope Caroline recovers soon and eventually picks her game up.
Right onto the men, starting with Andy Murray, who after his Olympic gold glory at Wimbledon was expected to put in a strong start, as he faced the Russian/American player, Alex Bogomolov Jr. However it was far from a smooth match, as Andy struggled on serve, particularly in the first two sets, as Bogomolov went up a break in the 1st, before Andy broke back, and the same again in the 2nd set, regardless Andy took the first two sets. And in the 3rd despite a slight blip on serve, Andy finally managed to hold on and closed out a ropey match with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory. This was hardly the form we might have expected from the Olympic champion, but then again Andy is no longer on the grass court at Wimbledon with 15,000 fans behind him, and he has to adapt to the change in surface as well. So it was a stuttering start from him, but the main thing was that Andy managed to get the win in straight sets, despite the nature of the match, and that Andy looked sluggish out on court and like he didn't want to be there. But from here things don't get much easier, and Andy will play the talented Croatian player, Ivan Dodig, who could prove to be his first test, so Andy will need to be more on his game and play better, but I'm sure he will, and if he doesn't, then he will do enough to get through. But I think we could be in for our first Murray dramathon in this next one! :-)
Serena Williams on the other hand had zero trouble getting past her fellow American, Coco Vanderweghe (is that how its spelt???) with a brutal 6-1, 6-1 victory, which shows that she means business, and no doubt still remains on course as the hot fav to win the title. However Francesca Schiavone was less fortunate as she lost to the home player and promising upcomer, Sloane Stephens, who beat the Italian, who put in a very ropey performance in 6-3, 6-4. But Jelena Jankovic managed better form as she breezed past Kateryna Bodarenko in 6-1, 6-2.
In other men's matches, Roger Federer had no trouble in getting past the American player, Donald Young, as he cruised past the young (no pun intended!) fella with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win. Young himself was particularly frustrated with the hot and blustery conditions on the court as well as playing under the floodlights on Arthur Ashe stadium, and playing the greatest player to have played the game didn't help either! But that sees Roger get through trouble free to the next match which will be against Bjorn Phau of Germany. Mardy Fish however a tougher time playing the Japanese no.2, Go Soeda, which he defeated in 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. Tomas Berdych overcame the plucky young Belgium player, David Goffin, in straight sets with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 win. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga secured his place in the 2nd round after beating Karol Beck in 6-1, 6-2, 7-6, and Nicolas Almagro fought his way past Radek Stepanek in 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to reach a 2nd round clash with the German, Philipp Petzchner. And finally Milos Raonic, the in form young big Canadian, battled his way to victory over the Colombian player, Santiago Giraldo, with a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
In other matches on the men's Novak Djokovic couldn't have made a more positive start as he emphatically drubbed the Italian Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets with a crushing 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 win. Ouch. I think its safe to say that Djoko means business, and he is looking mighty good again, but it is only the first round, more tough opponents await. David Ferrer who was backlogged in his 1st round match due to the rain on the first day, played his first round match, which was very entertaining against the giant South Aftrican, Kevin Anderson, with the big fella causing one or two problems for the little beast (one of Ferrer's nicknames). However Ferrer proved too good in the end as he overcame the big man in 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(3).
So plenty more matches to follow as the US Open heads towards the 2nd round, and I have to say its been a bit of a slow start so far, with some matches better than others, but I'm sure it will start to pick up soon, as the world's most enthusiastic crowd will have plenty to cheer about as the tournament gets deeper.
And that is that!
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