Sunday, August 24, 2014

The 2014 US Open

by Savannah

WTA Main Draw

Serena Williams (USA) [1] v Taylor Townsend (USA)
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Vania King (USA)
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) v Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL)
Mona Barthel (GER) v Shuai Zhang (CHN) [32]

Samantha Stosur (AUS) [24] v Lauren Davis (USA)
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v Kaia Kanepi (EST)
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v Donna Vekic (CRO)
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) [15]

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [11] v Julia Goerges (GER)
Shelby Rogers (USA) v Q ZANEVSKA, Maryna UKR
Nicole Gibbs (USA) v Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Teliana Pereira (BRA) v A.Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [23]

Casey Dellacqua (AUS) [29] v P.Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)
Q KANIA, Paula POL v Q WANG, Qiang CHN
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)
Alison Riske (USA) v Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [8]


Petra Kvitova (CZE) [3] v Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
Klara Koukalova (CZE) v Petra Cetkovska (CZE)
Q KRUNIC, Aleksandra SRB v Katarzyna Piter (POL)
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) v Madison Keys (USA) [27]

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [20] v Marina Erakovic (NZL)
Elena Vesnina (RUS) v Q CHAN, Yung-Jan TPE
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v Christina McHale (USA)
Misaki Doi (JPN) v Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [16]

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [12] v Catherine Bellis (USA)
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) v Q TSURENKO, Lesia UKR
Elina Svitolina (UKR) v Polona Hercog (SLO)
Grace Min (USA) v Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [17]

B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) [30] v Q BARTY, Ashleigh AUS
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v Monica Niculescu (ROU)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [7]


Angelique Kerber (GER) [6] v Q PERVAK, Ksenia RUS
Q DUAN, Ying-Ying CHN v Q KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS
Belinda Bencic (SUI) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v Kurumi Nara (JPN) [31]

Sloane Stephens (USA) [21] v Annika Beck (GER)
Virginie Razzano (FRA) v Johanna Larsson (SWE)
Karin Knapp (ITA) v Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) v Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [9]

Lucie Safarova (CZE) [14] v Timea Babos (HUN)
Q ZHENG, Saisai CHN v Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
Romina Oprandi (SUI) v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Amandine Hesse (FRA) v Alize Cornet (FRA) [22]

Roberta Vinci (ITA) [28] v Paula Ormaechea (ARG)
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)
Shuai Peng (CHN) v Jie Zheng (CHN)
Sharon Fichman (CAN) v Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4]


Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5] v Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) v Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)
Julia Glushko (ISR) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Q ABANDA, Francoise CAN v Sabine Lisicki (GER) [26]

Andrea Petkovic (GER) [18] v Q JABEUR, Ons TUN
Tereza Smitkova (CZE) v Monica Puig (PUR)
Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) v Q SASNOVICH, Aliaksandra BLR
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) v Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [10]

Sara Errani (ITA) [13] v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
Q RODIONOVA, Anastasia AUS v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Kiki Bertens (NED) v Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA) [19]

Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [25] v Q LUCIC-BARONI, Mirjana CRO
Johanna Konta (GBR) v Shahar Peer (ISR)
Jana Cepelova (SVK) v M.Torro-Flor (ESP)
Danielle Rose Collins (USA) v Simona Halep (ROU) [2]


Interesting women's draw to say the least. I mean Serena Williams vs Taylor Townsend right off the bat? Serena hasn't been playing all that well of late although she pulled herself together and won Cincinnati. I expect that I'll watch this match on a stream because US commentators are obsessed with the physiques of these women and I suspect that will be all they talk about. If you have no recourse other than ESPN or Tennis Channel you've been warned. Televisions are expensive and throwing objects at them does no good anyway. Does Taylor have a chance? The stars pace themselves to survive the two weeks and she could catch Serena napping. Personally I think Serena will wipe the floor with Taylor just because but anything is possible. I'm guessing the USTA is still a bit pissed off with Taylor for calling them out on their fat shaming bullshit a couple of years ago.

Everyone who reads this space knows I've been waiting to see what kind of draw the new WTA superstah (spelling correct) would get. She's in the bottom half of the top half and I think she has a pretty good chance of making it to week two, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova not withstanding. BZS has been playing well of late but I've never been that impressed with her at majors. She competes well at the tournaments she should and that's about it with her. Is it possible for her to beat the superstah early? Of course it is. Anything is possible. The WTA has a lot riding on her not doing that though.

The other interesting draw position is the Siberian Bansidhe. She is usually well hidden in Slam draws, a tribute to her agent's work behind the scenes. This time she's in the bottom half of the bottom of the draw and there is absolutely no one around her who can stop her from screaming and stomping her way to the second week. She should make the semi's where she could potentially face Simona Halep. As we've seen twice now Halep is totally intimidated when she plays Maria Sharapova and I don't see why this wouldn't happen again. Being the bully that she is Pova will be licking her chops if that semi comes to pass.

A lot of people are talking about Venus Williams vs Kimiko Date Krumm and again there's a lot of snark involved. They're veterans. Date Krumm has had a shit year or two. Venus played very well in the warm up tournaments but this is a Slam. It was obvious that she can no longer play high quality matches back to back although she could do okay in Week 1.

Ana Ivanovic, the male tennis writers fave, has a very nice draw. She's been playing very well lately and I don't see anyone stopping her from making the second week.

I would like to be more positive about Sloane Stephens but I can't. She's still mentally lazy and acts as if exerting herself is just too much for her delicate constitution. She needs to do show that she was worthy of the hype she got after beating an injured Serena in Melbourne. I don't expect her to do much with what she's been given.

In fact the USTA did American women no favors. Then again the US tennis establishment hates women's tennis so it's really no surprise that they'd sacrifice their own.

And can someone please explain to me how Madison Brengle, who has done nothing, gets a WC instead of having to go through Qualies?

ATP Main Draw

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Gilles Muller (LUX) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) v Sam Querrey (USA)
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) [28]

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [22] v Q BAGNIS, Facundo ARG
Michael Llodra (FRA) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Marcos Giron (USA) v John Isner (USA) [13]

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9] v Juan Monaco (ARG)
Q MCGEE, James IRL v Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ)
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) v Q BECK, Andreas GER
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [31] v Blaz Rola (SLO)
Bradley Klahn (USA) v Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)
Q BECK, Andreas GER v Radek Stepanek (CZE)
Robin Haase (NED) v Andy Murray (GBR) [8]

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] v Jiri Vesely (CZE)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
Blaz Kavcic (SLO) v Donald Young (USA)
Alejandro Falla (COL) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21] v Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v Andreas Seppi (ITA)
Simone Bolelli (ITA) v Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]

Kei Nishikori (JPN) [10] v Wayne Odesnik (USA)
Pablo Andujar (ESP) v Jack Sock (USA)
Matthew Ebden (AUS) v Tobias Kamke (GER)
Albert Montanes (ESP) v Leonardo Mayer (ARG) [23]

Lukas Rosol (CZE) [29] v Q CORIC, Borna CRO
Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) v Igor Sijsling (NED)
Q GOJOWCZYK, Peter GER v Benjamin Becker (GER)
Q DANIEL, Taro JPN v Milos Raonic (CAN) [5]


Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] v Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
Q DARCIS, Steve BEL v Martin Klizan (SVK)
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) v Q KUDRYAVTSEV, Alexander RUS
Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v Santiago Giraldo (COL) [27]

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [19] v Ivan Dodig (CRO)
Steve Johnson (USA) v Q ITO, Tatsuma JPN
Lukas Lacko (SVK) v Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Kenny De Schepper (FRA) v Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [11]

Marin Cilic (CRO) [14] v Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Q MARCHENKO, Illya UKR v Q CHIUDINELLI, Marco SUI
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) v Dusan Lajovic (SRB)
Pablo Cuevas (URU) v Kevin Anderson (RSA) [18]

Gilles Simon (FRA) [26] v Q ALBOT, Radu MDA
Noah Rubin (USA) v Federico Delbonis (ARG)
Bernard Tomic (AUS) v Dustin Brown (GER)
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) v David Ferrer (ESP) [4]

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [7] v Ryan Harrison (USA)
Carlos Berlocq (ARG) v Dudi Sela (ISR)
Q DESEIN, Niels BEL v David Goffin (BEL)
Frank Dancevic (CAN) v Joao Sousa (POR) [32]

Gael Monfils (FRA) [20] v Jared Donaldson (USA)
Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) v Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
Q NISHIOKA, Yoshihito JPN v Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
Denis Istomin (UZB) v Richard Gasquet (FRA) [12]

Fabio Fognini (ITA) [15] v Andrey Golubev (KAZ)
Pere Riba (ESP) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Q KRAJINOVIC, Filip SRB v Tim Smyczek (USA)
Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [17]

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [25] v Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) v Sam Groth (AUS)
Marinko Matosevic (AUS) v Roger Federer (SUI) [2]


Ryan Harrison is the male counterpart to Madison Brengle. At this point he should be going through Qualifying. Why Brengle and Harrison get WC's into the Main Draw of a Slam boggles the mind. Tennis federations have their favorites but really? These two?

Anyway Harrison starts his campaign versus the man the ATP is trying to make into a stah - Grigor Dimitrov. Like I said there's a lot of snark in the draws this year. I expect Harrison to do his schtick, break a few racquets, curse and carry on without being called out for it, and lose in straight sets. When your own Federation uses you as cannon fodder there isn't much to say about where your career is headed. I'm still not impressed with Dimitrov but if he doesn't romp through this match the hype should definitely not be believed.

Let's just cut to the chase and talk about who this draw is set up for. I thought the draw Roger Federer got in Montréal was a cakewalk. That he could get this kind of draw, in a Slam no less, is nothing short of amusing. I mean his section of the draw reads like a who's who of players who roll over and play dead when forced to face Federer. I expect Patrick McEnroe will be in need of a verbal towel to clean up his usual orgasmic calling of Federer matches. I'm sure his fans will say that it's hard to create a competitive draw for their God since he owns almost everyone in tennis. They can make a competitive draw if they want to. They don't want to. And if the top seed should stumble they'll be more than happy. And don't even say that if he'd played the man who withdrew from this event would have gotten a similar draw. It's never worked that way for him. Yeah, yeah I know the draw is random.

I'm looking at a potential Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Andy Murray match with a lot of interest. That outcome will go a long way towards determining who will win this Slam. Tsonga has been playing very well of late. He's finally found a team he enjoys working with while Murray is still adjusting to a new coach. He gets no special seeding here so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Murray couldn't settle on how to play his last match. With his coach here in New York I'm sure he'll be more focused.

I'll be wandering the grounds of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center two days next week. I don't plan on seeing any matches on Ashe this year though. I hope to take lots of pictures and see a lot of players I haven't seen live before especially the Chinese women. I also look forward to enjoying the Armstrong/Grandstand court complex before it's no more. It's the little things that make the US Open.


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