US Open Day 2 + 3: Big Four All Advance ~ BreakPoint

Day 2

Hello, tennis fans. I don’t have as much time for posting as before so I will probably only make a post every second day during this slam. But don’t worry I will keep you updated on everything that’s happened. Tuesday Federer and Murray was in action and both advanced safely to the second round. Federer destroyed Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 while Murray needed four sets to get by tricky first round opponent Kyrgios, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

I watched Federer’s match and he was quite impressive. Mayer almost looked like he tanked which was disappointing to see but nonetheless Federer looked in good shape. He was even taking the return of serve on the rise again a few times. Sometimes it was successful and sometimes not, but it was nice to see he didn’t just give it up after Cincy. Whether it will really pay off on these courts is yet to be seen, though.

Will Kyrgios grow up and become a serious tennis player?

I think it’s good as a surprise tactic, but I also think the players have seen it now and the best baseliners should be able to pass him. It already looked less effective against Mayer than in Cincy. But like I said Federer looked good and I expect him to go deep. As for Murray, Kyrgios was obviously a tricky first round opponent and dropping a set was about expected. Kyrgios, on the other hand, is just too crazy.

He’s got serious game, but it seems I overestimated his mental side. The guy is seriously immature and needs to grow up fast or he will just be another wasted talent. Elsewhere on Tuesday Berdych and Stan had straight-set wins and so did Thiem.

Day 3

Now to yesterday when Djokovic and Nadal were back in action and both won in straight sets, but the confidence level of the two couldn’t have been more different. I couldn’t watch Djokovic because the WTA held proceedings up as usual, but I caught the highlights on Youtube and Djokovic put in another very solid performance, defeating Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. He has looked very solid so far but, of course, there is a long way to go.

I like Haider-Maurer’s game anyway and I think he was a good test for Djokovic. He has a big serve and strong baseline game, but Djokovic seemed to have adapted to it at 4-4 in the first set after which he dominated. Djokovic now plays Seppi and if he wins he plays the winner of Bautista-Agut and Goffin, so his draw looks pretty comfortable until the quarterfinals. There he could play Nadal but from yesterday’s evidence I don’t think Nadal is making it.

‘Back’?

Nadal defeated Schwartzman 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 and Schwarzman choked in every set. He was 5-2 in the tie-break, 2-0 in the second, and 4-2 in the third. Nadal was atrocious in the first set tie-break, strewing errors all over the place, but Schwartzman didn’t want it. I think Nadal will lose to Fognini now or to Raonic. But with his luck Fognini will probably tank and Raonic will withdraw with his back problem which he struggled with again in his four-set win over Verdasco.

Not that I’d mind. I’d love to see him play Djokovic. Then as far as upsets go Dimitrov lost in five sets to Kukushkin. Dimitrov losing, not unlike Nadal, can hardly be called an upset anymore. As far as the second quarter goes the most likely to make the semis is probably Tsonga who’s looked good so far. So we could have a Djokovic vs Tsonga semi-final in the top half. As far as tomorrow goes Federer will be back in action against Darcis and Murray against Mannarino.

Let’s see if Federer can keep his dominance up and whether Murray can win in straight sets this time. Thiem will also be in action against Istomin which is another match I will keeping an eye on.

The Prediction Game

So far not many people have joined the game but let’s see what happens as the tournament progresses. The last round was won by Nakul and dvorak1841 who both got the winners and number of sets correct. Neither got the order of the sets correct for the Murray vs Kyrgios match though so each of them gathers 15 points. Good job. Since I will be making a post only every second day, I will choose two prediction matches for each round.

For the second round of the bottom half, I’m gonna go with Tomic vs Hewitt, who is playing his final US Open. We have already seen Fish playing his final match against Lopez where he started cramping and lost 6-3 in the fifth set. It was a tough end for Fish, but a good one given all his troubles of late and I congratulate him on a good career. Will Hewitt go out in similar circumstances?

Nadal looked like he won the US Open

It could be another dramatic match and works well for a prediction match. Tomic is the 24th seed, but you can’t count Hewitt out who will always fight until the bitter end. Then for the third round of the top half you may have guessed that I would go for Nadal vs Fognini. Nadal’s form is still very questionable in my opinion and he could lose against anyone. It took a lot of choking from Schwartzman for him to make the second round.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Fognini beats him again. But I guess Nadal is the favorite. Let’s see who is willing to take the risk. Fognini leads the head-to-head 2-1 this year after Nadal won the last meeting in Hamburg.

(I will update the rankings soon).