US Open

[Saarbrigga]

Hard work for Rafa... he has to beat Nalbandian and Murray to reach the final.

[Otlichno]

Lovely draw for Daniela, just lovely.

And to make matters worse if she makes the third round, she'll probably have to face Elena Dementieva. Who I'm just as obsessed with.

[Amazing Matheja]

Blake - Djoko in R3?
And also Hewitt/Federer (in R3) ? - Nice!

I hardly see others than Rafa, Fed, Murray, or Djoko to win this US Open...

Since i haven't seen a lot of tennis lately, except a bit of Federer fishing, what do you guys think of Davydenko?...
And Nalby?...
They're both back from injuries, Nalby has done some good but on outside courts, and on 5 setters, i'm not sure... Davy hasn't been good so, for him, i just don't know...

Chardy/Gulbis could be nice! (Chardy did good lately, no?)

And it seems we'll have at least 2 matchs between S&V and hitter :
-Llodra/Berdych
-Melzer/Tursunov

[Cro Morgan]

Blake - Djoko in R3?

Q. What are Blake's chances of reaching Round 3?
A. Slim to none.

[Amazing Matheja]

Haha! You could have done it in a Jeopardy style also!

Q- The only one to have chances to reach R3 around 0
A- Blake!
^^

But i think he can defeat Vliegen... and then who knows? It's Monaco, or a qualified... Ok, let us all support Blake to reach 3rd Round!!!^^

[Cro Morgan]

According to Steve Tignor (tennis.com) ...

First Quarter

Nadal and New York, it hasn’t been a winning combination. But he’s been getting better, reaching the semis each of the last two years and lighting up a few night sessions. Nadal has struggled with his backhand so far this summer and hasn’t built the kind of momentum we associate with his Slam-winning runs. At the same time, he’s laid low and taken some of the heat off himself by seeming to revert to sketchier late season Nadal form. Either way, he’s still the top seed and the champ at the last two majors.

This time he has a moderately difficult but navigable path to the semis. Nadal starts with Gabashvili, an excitable free swinger, and then perhaps Istomin, who challenged him in Queens. Kohlschreiber, who took a set from him in Toronto, might come after that. On the other side are Verdasco, Ferrer, Gulbis, and Nalbandian, a guy who has generally given Nadal fits. The question is whether the Argentine can survive long enough to give them to him again.

First-round shot-maker’s special to watch: Chardy vs. Gulbis; First-round match with the best name combination: Fernando Verdasco vs. Fabio Fognini

Semifinalist: Nadal


Second Quarter

This section is bracketed by two dark horses for the title, Andy Murray and (a longer shot, but still a shot) Tomas Berdych. Murray went coach-less and found his form in Toronto a couple weeks ago, and reminded us again of his skills on a hard-court. Saying “Murray” and “Slam winner” is suddenly not a joke anymore.

Who can stop them? Sam Querrey has the shots and the crowd, but he’s played a lot of tennis. Nicolas Almagro has been coming back to earth. John Isner may not make it there at all. Stan Wawrinka and Yen-Hsun Lu are OK. Radek Stepanek is here. Same for Tommy Robredo. I think the dark horses should make it to the finish line in the quarters. If it is Murray vs. Berdych, I’ll take Murray, but I ‘m not going to get the waxing that Berdych gave him in Paris out of my mind until then, either.

First-round match to watch: Stepanek vs. Julien Benneteau, two old pros with nice games; First-round match with the best name combination: Marco Chiudinelli vs. Jack Sock

Semifinalist: Murray


Third Quarter

This is a stacked and unpredictable section. Davydenko, Gasquet, Monfils, Baghdatis, Roddick, Fish, Petzschner, Djokovic: It’s made for tennis buffs and lovers of the unknown. The top seed, Djokovic, hasn’t looked like any kind of world-beater lately; ditto for the next seed, Davydenko, who must be waiting for fall’s money windfall. Roddick had his moments in Cincy, but three-out-of-five will be tough so soon after mono. Baghdatis is always possible, but never probable; that’s even more true for Monfils.

So what about Fish? He’s playing the best tennis of his career; at 28, he’s almost a new player. This is the moment. If not now, when?

Semifinalist: Fish


Fourth Quarter

Like Murray, Roger Federer has used the summer to return to form, so much so that he’s passed Nadal on most people’s lists of favorites. He’s had a few freakish double faults and untimely shanks, but he’s also moved well, returned with oomph, looked to press forward, and hit his topspin down-the-line backhand with confidence. His draw won’t change many opinions about his chances, either. Federer starts with someone named Brian Dabul, and looks ahead from there to a half where Jurgen Melzer is the next highest seed. On the other side, possibly waiting in the quarters, is a genuine obstacle in the form of Robin Soderling. The Sod is no sure thing, of course, and he’ll have to get past Dent or Falla, de Bakker, and perhaps Cilic.

By then, though, when the Open reaches its mellow middle, when the day matches in Ashe get quiet and dull, Federer seems to become unbeatable. The rowdiest tournament in the world can go very close to silent at times, and I can remember watching countless matches like that where Federer has slowly put a sleeper hold on his opponent. It’s nothing spectacular, but he’s hard to break down or get around on the hard courts at Flushing. And the only guy who has done it in the last six years, Juan Martin del Potro, won’t be one of the seven men he has to beat to hold the trophy for a sixth time.

Semifinalist: Federer


Semifinals: Murray d. Nadal; Federer d. Fish
Final: Federer d. Murray
Champion: Roger Federer

[Coolhand Texas]

He's a very smart guy.

Murray would be then 0-3 In slam finals according to him

[Moralspain]

Federer winning a Grand Slam again?? what drug is that guy using to say that?

[Elargento]

fish looses in 3rd round

[djarvik]

Federer winning a Grand Slam again?? what drug is that guy using to say that?

I don't know Xavi, its not like its unheard of winning a Slam at 29. Especially on your favorite surface. Something tells me this guy is almost spot on.

Of course I think that Gulbis has a Chance for 4th Round or QF too so I might be wrong.

[Moralspain]

Federer winning a Grand Slam again?? what drug is that guy using to say that?

I don't know Xavi, its not like its unheard of winning a Slam at 29. Especially on your favorite surface. Something tells me this guy is almost spot on.

Of course I think that Gulbis has a Chance for 4th Round or QF too so I might be wrong.

his talent and skills are unquestionable, but spite of he won the last Master series playing, in my opinion, very well, i don't see him ready to face a physically demanding game (best of 5 sets match), and i guess he will have to face some though matches.
Honestly i don't see a clear favorite for this tournament, maybe Murray. I'd like Nadal to win this one, but i know it's gonna be hard, and btw players like Gulbis or Fish can cause some upsets, that's sure.

Tennis is just amazing, i mean Gulbis has skills to be a top 5 (serve, BH, FH, enough speed) but his mentality is not the right one, how many matches have Nadal or Federer won after having played a crappy match, just because they're mentality stronger than the rival....thousands

[VillaJ100]

Murray will lose in quarters, nadal in semis again, will be a surprise finalist like tsonga or someone like that and fed to stroll it. fish loses in 2nd round.

[Moralspain]

Murray will lose in quarters, nadal in semis again, will be a surprise finalist like tsonga or someone like that and fed to stroll it. fish loses in 2nd round.

i forgot about Tsonga, yeah he can do great

[AMAZING ZIZOU]

Tsonga is out He didn't play since Wimb and is still injured

[Samael]

I don't really care anymore who wins or who looses, but i'd really like to see Nalbandian going as far as possible, cos he's the most talented tennis player of the last years.