U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 12

A couple nice men's matches to play on Friday.

Here's a match I've been waiting to see for a while.  Nadal vs. Roddick on a hard court. 

These two haven't played since they played twice in 2010.  Nadal won a three setter at the World Finals and Roddick won a three setter at Key Biscayne.  If Roddick has a chance to beat Rafa these days, it's on  hard court at the U.S. Open.

Will it happen?  It's too close to call.  Most of the experts will be on the side of Nadal, but I like Roddick a little.  It's really too hard to pick, but it's a match we can sit back and enjoy.

The Isner/Murray match is also interesting, but Murray is playing too well.

U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 11

Hard to pick just one match, but how about the entire schedules from Ashe, Armstrong, the Grandstand and Courts 11 and 17.

Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 AM Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – 4th Round

Gilles Muller (LUX) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Not Before:1:00 PM To Finish 3-0

2. Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Serena Williams (USA)[28] v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[17]

3. Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic (SRB)[1] v. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)[20]

 

Arthur Ashe Stadium 7:00 PM Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Roger Federer (SUI)[3] v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[11]

 

Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 AM Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – 4th Round

Andy Roddick (ESP)[5] v. David Ferrer (USA)[21]

Not Before:1:00 PM To Finish 3-1

2. Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[1] v. Andrea Petkovic (GER)[10]

3. Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals

Iveta Benesova (CZE)[9] v. Liezel Huber (USA)[4]

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[9] Lisa Raymond (USA)[4]

 

Grandstand 11:00 AM Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – 4th Round

Donald Young (USA) v. Andy Murray (GBR)[4]

Not Before:1:00 PM To Finish 2-1

2. Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Samantha Stosur (AUS)[9] v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[2]

3. Mixed Doubles – Semifinals

Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Elena Vesnina (RUS)[7]

Jack Sock (USA) Leander Paes (IND)[7]

Court 17 11:00 AM Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – 4th Round

John Isner (USA)[28] v. Gilles Simon (FRA)[12]

Not Before:1:00 PM

2. Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals

Angelique Kerber (GER) v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[26]

3. Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals

Rohan Bopanna (IND)[5] v. Colin Fleming (GBR)

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)[5] Ross Hutchins (GBR)

All this is of course, weather permitting.

U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 10

Rain on Tuesday means all the Tuesday matches are moved to Wednesday, so a full day of action plus even more.

It will be worth staying up late to watch Roger Federer and Jo-Wilifried Tsonga play the second match of the night session.

Federer holds a 4-3 career mark over the French player, but Tsonga has won the last two encounters, including Wimbledon and Canada this summer. 

Both matches went the distance and I expect this one to do the same.  Tsonga appears to be playing with a bunch of confidence and that should allow him to eek out a 5-set win.

U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 9

A men's round of 16 match between American, John Isner and Gilles Simon of France.

We'll find out with this match on Armstrong if anyone can tame the serve of John Isner.  Isner has served his way through multiple tiebreakers to reach this point. 

Simon has been getting better all summer and is trying to peak here at the Open.

These two have never played before.  You can count on Isner going big with the serve and Simon looking to stay at the baseline and rally.  Both are playing some of the best tennis of their career and it should be high quality action.

Prediction:  I like Isner to win a couple more tiebreaks and win in 4.

U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 6

Someone was going to draw Serena Williams in the 3rd round and it happened to be Victoria Azarenka.

This has the potential to be the match of the tournament on the women's side and it will be at about 3pm on Ashe Stadium Court.

Serena holds the career edge over Azarenka 5-1, including three wins at Grand Slam events.  Serena won the matchup earlier this summer in Toronto, and I like Serena again here in two tough sets.

Here's the tale of the tape: