US Open Happenings

Significant events at the Open after completion of the early rounds include:

The men:

Novak gets a free ride.  Novak was handed two free rounds when Jiri Vesely gave him a walkover and Mikhail Youzhny retired from the next match.  Djokovic will be rested, but will have to produce better tennis than in his first round match in order to win the tournament.  Next up for him will be Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, who’s had a good tournament.  Gotta pick Novak in this one.

Dimitrov continues to win.  Grigor Dimitrov, a player I tagged to “keep and eye on”, is still in the tournament after taking a 5-setter from Jeremy Chardy and a 4- setter from Joao Sousa.  Is he finally getting his game together?  Next up for him will be Andy Murray, my pick to win it all.  Let’s see what Grigor can do though.

Thiem vs del Potro next.  Afer winning a fabulous match against Pablo Carreno Busta, in which he hit some frighteningly good backhands, Dominic Thiem will face Juan Martin del Potro, who bested a fading David Ferrer.  It’s so good to see del Potro playing well!  This is the best match on the docket.

Sock continues:  After a terrific win against Marin Cilic, Jack Sock will go up against J.W. Tsonga.  This should be a good one too.  Sock’s prodigious talents are showing in this tournament.

Nadal continues.  It’s hard to know what to expect from Rafa these days, but he’s still in, and will face Lucas Pouille next.  It will be interesting to see what happens if Nadal and Djokovic meet in the semis.

The women

Keys survives no-nos against Osaka.  In a previous post I listed as one of the no-nos: don’t fail to get your opponent’s second serves in play when you’re down a break.  Keys did just that in the second set against Naomi Osaka, who was serving for that set at 5-4, 30-30.  On the next two points Osaka missed her first serves, but Keys failed to get the second serves in play and lost the set.  In the third set, when down 5-1, Keys suddenly seemed to realize the importance of making your opponent play when in the lead, and she started getting into more rallies on Osaka’s serve.  In the end, she pulled it out in a third set tiebreaker.  What a dramatic match!  She next plays Caroline Wozniaki, one of the world’s best defenders.  If she wants to win that she’ll have to keep the errors down.

Pliskova vs. V. Williams.  I tagged Venus as a player to keep an eye on in this tournament, and she’s still in.  I tagged Karolina Pliskova as having an outside shot to win it all, and she’s in.  They play each other next.  Venus is a much better mover, but Pliskova hits even harder than Venus.  It should be interesting.

Konta continues.  I hadn’t flagged Konta as someone deserving of special attention prior to the start of the tournament, this despite her great year.  My reluctance was based on her tendency to not go all the way in tournaments just yet.  However, she’s still around, and is a very solid player both mentally with her game.  She next gets Sevastova, who’s making good on her victory over Muguruza.  I think Konta will win that too, and find herself oin the quarters of a major, where she will face either Keys or Wozniaki.

Battle of lefties.  A terrific match on the docket is Kerber vs Kvitova, the “special K’s”

of lefty tennis.  This could be a good one if Petra produces her best tennis.

Big match brewing.  Serena Williams has had a straightforward draw up until now, but if she gets past Yaroslava Shvedova next, which she should do, she could well face Simona Halep, whom I favor to beat Carla Suarez-Navarro.  Halep is playing great tennis and has beaten Serena on the big stage in the past.  This would be a big match for Serena, who seeks her 23d slam win.