!Jb
By Rosangel Valenti, TW Contributing Editor
Good mornng. this is your daily space for discussing the day's tennis action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Today's Order of Play can be found on this link. Given the amount of site traffic expected in TennisWorld during the US Open, we'd be grateful if the subject of conversations could be kept tennis-related. After the day's action is over, some off-topic chat is acceptable.
Matches of the Day:
Men - On Armstrong stadium, the second match pits Richard Gasquet against Tommy Haas. Gasquet is seeded 12, but after a year that has included a comeback after yet another shoulder surgery, Haas' ranking has slipped to 39. The head-to-head between the two is 1-1, both encounters coming in 2006. Another match that could be worth watching is the first one on the Grandstand Court - Tomas Berdych, the 22nd seed, taking on Sam Querrey. In their only encounter to date, in Miami earlier this year, Berdych won in straight sets. Querrey has had some good results since then.
I suspect that many of the Tribe will be watching the second match on Arthur Ashe stadium - Marat Safin the 2000 Champion, versus Vince Spadea. Spadea leads their head-to-head 1-0, though they haven't met since 2004, when he triumphed in a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 second-round match in Miami.
Women - There are two all-French encounters today (plus a Grosjean-Mathieu matchup on Court 10). Fourth on Armstrong Stadium, Amelie Mauresmo takes on Nathalie Dechy. Mauresmo leads their head-to-head series 5-3, but Dechy won their last match over three sets, in the Cincy semifinal this year. Out on Court 13, Camille Pin will be up against Alize Cornet for the first time. Personally I also look forward to seeing Serena Williams take on Kateryna Bondarenko for the first time, and Venus Williams' evening session clash with Sam Stosur (Williams is 2-0 in that head-to-head).
Players of the Day:
Ekaterina Makarova, taking out the tenth seed, Anna Chakvetadze 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
James Blake, with a special commendation for Donald Young. After a shaky start, Young pushed Blake to five sets, with their match on Ashe stadium finishing well after midnight. Blake finally took the match, 6-4 in the fifth.
Weather Report:
Today's weather forecast is for plenty of sun.
As always, enjoy today's tennis.