U.S. Open - Day 1 preview
NEW YORK – The first round of men's singles at the U.S. Open is divided up over three days and, with the absence of Rafael Nadal, the tournament can't showcase one of the men's "big three" each day.
On Monday, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic gets the night session, following Maria Sharapova onto the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium after the usual opening ceremonies.
On Tuesday, No. 2 seed Roger Federer is scheduled.
That leaves No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych and No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov as the highest seeds remaining for the conclusion of the first round on Wednesday. With Dimitrov playing American Ryan Harrison, that likely will be the most glamorous matchup. The entertaining No. 11 seed Ernests Gulbis who, on the basis of his brilliant play in practice the last few days would have won the tournament – if practice counted for anything - also will play on Wednesday.
Men's matches : Djokovic will meet 5-foot-7 Argentine Diego Schwartzman, a 22-year-old who is making his U.S. Open main draw debut. He qualified for a Grand Slam for the first time this spring in Paris at the French Open ... No. 8 seed Andy Murray doesn't have an easy opener. He faces Robin Haase of the Netherlands, against whom he had to come back from a two-sets-to-none deficit the last time they met in New York in 2011 to win it 6-4 in the fifth set. ... No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has a 4-0 head-to-head record against Juan Mónaco of Argentina. ... Spain's Fernando Verdasco is going for the 400th victory of his career against Blaz Rola of Slovenia ... Another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, is looking to become the third active player with 200 wins on both hard courts and clay courts. He plays Édouard Roger-Vasselin of France.
Women's matches: The first time Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm met, surprisingly, was in 2011, when they played an epic match in the second round at Wimbledon, with the rain pelting down on the new retractable roof, that remains one of the first women's matches of the last few years. Williams won it, 8-6 in the third set. The two met in Miami in 2012 and 2013 and while Williams was an easy winner in 2012, Date-Krumm took her to 6-4 in the third set a year ago. ...
Date-Krumm, who turns 44 next month, made her U.S. Open debut in 1989. At that point, 56 of the players directly into the women's singles main draw this year weren't even born yet. She's the "most seasoned" woman to play in a Grand Slam singles match since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 2004.
Among the other seeds in action are No. 21 Sloane Stephens (vs. Annika Beck), No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska (vs. Sharon Fichman), No. 6 Angelique Kerber (vs. Ksenia Pervak) and No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki (vs. Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who reached the final at the Connecticut Open in New Haven last weekend).
Tennis on TV: Here's the coverage schedule.
10:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. - Tennis Channel
1 p.m. - 6 p.m. - ESPN
6 p.m. to conclusion of play: ESPN2
