U.S. Open Day 10 - preview
NEW YORK – Andy Murray is ranked No. 8 at the moment. But with Olympic gold, a U.S. Open title and a WImbledon title on his resumé, he would still have to be considered one of the "top guns" even if back surgery last fall meant his 2014 season was one of catching up and coming back.
So his summit meeting with No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic Wednesday at the U.S. Open really signals the beginning of the "pointy end" of the tournament – when the elite meet.
The two are almost exactly the same age – a week apart, with Murray being the elder – and have already met 20 times in their careers. Djokovic holds a 12-8 edge.
Since Murray registered back-to-back victories at the Summer Olympics in London and then in the U.S. Open final in 2012, Djokovic has won four of their five meetings. But Murray won the biggest – at least to him: the 2013 Wimbledon final.
Assuming Murray is feeling good physically, there's no reason to think this one won't be great.
[3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs. [10] Kei Nishikori (JPN)
There isn't nearly as much data on this one. Wawrinka and Nishikori have played twice, both in 2012 before Wawrinka was STAN WAWRINKA, GRAND SLAM CHAMPION. But the Swiss still won both handily. The X factor here is the 4 1/2-hour match Nishikori had with Canadian Milos Raonic Monday night that ended at 2:26 a.m., tying a late-night U.S. Open record.
Luckily, the weather seems a bit more hospitable than it was on Tuesday.
[1] Serena Williams vs. [11] Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
At 32, Pennetta really has been around forever; she's in her 15th year as a pro. But compared to Williams, who turns 33 later this month, those aren't even impressive stats. The Italian has always managed to stay consistently in and around the top 20 most of the time (currently No. 12, helped by a terrific win at Indian Wells earlier this year and still counting her 2013 U.S. Open result). She also has, at times in her career, been a No. 1 doubles player and indeed remains in the doubles draw here with Martina Hingis.
Pennetta was a great story at least year's Open. She missed much of the second half of the season in 2012 and underwent wrist surgery in the fall. Her ranking fell to No. 166 around Wimbledon time; coming into the U.S. Open with no expectations, she ended up making the semis and rose from No. 83 to No. 31 with that effort. It was, at age 31, the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career. This is the second.
The bad news for Pennetta is that in six career meetings, she has only taken one set off Williams – and that was back in 2008 in Miami.
[16] Victoria Azarenka vs. [17] Ekaterina Makarova
This was, on paper, supposed to be an Azarenka vs. Genie Bouchard quarter-final. But Makarova came and spoiled the party.
The Russian, as with Pennetta, also is still in the doubles; she and partner Elena Vesnina defeated the Williams sisters on Tuesday.
Azarenka, a little like Murray on the men's side, is a contender far above her current ranking, which is the result of a foot problem that plagued her the first half of the season. She has a knee issue, suffered during a match at the warm-up event in Montreal, but she's playing good tennis at the moment and, as the defending finalist who gave Serena Williams all she could handle a year ago, knows how to win here.
But Makarova has proven troublesome for Azarenka before; she leads the head-to-head 3-2; their most recent meeting came in Madrid in 2013, won by Makarova in three sets after dropping the first set 6-1.
As long as Azarenka doesn't decide to sing this time, all will be well.
American alert!!!
Serena Williams isn't the only American still alive in the tournament.
The Chicago Connection of Taylor Townsend and Donald Young is in the mixed doubles semifinals Wednesday and gets to play on Arthur Ashe Stadium to open up the day session at 11 a.m.
Townsend and Young will face American Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico.
On the junior side, Stefan Kozlov and Alicia Black are among the young Americans still alive.
