Americans Surge Ahead in Rainy Connecticut
First round winners from the Pilot Pen include – Mardy Fish, Michael Russell, Robby Ginepri, Spadea the Gladiata, and last but certainly not least, Donald Young. This was a monumental win for Young, who defeated fellow American Amer Delic, as he won his first ever ATP level match after failing multiple times. Last night, after it rained all day, summer phenom John Isner defeated Benjamin Becker in straight sets in the final first round match. Following that, James Blake took down Arnaud Clement in second round action. Earlier, Mardy Fish upset 7th seeded Volandri to advance to the third round as well. So, that puts two Americans in the round of 16, with five more that have a chance. Although the remaining five will have to pull off upsets of seeds to do so.
Over on the Women’s side, 5th seeded Patty Shynder was upset in the first round by Schiavone. The Women’s draw is lacking big names like the Williams’ sisters and Sharapova et al, but the eight seeded players are all ranked in the top 25 in the world. The Men’s side is pretty similar, lacking the Federer’s and Roddick’s, but the hometown crowd certainly comes out in droves for James Blake. Top eight seeded men are all ranked in the top 30.
Speaking of Blake, I did not see his finals match against Federer this past weekend, but from all accounts it seems as though he was simply happy to be there. I can’t imagine that is true, given Blake’s overall disappointing year thus far. I think it’s more likely that Blake got extremely hyped for the match and thought he had a better chance than ever to defeat Federer, given Fed’s slight vulnerability this year, and when Blake came out not exactly firing on all cylinders, it was deflating. I completely understand this, as I went through the same thing this weekend at the Jeff Stone Memorial Tennis Tournament in Burlington, Vermont, only I didn’t stage a valiant effort in the second set (as Blake did, losing 1 and 4), instead I let myself get bageled. The guy I lost 6-1, 6-0 to was the eventual finalist (Rennick Martin), so I can’t be too upset, especially since I successfully defended my doubles title with South African Errol Nattrass.
* Note: If you think my explanation of Blake’s match against Federer was merely a way for me to compare it to my singles match, and thus mention my doubles victory, you are right. However, I truly believe that IS what happened to Blake.
Some other random news and links:
Peter Bodo is chatting at 1pm at ESPN.com. Here is his latest blog on Federer’s victory in Cincinnati.
Here are the US Open seeds. They pretty much follow the current rankings. Notice Hewitt seeded 16th, after jumping four spots with his solid results in Cincinnati. The difference between the 16th and 20th seed is immense, as Hewitt is now guaranteed of avoiding a fellow top 16 player until the fourth round.
Sponsored by Lever 2000, I present the US Open Series standings. They may change somewhat after this week, but Federer and Sharapova have clinched the titles, meaning they could be in line for a decent amount of cash if they successfully defend their 2006 US Open titles.
Tim Henman will discuss his possible retirement later in the week.
Justin Gimelstob shares his thoughts on the trio of US prospects.
I’ll be back Friday with a US Open preview, and I’m headed down to NYC for the duration of the event, where I’ll be posting frequent blogs with some live updates.
***UPDATE – Singles draws for US Open are up here. Will have my comments on it tomorrow or Friday.