Sunday Best | As much as I am always willing to put the hours in for 10sBalls.com, I must admit that picking Sunday’s stand-out matches took me all of 30 seconds. Let’s just say it’s something of a bumper day at Flushing Meadows, where the draw has worked out as if trying its hardest to impress the neutrals with how clever it can. Entertainment is going to be very much the order of the day.
Matches of the Day:
Men:
Andy Murray versus Stanislas Wawrinka
Murray has built up a healthy head-to-head record against Stan “I’m a friend of Roger’s” the Man. Wawrinka was a top ten player until relatively recently, though, and has a backhand to die for so he is certainly equipped to cause an upset. Wawrinka’s more attritional style should force Murray to attack and that, if nothing else, should make for a good spectacle. Murray has designs on the title and how he performs in the third round, in his first genuine test of the tournament, will tell us plenty about his chances of fulfilling his ambition.
David Nalbandian versus Fernando Verdasco
You write off David Nalbandian at your peril for he loves nothing more than chipping away at a lead and clawing his way back from an apparently unwinnable position, so even if Verdasco runs up a two-set lead, he will not have the luxury of resting on his laurels. The Spaniard is a sharp player himself though and it is probably about time he made an impact at another grand slam, so it would not be stunning to see Verdasco stop even the old stager in his tracks. Nalbandian was once on the receiving end a shocking line-call in the 2003 semi-final against Andy Roddick and has never quite got over it, so any peep from a line judge is likely to be met with a less than impressed face from the Argentine.
Women:
Ana Ivanovic versus Kim Clijsters
If Ivanovic can show the resurgent form of earlier this summer then she might just give the indisputed comeback queen something of a fight. After the best part of a year spent in what appeared to me a mental fog, the Serbian is back and starting to fire on all cylinders again. Clijsters had better be on her guard and though she has cruised do far this tournament, she will need to find a far higher gear for this one. Expect classy tennis and the once-familiar sight of Ivanovic doing that peculiar fist-pumpy thing of hers.
Samantha Stosur versus Elena Dementieva
I have gone back and forth like a clay-court rally on this one and I still can’t decide who is the more likely to win. Granted, Stosur has had the best of summers but she seems to have shaken off the arm problem that seemed to rob her usually ferocious forehand of some of its bite and the surface should suit her. She is certainly better than the third round. It is rather unfortunate, then, that she is facing a player with every likelihood of beating her. Dementieva is a former finalist at Flushing Meadows and is at her best on medium-paced American hardcourts and though she is never the most predictable of players, she is more than capable of giving Stosur plenty to think about.
Topics: Ambition, Ana Ivanovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Argentine Women, Backhand, Comeback Queen, David Nalbandian, Fernando Verdasco, Grand Slam, Kim Clijsters, Laurels, Line Judge, Mental Fog, Neutrals, Old Stager, Peril, Spaniard, Spectacle, Stanislas Wawrinka
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