Tennis Chatter

The United States Open is the last grand slam tournament of the year. It is held on hard court, along with all the tournaments prior to it during the US Open series. Switching from grass to hard court is not as big of a transition as switching from clay to grass, but their are still some differences. “Traditionally” grass is considered a faster and more unpredictable surface that the hard courts at the US Open. However, some believe that Wimbledon has slowed down its courts recently. This may be true, but I still believe that it is faster surface than players will experience in Flushing Meadows, NY. Hard court provides a more predictable bounce, taking away some of the advantages of slicing on grass, but doesn’t allow the shoulder high top spin shots that clay does. It is kind of in between the two surfaces, allowing top spin or flat hitters to find success. Hard courts are often favorites of players with a lot of power and solid baseline games (Blake, Safin, Gonzalez etc). A players movement is usually different on hard courts, also. The final thing to note, is that the US Open is the second grand slam held on hard court (the Australian Open is the first). However, the US Open is considered a faster surface, than the Australian.

Contenders

Roger Federer

A favorite to win pretty much every tournament he enters, Federer looks set to win his fourth US Open. He has won the this tournament consecutively the last three years, and rarely been challenged. In addition he has eight masters titles on hard court. He can out play anyone from the baseline with his enormous forehand and very good backhand. His biggest threat is Nadal, however Nadal has never made it past the quarterfinal of the US Open.

Rafael Nadal

Right out of a Wimbledon final appearance, Nadal is looking to make a run at the US Open. Nadal has had his worst results at the US Open of the all grand slams so far during his career. He doesn’t move quite as well on hard courts as he does on natural courts, and his top spin forehand doesn’t bounce as high. As a result he can be overpowered by the many players who excel on hard courts.

Novak �?oković

Djokovic is a great pick to have success at the US Open. He had semifinal appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon, along with a quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open. In addition he won his first masters event this year on hard court (Miami). He has an extremely solid ground game, with good power. He is adept all around the court, and I would probably pick him over Nadal if they were to meet.

Nikolay Davydenko

Davydenko has a semifinal appearance at the US Open (last year) and not much else. He is solid baseline player, who can take the ball on the rise. However, he is strongest on clay and slow hard courts and can be overpowered by bigger players. He could be a good pick for quarterfinals depending on his draw.

Andy Roddick

I don’t know what to expect from Roddick this year. He excels on hard courts, with four masters events and three quarterfinal appearance, a final appearance, and a championship at the US Open. However, he has been in a bit of a lull lately. He hasn’t been very mentally tough, was upset last week in Indianapolis. If he is on, he could beat any of the players I’ve mentioned so far, but Federer. If not, he could exit the tournament early.

Fernando González-Gonzalez has a great forehand and good power, however he hasn’t had very good results this year since his finals appearance at the Australian.

Richard Gasquet-As Roddick well knows, Gasquet is always a threat. He has a aggressive game, great backhand, and good court intelligence that can succeed on any surface. He threatened Federer at Toronto last year, however he has inconsistent results.

Tomáš Berdych-Berdych is very strong off the baseline and loves hard courts.

James Blake-Blake has appeared in the quarterfinals of the US Open the last two years. He moves well on hard courts and is very powerful. However, he hasn’t had great success lately.

Other players to watch out for:

Andy Murrary-semifinal appearances at Indian Wells and Miami
Marat Safin-won the US Open in 2000
Tommy Haas
Mikhail Youzhny
Marcos Baghdatis
Lleyton Hewitt