The draws for the final Grand Slam of the year, US Open, were announced on Thursday and as expected, we have few mouth watering clashes on offer and the most surprising bit to come out was that Roger Federer is seeded seventh for the US Open.
The draws for the final Grand Slam of the year, US Open, were announced on Thursday and as expected, we have few mouth watering clashes on offer. Defending champion Andy Murray has a tricky first round encounter against Frenchman Michael Llodra whereas World No. 1 Novak Djokovic launches his title bid against little know Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. The most surprising bit to come out was that Roger Federer is seeded seventh for the US Open. This is first time in almost 11 years that Fedex has been seeded so low.
What this means is that Federer is on a collision course to meet Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. The most interesting thing here to note is that, in all these years at the US Open, Federer has not faced Nadal at the Flushing Meadows. So that’s one contest we can look forward.
Novak Djokovic has a potential clash against Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals. These two last met at the Wimbledon semis and we all know what happened back then. Fans must be hoping that they get to see another marathon thriller between the two young players. Murray on the other hand, has a potential clash against Czech Thomas Berdych in the quarters.
The quarterfinals has thrown out few amazing line up of matches and if everything goes as per the seedings then a thrilling US Open is on offer
On the women’s singles draw, defending champion and World No. 1 Serena Williams will kick start her campaign against Italian Francesca Schiavone in the first round. Serena has a potential match against Radwanska or Li Na in the semis. In the other half of the draw, Victoria Azarenka has a potential semi final clash against Caroline Wozniacki or Sara Errani.
In both the Men’s singles and Women’s singles, it would be interesting to see if any upset takes place and we get to see new talent rising up. We saw many upsets in the first week at Wimbledon. It would be interesting to see if any upsets take place in the first week at Flushing Meadows.
As far as India’s sole representative in singles competition goes, Somdev Devvarman is just one match away from qualifying in the main draw. The Indian is slated to meet Great Britain’s James Ward in the final round of qualifying.
But India’s best hope to win at the US Open lies in the doubles event. All the three doubles events would have Indian presence. This would be Mahesh Bhupathi’s last US Open and he would like to end it on a high. Sania Mirza will be looking forward to Women’s doubles and Mixed Doubles. She has had a good year so far and will be hoping to recreate some of her magic on court in a bid to win her maiden US Open title. The draws for the doubles event are scheduled to be held early next week.
The US Open will begin on Monday 26th August 2013 and end on 9th September, 2013. Yes, the men’s final is scheduled to be held on a Monday! All the matches will be shown on Ten Sports in India.
