We are at the business end of the US Open where anything can happen. Unfortunately, Federer’s loss means we won’t have a Federer-Nadal clash in the quarters. Let’s see how the favorites fare today at the Flushing Meadows.
Quick Recap of Day 8
The big news coming out of Day 8 at the US Open is that five times US Open Champion Roger Federer has been stunned by Tommy Robredo in straight sets. This is the first time since 2002 that Federer won’t be in a Grand slam final in a calendar year. Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet are through to the quarterfinals. In women’s singles, Roberta Vinci, Flavia Pennetta and Daniela Hantuchova are through to the last 8’s as well. The big match between Ana Ivanovic and Victoria Azarenka was cancelled due to rain. Bad news for India as Divij Sharan is knocked out of the men’s doubles third round.
Indian Presence on Day 9
In men’s doubles quarterfinals, 4th seeds Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek will face the 5th seeds Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer. The pair of Qureshi and Rojer had beaten Divij Sharan on Monday.
Men’s Singles
In last of the round four matches of the men’s singles, top seed Novak Djokovic will face Marcel Granollers of Spain. Djokovic beat Granollers at the Australian Open in 2011, this was their only previous encounter. In the evening session at the Arthur Ashe stadium, defending champion Andy Murray faces Denis Istomin. Murray beat Istomin at the Brisbane ATP event earlier this year. Expect Djokovic and Murry to sail through to the quarterfinals.
The comeback man, Australian Lleyton Hewitt faces Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. Hewitt has been on a roll at Flushing Meadows this year. Hewitt leads the head to head with six wins and only one loss against the Russian. The Australian will look to carry on with the winning momentum and storm in the quarterfinals. In a mouth watering clash, 9th seed Stanislas Wawrinka faces 5th seed Tomas Berdych. Wawrinka has a slight edge over the Czech in head to head with six wins and five losses. On hard courts, Wawrinka leads with three wins and only one loss. Expect this one to be a cliffhanger.
Women’s Singles.
Only three matches are scheduled for Women’s singles on Tuesday. The first match of the day is between former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and 2nd seed Victoria Azarenka. This round four encounter was cancelled on Monday due to rain and will take place later today. Azarenka leads with four wins and two loses in head to head.
Two quarterfinal matches are scheduled for Tuesday. In the morning session, 5th seed Na Li of China faces Ekaterina Makarova in the first of the quarters. Na Li has won all the previous three matches against Makarova. In the second quarterfinal that will be played in the evening session, top seed Serena Williams faces Carla Suarez Navarro. Serena beat Navarro on both occasions in their previous two matches.
We are at the business end of the US Open where anything can happen. Unfortunately, Federer’s loss means we won’t have a Federer-Nadal clash in the quarters. Let’s see how the favorites fare today at the Flushing Meadows.
