Day 4 at the Open

Written by: Staff on 27th August 2011

Day 4 at the Open |

THE WEATHER UPDATE: Here is your official weather update from USOpen.org: “We continue to monitor Hurricane Irene, and all reports indicate the brunt of the storm to impact the New York area during the overnight of Saturday, August 27, and into Sunday, August 28. The tournament remains scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET Monday, August 29, with gates opening to the public at 10 a.m. We do not anticipate a further update regarding Monday’s schedule until the early evening of Sunday, August 28.”

With that, let’s get right into the intriguing women’s matchups set for the first round, which begins on Monday, weather permitting, and other odds and ends.

SERENA’S SEEDING: We don’t understand all the flap about Serena Williams being the No. 28 seeded player in the draw. The USTA has decided to follow the WTA rankings for its seedings and that’s their prerogative. Of course, No. 4 seeded Victoria Azarenka is the one who suffers the most. Williams and Azarenka could meet in the third round.

You have to beat the top players eventually if you want to win the whole thing. We know Serena’s not concerned at this point. Just gotta love all the conversation surrounding the matter. Only makes for better theatre and intrigue in the end.

WILD (CARD) AFFAIR: American 16-year-old wild card Madison Keys will face 37-year-old Jill Craybas in the first round. For Craybas it marks the 44^th straight time she will appear in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

The 37-year-old Craybas has finished in the top 100 in the rankings for each of the past 10 seasons. She’s competed in the main draw of every Grand Slam event since the 2000 U.S. Open.

YOUNG AMERICAN TO WATCH: Christina McHale may have drawn qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in her first-round match, but it only gets tougher from there as she then could likely face No. 8 seeded Marion Bartoli in the second round. It says here that McHale pulls off the upset and then beats No. 25 Maria Kirilenko to advance to the Round of 16.

KUDLA FALLS IN FINAL ROUND: After a second straight third-set tiebreaker victory on Thursday night, young American Denis Kudla fell short in his bid to qualify for the Open with a flat performance in the final round, falling to France’s Romain Jouan, 6-4, 6-2.

Hardcore Open fans will remember it was Kudla who last year fell in the US Open Boys’ final to Jack Sock in three competitive sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

ONLY ONE LEFT STANDING: Of all the U.S. qualifiers on the men’s and women’s side, only one was left standing on Friday, former Duke All-American Michael Yani, who beat former Illinois All-American Rajeev Ram, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Qualifying at the Open is nothing new for Yani who in 2009 won three rounds before losing to Sam Querrey in straight sets in the first round.

It was the second match played on the day for both Yani and Ram, who earlier needed three sets to knock off Carsten Ball.

MAJOR BUMMER, KIDS’ DAY CANCELLED: The USTA had no choice. For the safety of all involved, it decided Kids’ Day could not take place because of approaching Hurricane Irene.

NBA star Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks and actor Bradley Cooper were among the scheduled participants, along with top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic and defending U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal.

The USTA says it wants “to avoid any possible safety issues for our fans and patrons.”

Smart move by all involved.

CAN YOU PASS THE BUTTER, NOT!: Mardy Fish passed up all the good stuff during the 12th annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis which benefitted the New York Junior Tennis League and featured 28 chefs at the W New York Hotel in Manhattan.

Fish told Bloomberg all he had for dinner was “a Cobb salad for dinner, with balsamic dressing on the side,” said Fish, adding that he would make up for it once he retires.

Reigning open champ Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Mardy Fish, Tommy Haas, Mikhail Youzhny and Marin Cilic were just a few of the players who tasted all the samplings.

JUST AN OBSERVATION, BUT … : Speaking of Fish, but was his world record on Friday bouncing tennis balls on his racquet simultaneously along with 658 others for a full 10 seconds to set a new Guinness World Record for “most people bouncing a tennis ball on a tennis racquet in one location” the most insignificant of all-time?

Couldn’t they possibly have thought of anything else to do?