A PEEK @ THE MEN’S US OPEN MATCHES / ISNER, DIMITROV, AND FERRER STILL REMAIN ON U.S. OPEN FIRST-ROUND SCHEDULE BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 25th August 2014

A PEEK @ THE MEN'S US OPEN MATCHES / ISNER, DIMITROV, AND FERRER STILL REMAIN ON U.S. OPEN FIRST-ROUND SCHEDULE BY RICKY DIMON

epa04352066 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria hits a return shot to Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 13 August 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

An entertaining first day of U.S. Open action featured four five-setters. At least in terms of days, however, the first round is only one-third of the way complete. The rest of the field will take the court on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Among those still to play their openers are John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov, and David Ferrer.

Here’s a look at some of the marquee matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday:

(WC) Marcos Giron vs. (13) John Isner: Simply put, Isner likes the big stage. And it does not get any bigger than Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open. That’s where the big man will be on Tuesday. For Giron, it will be a long way from UCLA.

(10) Kei Nishikori vs. (WC) Wayne Odesnik: The USTA had to give one of its wild cards to Odesnik because he accumulated the most points at this summer’s hard-court Challenger events. Now the USTA may see him parlay it into a main-draw win, because Nishikori is once again struggling with injuries.

Pablo Andujar vs. Jack Sock: Sock’s doubles partner (Vasek Pospisil) is already out. Don’t count on the same fate befalling Sock, because he is historically stellar at the U.S. Open (consecutive third-round appearances in 2012 and 2013).

(29) Lukas Rosol vs. (Q) Borna Coric: Rosol beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon then lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber. He won his first ATP title last spring then lost in the semis of a Challenger event one week later. He won a second ATP title last week in Winston-Salem. Will the trend continue against a 17-year-old?

(6) Tomas Berdych vs. Lleyton Hewitt: In terms of name recognition, this is the maquee matchup of the entire first round. Berdych is a huge favorite on paper (according to ranking and seed), but Hewitt is a two-time major champion and his fight can never be discounted.

Steve Johnson vs. (Q) Tatsuma Ito: An in-form Johnson is in line to become the second-ranked American behind Isner after this fortnight, especially with Donald Young having lost in the first round. This is a favorable draw for the former USC star.

Kenny De Schepper vs. (11) Ernests Gulbis: Gulbis and his best friend on tour, Dominic Thiem, are one win each away from what would be an intriguing head-to-head showdown in the second round. Of course, it would not be terribly surprising if Gulbis vs. Thiem turns out to be De Schepper vs. Lukas Lacko.

(14) Marin Cilic vs. Marcos Baghdatis: I picked Pospisil to reach the quarterfinals and he is already out. I picked Young to reach the third round and he is already out. Good news for Baghdatis: I have Cilic in the semifinals.

Jerzy Janowicz vs. Dusan Lajovic: Will Janowicz hit more or less than 30 drop-shots? I’ll go with more. Will this one last more or less than 4.5 sets? I’ll also go with more.

Bernard Tomic vs. Dustin Brown: This is one of the few all-unseeded matches that has to be considered a “must-attend” for anyone in New York. Brown and his dreadlocks are always good for pure entertainment and Tomic is…well…Tomic.

Damir Dzumhur vs. (4) David Ferrer: Dzumhur and his accordion-playing fans were the talk of the first week of this year’s Australian Open. But he will be hard-pressed to last until a major third round once again, considering Ferrer will be on the other side of the net.

(7) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (WC) Ryan Harrison: Harrison’s first-round Grand Slam draws have been famously bad throughout his whole career. Chalk up another one against Dimitrov, whom the American also had to face in this summer’s Wimbledon first round.

(Q) Niels Desein vs. David Goffin: The bad news for Belgium is that two of its guys have to face each other in the first round. The good news for Belgium is that at least one will reach the second round. Given that Goffin is 25-1 in his last 26 matches, it’s likely to be him.

(20) Gael Monfils vs. (WC) Jared Donaldson: This will be a good experience for the 17-year-old American. That being said, a night match on the Grandstand against an underdog opponent should be an even better experience for Monfils.

(25) Ivo Karlovic vs. Jarkko Nieminen: These two guys are a combined 68 years old. How on Earth can it be that they have never played each other? Don’t be surprised if they make up for lost time by playing a five-setter.

Marinko Matosevic vs. (2) Roger Federer: Federer has won three more U.S. Open titles (5) than Matosevic has won Grand Slam matches in his entire career (2). The Aussie, to be exact, is 2-14 lifetime. Make it 2-15.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: David Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, Gael Monfils, GRIGOR DIMITROV, John Isner, Kei Nishikori, Lleyton Hewitt, Men's tennis, Ricky Dimon, US Open

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August 25, 2014 at 9:18 pm

A PEEK @ THE MEN’S US OPEN MATCHES / ISNER, DIMITROV, AND FERRER STILL REMAIN ON @usopen FIRST… BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/o8FcaxBNUb
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August 25, 2014 at 9:23 pm

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August 25, 2014 at 9:24 pm

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