Inside the US Open – Mardy Fish Impressive on the First Day

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2011

Inside the US Open - Mardy Fish Impressive on the First Day

Mardy Fish of the US hits a return to Tobias Kamke of Germany during their first round match on the first day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 29 August 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

A full slate of great tennis took place on Monday in New York following a tumultuous Hurricane Irene weekend. So let’s get right to the action on Day 1 at the Open:

DOMINATING PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Did anyone look more impressive than top American Mardy Fish on Day 1? He made it look easy, even the between-the-legs shot he hit for a winner in the last game in his 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tobias Kamke of Germany.

Surprising that Fish has never been farther than quarterfinals in any Grand Slam but Americans are hungry for its first Grand Slam winner since Andy Roddick in 2003. Said Fish afterward: “Andy’s been the No. 1 player in our generation for years. This is extremely different for me, this feeling coming out here and trying to show everything you can, to show you’re the No. 1 guy, at least for this tournament. It’s been a lot of fun.”

UPSET OF THE DAY: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the No. 5 seed, was taken out by Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round. Kvitova committed 52 unforced errors as the 48th-ranked Romanian won 7-6 (3), 6-3. Kvitova has played only one singles match since Wimbledon because of injuries to both knees.

WISH WE COULD SEE MORE: Everyone seemed impressed with the play of Britain’s Heather Watson. The 19-year-old former US Open Junior Girls champ (2009) fell just short in her upset bid over Maria Sharapova, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Watson’s game has been compared to Martina Hingis and she possesses a huge serve a la Sharapova. At age 12 she left home to attend the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Florida.

SISTER ACT: Two sisters did battle on Monday night in a first-round meeting between Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 12 seeded) and 20-year-old qualifier Urszula Radwanska. The older Agnieszka beat younger sister Urszula, 6-2, 6-3.

The pair have played twice before having split two matches, but this was their first meeting in a Grand Slam. It was also reported that this was the 19th time sisters have met in a Grand Slam match since the Open era started in 1968, and the first time since 1993 that sisters other than Venus and Serena Williams have met in a major tournament. Katerina Maleeva beat sister Magdalena at the 1993 U.S. Open.

The Radwanskas are one of three sets of sisters in the main draw, along with Serena and Venus Williams (who can only meet in the final) and Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko (who could meet in the 4th round).

A MIXED DOUBLES TEAM WE’D LIKE TO SEE: How about Bob Bryan and Vania King. Both are Southern Californians and both have won multiple Grand Slams in doubles. Bob of course is one half of the all-time winningest doubles team along with twin brother Mike. Both are defending Open titles in men’s and women’s doubles, respectively, as Vania won the title last year with Kazakh partner Yaroslava Shvedova. The pair are seeded No. 3 this year and open play against the Czech Republic team of Cetkovska-Voracova.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Besides King, three other Americans were handed out seeds in women’s doubles. The No. 4 team consists of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond and Bethanie Mattek-Sands will team with Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova, the No. 16 seeds.

Women’s doubles wild cards were handed out to the American teams of: Jessica Pegula/Taylor Townsend; Alexa Glatch/Jamie Hampton; Hillary Barte/Mallory Burdette; Lauren Davis/Nicole Gibbs; Samantha Crawford/Madison Keys; Melanie Oudin/Ahsha Rolle and Allison Riske/Sloane Stephens.

STAT OF THE DAY: Sharapova is now 12-0 in 2011 in three-setters. Nothing could have made U.S. media members happier when the stat was tweeted out before she began the final set vs. Watson.

WHAT WE TWEET ON DAY 1: @NeilHarmanTimes: “Amidst all this din, Heather (Watson) broken in first game of 2^nd set and the shrieking is getting absolutely intolerable (against Sharapova).”

@MePucin (Diane Pucin, LA Times): “Two years ago Melanie Oudin was a 17-year-old USOpen quarterfinalist. Today she’s down 6-0 to qualifier Romina Oprandi and 8-27 this year.”

TUESDAY’S ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM SCHEDULE: Can you say star studded?

Starting at 11 a.m.: Women’s Singles – 1st Round

Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[4] v. Johanna Larsson (SWE)

Not Before:1 p.m.

2. Women’s Singles – 1st Round

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[1] v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)

3. Men’s Singles – 1st Round

Novak Djokovic (SRB)[1] v. Conor Niland (IRL)

Arthur Ashe Stadium 19:00 Start Time

1. Men’s Singles – 1st Round

Andrey Golubev (KAZ) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

2. Women’s Singles – 1st Round