Future Tennis Stars

Jelena Jankovic SRB (1) v Yvonne Meusburger AUT
Kirsten Flipkens BEL v Rossana De Los Rios PAR
Nathalie Dechy FRA v Qualifier
Qualifier v Ai Sugiyama JPN (26)
Sybille Bammer AUT (24) v Lucie Safarova CZE
Petra Cetkovska CZE v Marina Erakovic NZL
Qualifier v Tsvetana Pironkova BUL
Melanie South GBR v Marion Bartoli FRA (16)
Nadia Petrova RUS (10) v Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ
Sania Mirza IND v Marta Domachowska POL
Karin Knapp ITA v Monika Wejnert AUS
Galina Voskoboeva KAZ v Agnes Szavay HUN (23)
Maria Kirilenko RUS (27) v Sara Errani ITA
Monica Niculescu ROU v Qualifier
Maria Elena Camerin ITA v Edina Gallovits ROU
Magdalena Rybarikova SVK v Vera Zvonareva RUS (7)

Dinara Safina RUS (3) v Alla Kudryavtseva RUS
Ekaterina Makarova RUS v Aravane Rezai FRA
Qualifier v Patricia Mayr AUT
Qualifier v Kaia Kanepi EST (25)
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (19) v Casey Dellacqua AUS
Jill Craybas USA v Mathilde Johansson FRA
Andrea Petkovic GER v Qualifier
Mariya Koryttseva UKR v Alize Cornet FRA (15)
Caroline Wozniacki DEN (11) v Shahar Peer ISR
Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP v Mariana Duque Marino COL
Jelena Dokic AUS v Tamira Paszek AUT
Anne Keothavong GBR v Anna Chakvetadze RUS (17)
Alisa Kleybanova RUS (29) v Sofia Arvidsson SWE
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE
Yanina Wickmayer BEL v Qualifier
Julia Goerges GER v Ana Ivanovic SRB (5)

Venus Williams USA (6) v Angelique Kerber GER
Carla Suarez Navarro ESP v Roberta Vinci ITA
Qualifier v Akgul Amanmuradova UZB
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP v Tamarine Tanasugarn THA (32)
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP (21) v Isabella Holland AUS
Elena Vesnina RUS v Julie Coin FRA
Jessica Moore AUS v Christina McHale USA
Mara Santangelo ITA v Flavia Pennetta ITA (12)
Patty Schnyder SUI (14) v Kristina Mladenovic FRA
Jarmila Gajdosova AUS v Virginie Razzano FRA
Su-Wei Hsieh TPE v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Qualifier v Dominika Cibulkova SVK (18)
Aleksandra Wozniak CAN (30) v Sabine Lisicki GER
Samantha Stosur AUS v Klara Zakopalova CZE
Vera Dushevina RUS v Iveta Benesova CZE
Kristina Barrois GER v Elena Dementieva RUS (4)

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (8) v Anastasia Rodionova AUS
Tatjana Malek GER v Ayumi Morita JPN
Nicole Vaidisova CZE v Severine Bremond FRA
Olivia Rogowska AUS v Alona Bondarenko UKR (31)
Jie Zheng CHN (22) v Camille Pin FRA
Sorana Cirstea ROU v Melinda Czink HUN
Ekaterina Bychkova RUS v Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Agnieszka Radwanska POL (9)
Victoria Azarenka BLR (13) v Petra Kvitova CZE
Tathiana Garbin ITA v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS
Qualifier v Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER
Olga Govortsova BLR v Amelie Mauresmo FRA (20)
Francesca Schiavone ITA (28) v Shuai Peng CHN
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP v Qualifier
Anastasiya Yakimova BLR v Gisela Dulko ARG
Meng Yuan CHN v Serena Williams USA (2)

Looking at Jelena Jankovic’s quarter, she definitely got the easiest of the top 4 seeds. Jelena doesn’t have any real threats here as the top players in her group are Nadia Petrova, Agnes Szavay, Maria Kirilenko and Vera Zvonareva.

Dinara Safina opens against Alla Kudryavtseva who is no stranger to playing a top seed in a Slam. However, Safina won’t go down as easy as Sharapova did at Wimbledon and Dinara will pass this first test. It will get much tougher from there though. Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic are also in her quarter as is a highly motivated Tamira Paszek. Paszek hasn’t yet lived up to her promise and would love to break through here.

Elena Dementieva is going to have to work her way through the draw as she could face vera Dushevina in the second round then Aleksandra Wozniak in the third. Patty Schnyder awaits in the fourth round and Venus Williams in the quarters.

Serena Williams will be tested in the fourth round as Amelie Mauresmo, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Victoria Azarenka are her possible round of 16 opponent. The quarterfinals could have Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nicole Vaidisova or Agnieszka Radwanska.

Predictions

Quarterfinals
Jankovic def. Kirilenko
Safina def. Wozniacki
Dementieva def. Williams
Williams def. Radwanska

Semifinals
Jankovic def. Safina
Dementieva def. Williams

Finals
Jankovic def. Dementieva

First Round Match to Watch
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Shahar Peer. Peer is unseeded and desperate to get back into the top 20. She could give Wozniacki a tough match.

Dark Horses and Players Who Need a Breakthrough
Shahar Peer, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Kirilenko and Tamira Paszek.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) v Christophe Rochus BEL
Florent Serra FRA v Roko Karanusic CRO
Eduardo Schwank ARG v Tommy Haas GER
Qualifier v Dmitry Tursunov RUS (29)
Richard Gasquet FRA (24) v Diego Junqueira ARG
Vincent Spadea USA v Denis Istomin UZB
Guillermo Canas ARG v Nicolas Kiefer GER
Lleyton Hewitt AUS v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (13)
Gael Monfils FRA (12) v Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG
Mikhail Youzhny RUS v Stefan Koubek AUT
Andrey Golubev KAZ v Fabio Fognini ITA
Nicolas Massu CHI v Nicolas Almagro ESP (17)
Ivo Karlovic CRO (25) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver ESP
Filippo Volandri ITA v Mario Ancic CRO
Chris Guccione AUS v Nicolas Devilder FRA
Pablo Andujar ESP v Gilles Simon FRA (6)

Andy Murray GBR (4) v Andrei Pavel ROU
Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS v Marcel Granollers ESP
Qualifier v Colin Ebelthite AUS
Kei Nishikori JPN v Jurgen Melzer AUT (31)
Radek Stepanek CZE (22) v Nicolas Lapentti ECU
Qualifier v Carsten Ball AUS
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR v Arnaud Clement FRA
Adrian Mannarino FRA v Fernando Verdasco ESP (14)
James Blake USA (9) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Steve Darcis BEL
Albert Montanes ESP v Ernests Gulbis LAT
Qualifier v Igor Andreev RUS (18)
Rainer Schuettler GER (30) v Qualifier
Victor Hanescu ROU v Jan Hernych CZE
Ivan Ljubicic CRO v Igor Kunitsyn RUS
Juan Monaco ARG v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (5)

Andy Roddick USA (7) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Michael Llodra FRA
Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP v Fabrice Santoro FRA
Sam Querrey USA v Philipp Kohlschreiber GER (32)
Tommy Robredo ESP (21) v Bobby Reynolds USA
Alberto Martin ESP v Viktor Troicki SRB
Thomaz Bellucci BRA v Yen-Hsun Lu TPE
Marc Gicquel FRA v David Nalbandian ARG (10)
Robin Soderling SWE (16) v Robert Kendrick USA
Julien Benneteau FRA v Marcos Baghdatis CYP
Simone Bolelli ITA v Kristof Vliegen BEL
Samuel Groth AUS v Mardy Fish USA (23)
Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA (28) v Jarkko Nieminen FIN
Taylor Dent USA v Qualifier
Jeremy Chardy FRA v Marcos Daniel BRA
Qualifier v Novak Djokovic SRB (3)

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (8) v Mischa Zverev GER
Qualifier v Qualifier
Potito Starace ITA v Bernard Tomic AUS
Gilles Muller LUX v Feliciano Lopez ESP (27)
Marin Cilic CRO (19) v Kevin Anderson RSA
Oscar Hernandez ESP v Janko Tipsarevic SRB
Qualifier v John Isner USA
Denis Gremelmayr GER v David Ferrer ESP (11)
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (15) v Ivo Minar CZE
Qualifier v Brydan Klein AUS
Brian Dabul ARG v Philipp Petzschner GER
Robby Ginepri USA v Tomas Berdych CZE (20)
Marat Safin RUS (26) v Ivan Navarro ESP
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP v Agustin Calleri ARG
Qualifier v Carlos Moya ESP
Andreas Seppi ITA v Roger Federer SUI (2)

This is not the draw that Rafael Nadal wanted. A third round matchup could involve Tommy Haas, Eduardo Schwank or Dmitry Tursunov. While none may stop Nadal from advancing, they could push him to 4 sets before a probable fourth round match against Richard Gasquet, Lleyton Hewitt or 2007 finalist Gonzalez but it will most likely be Gasquet who has been playing very well lately. Waiting in the quarterfinals is 12th seeded Gael Monfils who upset Nadal in Qatar a couple of weeks ago. Nadal hasn’t been in top form so far this year and if he isn’t ready, Monfils could take advantage and knock Nadal out.

Andy Murray is playing great tennis so far and his improved fitness seems to be paying off. Still, there are a couple of players in his quarter he needs to be ready for. Kei Nishikori could be his third round opponent. Nishikori solidified his spot as a player to watch and he would love nothing more than to continue his rise by taking care of Murray but it’s unlikely.  James Blake, the 9th seed, could cause some trouble but I can’t imagine he’s going to get the chance to play Murray. Instead, last year’s finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could be big trouble. Tsonga’s main concern is to stay healthy and his lower back has been causing problems. More likely is the biggest dark horse in the field, Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis has been lurking around for the last year and is ready to make a run. Murray needs to be on top of his game or Gulbis will send him home.

Novak Djokovic has a pretty easy time until a possible match with Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. The biggest potential problem for Novak is 16th seeded Robin Soderling. Soderling can be dangerous as shown in his epic 5 set match against Nadal at Wimbledon in 2007 but he is also inconsistent. Depending on what Soderling shows up, Novak could cruise or be in for a 5 set marathon. Andy Roddick on the other hand should have an easy time until facing David Nalbandian in the fourth round. Nalbandian is coming off a title win which gives him a lot of confidence but it may not be enough against a highly motivated Roddick.

I’m pretty surprised that many think Roger Federer has a tough draw.  Federer just beat Carlos Moya in Kooyong and Moya is well past his prime and not to mention it has been 12 years since Moya broke out and reached the finals here.  Roger could face Marat Safin but unless it is the same Safin who beat Federer here in the semifinals a few years ago or the Safin that upended Djokovic at Wimbledon, it should be a fairly easy win for Roger. The biggest problem would come in the quarterfinals in the form of Juan Martin Del Potro or Marin Cilic. Del Potro won the title in Auckland and has lots of confidence, it will be interesting to see how he fares against Roger.

Prediction

Quarterfinals
Monfils def. Nadal
Murray def. Gulbis
Roddick def. Djokovic
Federer def. Cilic

Semifinals
Monfils def. Murray
Federer def. Roddick

Finals
Federer def. Monfils

I’m going out on a limb here to pick Monfils upsetting Murray but given that Murray has only twice gotten past the fourth round at a Slam and while he has played great so far this year, it’s always different to play a Slam. The pressure is more intense and for Murray, the focus of an entire nation watching you, criticizing you, praising you as you get further and further into a tournament is going to be something to see. For the first time, he is going to be the favourite to win a Slam and to see him handle the pressure will be interesting.

First round match to watch: Hewitt vs. Gonzalez. Are you starting to think that Hewitt is getting tired of these 5 set marathons?

Dark Horses and Players Who Need A Breakthrough
Ernests Gulbis, Robin Soderling, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis. Baghdatis broke through here in a big way and did well for a year afterwards but really needs to get back on track.

No one wanted to see Jelena Jankovic win the US Open more than me. Well, maybe Jelena…and her mom. If you didn’t realize it, Jelena is by far and away the most popular player on the site, take a look. Of the top 24 photos on the site, 22 are of Jelena, not bad.

But like I did with the men, I wanted to see just how the women fared in their first Grand Slam final. A total of thirty seven women won a Grand Slam in the Open era. Of those, 15 women lost their first final before taking a Slam while 22 won their first final. After going through both lists, you’re in pretty good company either way.

For those that lost their first Slam:

Those are some big names and big numbers. Those 15 women won a total of 80 Slams and only 5 have 1 Major to their name but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Ana Ivanovic will soon bee off that list. Kerry Reid on the other hand is a safe bet to stay on it.

That’s an average of 5.3 Slams per person but if you take the One Slam Wonders off it and it jumps to 7.5. It took them an average of 10.4 Slams to bag their first Major after reaching their first final. Again, if you take away the One Slam Wonders, that number drops to 8.7.

Now for that other group…

You will notice that the two biggest winners, Court and Graf are in this group, as are Seles, Hingis and Serena. There are also a lot of players that won less than 5 Slams and most of those only won 1.

This group of 22 women won a whopping 103 Slams, an average of 4.6 per player. However, 17 won less than 5 and 9 won only 1. If you take off the One Slam Wonders, that average gets a huge boost to 7.2 Slams but that is lifted of course by Court and Graf who won a combined 46 Slams, almost half of the 103.

So after Serena beat Jelena for the title, I was pissed even though it was a tremendous final. However after looking at the numbers, I must say that it’s encouraging because players who lost their first final are less likely to win only 1 Slam. So relax fellow Jelena fans, it will get better, much better.

For all you diehard Andy Muray fans, I say buck up. The sun did rise this morning and it will be ok. Ask yourself this question, is Murray losing his first Grand Slam final THAT BAD? As it turns out, no, it isn’t.

I had a little time on my hands (bored) when the action was rained out on Saturday when the semifinals and women’s final should have been played. I thought I would hop in my DeLorean and take a trip back to the start of the Open Era and see how the men fared when they either won or lost their first Slam final. Note that although players like Rod Laver reached, then won, their first Major before the Open Era began, I am including players that did win Majors in the Open Era regardless if their first Slam came before 1968.

Of the 49 men that won Slams in the Open Era, 35 won their first Slam final and 14 didn’t.

For those that lost their first Slam final, first let’s take a look at the names: Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ivan Llendl and Andre Agassi to name a few, did not win their first Slam. Some like Llendl and Agassi took a few finals before they were able to bag their first major and they each went on to win 8 Slams. Not bad.

Let’s take a further look:

Some pretty big names and some pretty good results. Some players like Korda and Ivanisevic won only 1 Slam and had a pretty long stretch between reaching their first final and winning their first title but that’s at the far end.

On average these players won 3.3 Slams and it took them 8.7 Grand Slams from when they reached the finals to when they won their first Major. Of the 14 players in this list, 7 won only one major title. Ferrero and Ivanisevic are pretty safe bets to not win another Slam but I am pretty sure we will be crossing Djokovic off this list soon enough.

Now, if you take off the one Slam wonders, the numbers increase quite a bit. On average, the 7 on the list that did win more than one Slam, won 6.1 Majors and it took them 6.5 Slams to do so. Not bad, not bad at all.

However, if you look at those who did win their first Slam…

Those are some pretty big names. Sampras, Borg, Conners, McEnroe, Federer, Nadal all won their first Slam final. Granted, you get more one Slam wonders in this group like Muster, Gaudio, Chang and others but in total, those 35 men won a total of 124 Slams, an average of 3.5 per player.

If you take away the 16 one Slam wonders the remaining 19 men won 105 Slams, an average of 5.5 per player and of those 19 less than half, only 9, won less than 5 Slams.

So be patient Andy Murray. Newcombe, Llendl, Agassi and Laver all won at least 7 Slams, that’s not bad company to be in.

ASHE STADIUM - 11:00 AM Start
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[27] v. Venus Williams (USA)[7]
Rafael Nadal (ESP)[1] v. Viktor Troicki (SRB)
Serena Williams (USA)[4] v. Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[30]

ASHE STADIUM - 7:00 PM Start
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v. Dinara Safina (RUS)[6]
James Blake (USA)[9] v. Mardy Fish (USA)

ARMSTRONG STADIUM - 11:00 AM Start
Sam Querrey (USA) v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[14]
Julie Coin (FRA) v. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[32]
Gael Monfils (FRA)[32] v. David Nalbandian (ARG)[7]
David Ferrer (ESP)[4] v. Kei Nishikori (JPN)

Grandstand - 11:00 AM Start
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[9] v. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[18]
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v. Andy Murray (GBR)[6]
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)[17] v. Gilles Simon (FRA)[16]
Severine Bremond (FRA) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)

Court 4 - 11:00 AM Start
Tommy Robredo (ESP)/Sergio Roitman (ARG) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[3]/Andy Ram (ISR)[3]
Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)[16]/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)[16]
Elena Vesnina (RUS)[13]/Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[13] v. Lindsay Davenport (USA)/Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Samantha Stosur (AUS)/Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) v. Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE)
Elena Vesnina (RUS)/Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/Dusan Vemic (SRB)

Court 7 - 11:00 AM Start
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) v. Lisa Raymond (USA)[10]/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[10]
Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)/Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) v. Simon Aspelin (SWE)[6]/Julian Knowle (AUT)[6]
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[7]/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)[7] v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)[1]/Daniel Nestor (CAN)[1] or Sloane Stephens (USA)/Robert Kendrick (USA)  v. Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)/Martin Damm (CZE)
Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Patty Schnyder (SUI)

Court 10 - 11:00 AM Start
Igor Andreev (RUS)/Mischa Zverev (GER) v. Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Sebastien Grosjean (FRA)
Michal Mertinak (SVK)/Lovro Zovko (CRO) v. Agustin Calleri (ARG)/Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)
Marta Domachowska (POL)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[5]/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)[5]
Lisa Raymond (USA)/Marcelo Melo (BRA) v. Jill Craybas (USA)/Eric Butorac (USA)

Court 11 - 11:00 AM Start
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[10] v. Flavio Cipolla (ITA)
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[16]
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) v. Alize Cornet (FRA)[17]
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK)/David Skoch (CZE) v. Bob Bryan (USA)[2]/Mike Bryan (USA)[2]

Court 13 - 11:00 AM Start
Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Mara Santangelo (ITA) v. Zi Yan (CHN)[8]/Jie Zheng (CHN)[8]
Bruno Soares (BRA)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Rajeev Ram (USA)/Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Lucas Arnold Ker (ARG)/Guillermo Canas (ARG) v. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Kveta Peschke (CZE)[6]/Pavel Vizner (CZE)[6] v. Liezel Huber (USA)/Jamie Murray (GBR)
Sabine Lisicki (GER)/Aravane Rezai (FRA) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[4]/Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[4]

TBA - 4:00 PM Start
Virginie Razzano (FRA)/Rogier Wassen (NED) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/James Cerretani (USA) or Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[2]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]

Arthur Ashe - 11:00 AM Start
Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Dinara Safina (RUS)[6]
Rossana De Los Rios (PAR) v. Venus Williams (USA)[7]
James Blake (USA)[9] v. Steve Darcis (BEL)

Arthur Ashe - 7:00 PM Start
Serena Williams (USA)[4] v. Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Rafael Nadal (ESP)[1] v. Ryler De Heart (USA)

Armstrong - 11:00 AM Start
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[10] v. Wayne Odesnik (USA)
Mardy Fish (USA) v. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)[24]
Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[1] v. Julie Coin (FRA)
Gael Monfils (FRA)[32] v. Evgeny Korolev (RUS)

Grandstand - 11:00 AM Start
Bethanie Mattek (USA) v. Alize Cornet (FRA)[17]
Michael Llodra (FRA) v. Andy Murray (GBR)[6]
Kaia Kanepi (EST) v. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[32]
Sam Querrey (USA) v. Nicolas Devilder (FRA)

Court 4 - 11:00 AM Start
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[27] v. Sabine Lisicki (GER)
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v. Flavio Cipolla (ITA)
Florent Serra (FRA) v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[14]
Daniel Nestor (CAN)[1]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[1] v. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/Jim Thomas (USA)

Court 5 - 11:00 AM Start
Chase Buchanan (USA)/Ryan Harrison (USA) v. Tommy Robredo (ESP)/Sergio Roitman (ARG)
Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)[16]/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)[16]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)/Urszula Radwanska (POL) v. Zi Yan (CHN)[8]/Jie Zheng (CHN)[8]
Janette Husarova (SVK)[11]/Shuai Peng (CHN)[11] v. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)/Selima Sfar (TUN)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Patty Schnyder (SUI) v. Vania King (USA)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

Court 6 - 11:00 AM Start
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v. Agnes Szavay (HUN)[13]
Jose Acasuso (ARG) v. Gilles Simon (FRA)[16]
Sabine Lisicki (GER)/Aravane Rezai (FRA) v. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)/Ipek Senoglu (TUR)

Court 7 - 11:00 AM Start
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)[20] v. Severine Bremond (FRA)
David Ferrer (ESP)[4] v. Andreas Beck (GER)
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Pablo Andujar (ESP) v. Bob Bryan (USA)[2]/Mike Bryan (USA)[2]
Sara Errani (ITA)/Karin Knapp (ITA) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[4]/Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[4]
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v. Arnaud Clement (FRA)[10]/Michael Llodra (FRA)[10]

Court 8 - 11:00 AM Start
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Robert Kendrick (USA)/Ryan Sweeting (USA) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[3]/Andy Ram (ISR)[3]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[6]/Shahar Peer (ISR)[6] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Mara Santangelo (ITA) v. Anne Keothavong (GBR)/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Alexa Glatch (USA)/Scott Lipsky (USA) v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)/Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)

Court 9 - 11:00 AM Start
Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) v. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[18]
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)[4]/Mark Knowles (BAH)[4] v. Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/Thomas Johansson (SWE)
Marta Domachowska (POL)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v. Sybille Bammer (AUT)/Martina Muller (GER)
Maria Elena Camerin (ITA)/Gisela Dulko (ARG) v. Jamie Hampton (USA)/Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) v. Shahar Peer (ISR)/Paul Hanley (AUS)

Court 10 - 11:00 AM Start
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v. Jiri Vanek (CZE)
Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) v. Jesse Levine (USA)/Donald Young (USA)
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)/Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) v. Lindsay Davenport (USA)/Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)
Max Mirnyi (BLR)[14]/Jamie Murray (GBR)[14] v. Michal Mertinak (SVK)/Lovro Zovko (CRO)
Lindsay Davenport (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) v. Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/Christopher Kas (GER)

Court 11 - 11:00 AM Start
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[9] v. Mariana Duque Marino (COL)
Shuai Peng (CHN) v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[16]
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) v. David Nalbandian (ARG)[7]
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)[17] v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)

Court 13 - 11:00 AM Start
Roko Karanusic (CRO) v. Kei Nishikori (JPN)
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v. Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[30]
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) v. Jessica Moore (AUS)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[25]

Court 14 - 11:00 AM Start
Michael Kohlmann (GER)/Alexander Peya (AUT) v. Simon Aspelin (SWE)[6]/Julian Knowle (AUT)[6]
Emilie Loit (FRA)/Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v. Lisa Raymond (USA)[10]/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[10]
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)[4]/Julian Knowle (AUT)[4] v. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/Jordan Kerr (AUS)
Kveta Peschke (CZE)[6]/Pavel Vizner (CZE)[6] v. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)/Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)/Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v. Tracy Lin (USA)/Riza Zalameda (USA)

Court 15 - 11:00 AM Start
Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) v. Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
Lucie Hradecka (CZE)/Renata Voracova (CZE) v. Christina Fusano (USA)/Shenay Perry (USA)
Petra Kvitova (CZE)/Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)[12]/Galina Voskoboeva (RUS)[12]
Rika Fujiwara (JPN)/Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[5]/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)[5]
Natalie Grandin (RSA)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM - 11:00 AM Start
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)
Lindsay Davenport (USA)[23] v. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)
Rafael Nadal (ESP)[1] v. Bjorn Phau (GER)

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM - 7:00 PM Start
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v. Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[2]
James Blake (USA)[9] v. Donald Young (USA)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM - 11:00 AM Start
David Ferrer (ESP)[4] v. Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG)
Shuai Zhang (CHN) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[3]
Sergio Roitman (ARG) v. Andy Murray (GBR)[6]
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) v. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)[10]
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)[17] v. Guillermo Canas (ARG)

Grandstand - 11:00 AM Start
Gael Monfils (FRA)[32] v. Pablo Cuevas (URU)
Shahar Peer (ISR)[24] v. Na Li (CHN)
Andreas Beck (GER) v. John Isner (USA)
Ahsha Rolle (USA) v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[21]

Court 4 - 11:00 AM Start
Vania King (USA) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[10] v. Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v. Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
Denis Gremelmayr (GER) v. Steve Darcis (BEL)

Court 5 - 11:00 AM Start
Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) v. Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[25]
Jiri Vanek (CZE) v. Stephane Bohli (SUI)
Emilie Loit (FRA) v. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA)

Court 6 - 11:00 AM Start
Ryan Sweeting (USA) v. Roko Karanusic (CRO)
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[28] v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Ryler De Heart (USA) v. Olivier Rochus (BEL)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[26] v. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Court 7 - 11:00 AM Start
Patty Schnyder (SUI)[15] v. Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS)
Wayne Odesnik (USA) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)[27] v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Jie Zheng (CHN) v. Shenay Perry (USA)

Court 8 - 11:00 AM Start
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) v. Robin Soderling (SWE)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[14] v. Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
Karin Knapp (ITA) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)
Zi Yan (CHN) v. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)
Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) v. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)

Court 9 - 11:00 AM Start
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v. Marina Erakovic (NZL)
Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) v. Sara Errani (ITA)
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Michael Llodra (FRA)
Gisela Dulko (ARG) v. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)

Court 10 - 11:00 AM Start
Marcel Granollers (ESP) v. Gilles Simon (FRA)[16]
Alexa Glatch (USA) v. Anne Keothavong (GBR)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) v. Brendan Evans (USA)
Tamira Paszek (AUT) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[22]

Court 11 - 11:00 AM Start
Aravane Rezai (FRA) v. Asia Muhammad (USA)
Galina Voskoboeva (RUS) v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[12]
Marcos Daniel (BRA) v. David Nalbandian (ARG)[7]
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v. Carsten Ball (AUS)

Court 13 - 11:00 AM Start
Kei Nishikori (JPN) v. Juan Monaco (ARG)[29]
Aiko Nakamura (JPN) v. Sybille Bammer (AUT)[29]
Luis Horna (PER) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[25]
Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[8] v. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Court 14 - 11:00 AM Start
Michael Berrer (GER) v. Jose Acasuso (ARG)
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) v. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Lucie Safarova (CZE) v. Sorana Cirstea (ROU)

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Olivier Rochus BEL
Viktor Troicki SRB v Carsten Ball AUS
Luis Horna PER v Philipp Kohlschreiber GER (25)
Tomas Berdych CZE (22) v Sam Querrey USA
Pablo Andujar ESP v Nicolas Devilder FRA
Rainer Schuettler GER v Florent Serra FRA
Qualifier v Ivo Karlovic CRO (14)
James Blake USA (9) v Donald Young USA
Denis Gremelmayr GER v Steve Darcis BEL
Mardy Fish USA v Qualifier
Sebastien Grosjean FRA v Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA (24)
Gael Monfils FRA (32) v Qualifier
Evgeny Korolev RUS v Robin Soderling SWE
Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP v Brendan Evans USA
Marcos Daniel BRA v David Nalbandian ARG (7)

David Ferrer ESP (4) v Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG
Qualifier v John Isner USA
Qualifier v Roko Karanusic CRO
Kei Nishikori JPN v Juan Monaco ARG (29)
Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (17) v Guillermo Canas ARG
Oscar Hernandez ESP v Thomaz Bellucci BRA
Michael Berrer GER v Jose Acasuso ARG
Marcel Granollers ESP v Gilles Simon FRA (16)
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (10) v Simone Bolelli ITA
Wayne Odesnik USA v Fabio Fognini ITA
Nicolas Lapentti ECU v Yen-Hsun Lu TPE
Qualifier v Mikhail Youzhny RUS (21)
Feliciano Lopez ESP (27) v Jurgen Melzer AUT
Jiri Vanek CZE v Qualifier
Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS v Michael Llodra FRA
Sergio Roitman ARG v Andy Murray GBR (6)

Andy Roddick USA (8) v Fabrice Santoro FRA
Ernests Gulbis LAT v Thomas Johansson SWE
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP v Dominik Hrbaty SVK
Hyung-Taik Lee KOR v Andreas Seppi ITA (31)
Nicolas Kiefer GER (20) v Ivo Minar CZE
Scoville Jenkins USA v Jarkko Nieminen FIN
Bobby Reynolds USA v Qualifier
Ivan Navarro ESP v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (11)
Tommy Robredo ESP (15) v Mischa Zverev GER
Vincent Spadea USA v Marat Safin RUS
Qualifier v Carlos Moya ESP
Santiago Ventura ESP v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (19)
Marin Cilic CRO (30) v Julien Benneteau FRA
Robby Ginepri USA v Amer Delic USA
Qualifier v Nicolas Mahut FRA
Arnaud Clement FRA v Novak Djokovic SRB (3)

Nikolay Davydenko RUS (5) v Dudi Sela ISR
Austin Krajicek USA v Agustin Calleri ARG
Albert Montanes ESP v Victor Hanescu ROU
Eduardo Schwank ARG v Dmitry Tursunov RUS (26)
Nicolas Almagro ESP (18) v Frank Dancevic CAN
Sam Warburg USA v Janko Tipsarevic SRB
Laurent Recouderc FRA v Qualifier
Tommy Haas GER v Richard Gasquet FRA (12)
Fernando Verdasco ESP (13) v Igor Kunitsyn RUS
Qualifier v Qualifier
Frederico Gil POR v Jeremy Chardy FRA
Marc Gicquel FRA v Igor Andreev RUS (23)
Radek Stepanek CZE (28) v Potito Starace ITA
Jesse Levine USA v Chris Guccione AUS
Qualifier v Qualifier
Maximo Gonzalez ARG v Roger Federer SUI (2)

Ana Ivanovic SRB (1) v Vera Dushevina RUS
Qualifier v Casey Dellacqua AUS
Kaia Kanepi EST v Monica Niculescu ROU
Nathalie Dechy FRA v Amelie Mauresmo FRA (32)
Nadia Petrova RUS (19) v Olivia Sanchez FRA
Qualifier v Evgeniya Rodina RUS
Shuai Peng CHN v Eleni Daniilidou GRE
Qualifier v Flavia Pennetta ITA (16)
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (11) v Qualifier
Jessica Moore AUS v Melanie Oudin USA
Marta Domachowska POL v Bethanie Mattek USA
Camille Pin FRA v Alize Cornet FRA (17)
Virginie Razzano FRA (31) v Timea Bacsinszky SUI
Alla Kudryavtseva RUS v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA v Qualifier
Qualifier v Dinara Safina RUS (6)

Serena Williams USA (4) v Kateryna Bondarenko UKR
Elena Vesnina RUS v Julia Vakulenko UKR
Olga Govortsova BLR v Qualifier
Andreja Klepac SLO v Ai Sugiyama JPN (30)
Nicole Vaidisova CZE (20) v Petra Cetkovska CZE
Severine Bremond FRA v Julia Goerges GER
Maret Ani EST v Tathiana Garbin ITA
Gail Brodsky USA v Agnes Szavay HUN (13)
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (9) v Qualifier
Tamarine Tanasugarn THA v Qualifier
Qualifier v Edina Gallovits ROU
Jill Craybas USA v Dominika Cibulkova SVK (18)
Alona Bondarenko UKR (27) v Jamea Jackson USA
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP v Sabine Lisicki GER
Qualifier v Qualifier
Samantha Stosur AUS v Venus Williams USA (7)

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) v Akgul Amanmuradova UZB
Pauline Parmentier FRA v Marina Erakovic NZL
Qualifier v Anne Keothavong GBR
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP v Francesca Schiavone ITA (25)
Shahar Peer ISR (24) v Na Li CHN
Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO v Sara Errani ITA
Ekaterina Bychkova RUS v Anastasia Rodionova AUS
Ekaterina Makarova RUS v Anna Chakvetadze RUS (10)
Patty Schnyder SUI (15) v Qualifier
Vania King USA v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS
Gisela Dulko ARG v Magdalena Rybarikova SVK
Tamira Paszek AUT v Maria Kirilenko RUS (22)
Katarina Srebotnik SLO (28) v Yanina Wickmayer BEL
Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP v Yvonne Meusburger AUT
Lucie Safarova CZE v Sorana Cirstea ROU
Qualifier v Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (3)

Vera Zvonareva RUS (8) v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE
Tatiana Perebiynis UKR v Mariya Koryttseva UKR
Aravane Rezai FRA v Asia Muhammad USA
Aiko Nakamura JPN v Sybille Bammer AUT (29)
Lindsay Davenport USA (23) v Aleksandra Wozniak CAN
Alisa Kleybanova RUS v Carla Suarez Navarro ESP
Petra Kvitova CZE v Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP
Galina Voskoboeva RUS v Marion Bartoli FRA (12)
Victoria Azarenka BLR (14) v Klara Zakopalova CZE
Karin Knapp ITA v Iveta Benesova CZE
Emilie Loit FRA v Qualifier
Ahsha Rolle USA v Caroline Wozniacki DEN (21)
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP (26) v Tsvetana Pironkova BUL
Jie Zheng CHN v Qualifier
Zi Yan CHN v Sofia Arvidsson SWE
Coco Vandeweghe USA v Jelena Jankovic SRB (2)

Congratulations Rafael Nadal, you’re officially, finally, the top ranked player in the world.

Now comes the hard part: staying the top ranked player in the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Nadal, he’s the perfect rival for Federer. Now that Nadal is number 1 and Federer is number 2, it only adds another dimension to their rivalry. Only 770 points separate Federer and Nadal.

Now no one can see into the future. Nadal could hold this ranking for a year, two years, three years or six months. What Nadal will see now is that he isn’t chasing anyone anymore. He’s caught Federer and now he’s the top dog and everyone, especially Roger, is chasing him.

Here’s how this could break down for Nadal. How long he lasts at number 1 depends mostly on how well he plays, not necessarily on how well everyone else plays. As I have said in a previous post ( Rafael Nadal Is Great…But Is No Federer ), Nadal is historically an average player from January to May and July to November. This year though, he’s not just better, he’s a totally different player. He reached the semis in Melbourne, semis in Indian Wells and finals in Miami. After his usual clay court tear, he won Queen’s, Wimbledon, Toronto and reached the semis in Cincinnati then won the gold in Beijing. I don’t know who this Rafael Nadal is but he’s definitely not the one who won only 1 title last year after Wimbledon, on clay in Stuttgart last year.

So why could this not last for Nadal?

For one, he has been doing so well for so much of the year that you have to wonder when, or if, this will all catch up to him. Will he crash out of the US Open after an exhausting summer and do little in the fall? Will he be unable to recapture the points he gained in Melbourne, Indian Wells and Miami? Will he have a meltdown during the clay court season and lose the bulk of his points?

All fair questions considering Nadal is such a physical player. The taxing season takes its toll on everyone and Nadal is not immune. As great a physical specimen as he is, he will eventually tire or suffer an injury trying to push himself too hard. If anyone has to reconsider his schedule, it’s him.

What’s next for Federer?

Well, it’s simple: play better. He’s the 4 time defending champion at the US Open and he needs to win it again. A Slam is 1000 points in the rankings and Roger can’t afford to give up any to Nadal. Following the US Open, Federer has a total of 1325 points to defend from Madrid, Basel, Paris and Shanghai. Compare that to Nadal’s paltry 625 points from Madrid, Paris and Shanghai and Nadal could gain quite a bit more from Federer if Roger doesn’t step it up in a hurry.

But there is hope for you Fed fanatics out there.

From January to April of this year, Nadal racked up 1245 points in Chennai, Melbourne, Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami.  Federer for his part has 975 points from Melbourne, Dubai (he actually has none there), Indian Wells, Miami and Estoril. Roger could pick up a lot of points here if Nadal doesn’t revert back to his form from 2005-2007 where he was just average on hard courts.

From after Roland Garros and up to, but not including, Beijing (since it won’t count next year), Federer has a grand total of 1005 points. Nadal meanwhile has almost double that with 1950 points.

Was this year a fluke, or a sign of what’s to come?

It’s hard to imagine that Federer is going downhill just yet. Sure he’s on a slippery slope right now but usually when a player starts the long road into retirement, it’s marked by injuries or personal troubles. None of which Federer has, that we know of anyway. Sampras, Graf, Seles, Capriati, Agassi either were hurt or had serious girlfriends who they eventually married, the so-called wife jinx. When was the last time Federer showed up to a tournament with his leg taped? He probably leads the tour in fewest requests for the trainer. We all know he had mono at the start of the year which threw off his training and his year didn’t really begin until Monte Carlo. Still, after early losses in Toronto and Cincinnati you have to wonder just what is going on with Roger and his mighty forehand. He needs to prove that this year was a mistake, out of sight and out of mind and focus on the task at hand: winning.

Rafael for his part needs to find a way to do what he did this year all the time. He has never competed at the top level year round before and if his body can take the stress, then he could easily dominate on hard courts, clay and grass. The key to his continued success is the clay court season but it may be too much for him. The constant pounding on clay and the need to win Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg, Paris and not to mention Barcelona as well is a tad much. He needs to move away from being the greatest clay courter to being the greatest period. If he doesn’t win Monte Carlo, fine. If he doesn’t win in Paris, it’s ok, as long as it means he will be able to compete in Montreal, New York, Miami, Melbourne on a consistent basis.

For the first time in 4 1/2 years, Federer isn’t the top ranked player. Now an incredible year just got even better.