One person’s entirely personal list of intriguing first round US Open women’s matches. - UBITENNIS

One person’s entirely personal list of intriguing first round US Open women’s matches.

By skip schwarzman
11 Min Read

Please excuse the cut-and-paste, but here’s the same intro I used for the men’s draw, as what follows is the same but for the WTA:

Herewith follows an explanation of why I’d focus on these first round matches were I at the US Open on Monday. I will, in fact, be there on Tuesday, and will report on what I end up seeing. Big Four tournaments being what they are, of course, with 128 draws in both the women’s and the men’s, some of these matches will take place on Tuesday.

I’ve inserted the players’ rankings next to their names, all as of August 25th; to my mind this should be done for all tennis draws. If the ITF et al really want to grow the game (what a silly phrase, that), it’s just perverse to not provide the casual fan with this basic info about a match-up right next to each player’s name.

Anett Kontaveit vs Lucie Safarova

The 21 year old Kontaveit finished 2016 at number 110. She’s now #29. She won Gstaad (clay) over Kiki Bertens and has obviously shown great progress this year, in which she’s 41/14.

Safarova, 29/16 in 2017 and 30 years old, is working her way back from a lingering leg injury. The left-handed half of the Team Bucie doubles team (with Bethanie Mattek Sands, out with her horrible injury at Wimbledon), Safarova is a veteran player with a solid singles cv, including being the losing finalist at the 2015 French Open (lost to Serena Williams). Yes, she’s concentrated more on dubs since her highest singles ranking of #5 in 2015, but she’s posted solid results recently as she regains a spot higher up, most recently beating Cibulkova and Makarova in Toronto (hard court) before succumbing to Sloan Stephens in 3 sets.

If you read my piece on the men’s draw you know there’s a theme running through this year’s US Open: youth vs (errrr…) maturity. This match is yet another example of just that.

Evgeniya Rodina vs Eugenie Bouchard

Two players who’re very close in the rankings, plus Bouchard’s well-documented travails both on the court and the locker room, means there’s a lot at stake in this contest. Bouchard is 13/17 on the year, Rodina 18/25. Should Bouchard take this? It depends on which Genie Bouchard shows up, and whether or not she can stay intent the entire match; she’s had a few this year that she’s let slip out of her grasp, and dramatically.

Madison Brengle vs Kirsten Flipkens

Another battle between closely ranked players, with the same kind of pressure: on the opposite side of the net there’s an immediate threat for both players. Brengle is playing in front of an American crowd, which is a plus, but she’s slipped from her best-ever ranking of 35 (in 2015). Flipkens is 27/20. Brengle is of the grinder variety of player, Fliipkens more of a piercing-shot, jab-and-parry type. In their h2h the Belgian is up 2/0 with a win this year at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (6/1 6/2, on grass where her style of play is favored). The other win was in 2015 on hard court, and with a closer scoreline (6/4 6/3). There’s a chance for either to move ahead while putting a close rival back a step; as I said, pressure.

Christina McHale vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Like Madison Brengle, McHale is playing on a home court, and even more so as she grew up in nearby northern New Jersey. McHale’s a fighter, though she’s not in the same weight class of hitter as the Russian, is only 20/24 this year, and has lost all 4 matches she’s played against Pavlyuchenkova. Meanwhile Pav is 30/18. I expect something of a fight, and a partisan crowd, but a win for the #19 seeded Russian.

Francesca Schiavone vs qualifier

Because it’s Francesca Schiavone. Period. Full stop.

I’d watch her serve against an out-of-date phone book. If I knew how to write “joie de vivre” in Italian I’d do it, because no one brings more joie de vivre or joie de combat to a tennis court. To crib from an article I once read about Al Green: Francesca Schiavone everyone, Francesca Schiavone!

Naomi Osaka vs Angelique Kerber

Osaka is the 19 year old kind-of-phenom from Japan (though she did not grow up there), a 5’11” power player who tips the playing-style-balance-beam to the aggressive side, not so defensive. She’s still more of a story waiting to happen, though she’s recorded 2017 wins over Anastasjia Sevastova (#16), Lauren Davis (#27), Shuai Zhang (#34), and Venus Williams (!) (#17 at the time).

Kerber needs no introduction. The WTA’s hot hand in 2016, she evidently found being #1 harder than the journey there. She’s not taken a title in 2017, and has recorded some not very positive losses. She’s the defending US Open champion from last year. Kerber should certainly win this match – how she handles Osaka will be a window into her current mental status – but hoisting the trophy in 2 weeks is far less certain.

Monica Puig vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

The hard-hitting Puig stunned everybody, including possibly herself, when she took the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics against….Kerber. Given Puig’s match cv up until then it’s not surprising that she’s found it hard to continue that kind of success. Puerto Rico’s favorite WTA player is 15 of 17 for 2017, with a ranking that is well down from her career high of 27 (September 2016).

Lucic-Baroni is (yet another) senior player who’s making waves on tour. Her 2017 Australian Open semi-final run was the start of it all, coming as it did after years of being away from tennis and a tumultuous childhood career. 2017 includes wins over many notable players – Pliskova, Radwanska, Bertens, Sharapova, Safarova, and Kontaveit – as well as some lesser results, but no one can say they want to play her, especially on a hard court.

Puig owns this h2h 2/0, with a 2016 win at Indian Wells (hard) and a 2014 victory in Strasbourg (clay), which was so early in Lucic-Baroni’s comeback that it carries less weight. I noted this match because of Puig’s Olympic win and search for similar form ever since, and Lucic-Baroni’s admirable backstory and determination to return to the tour. Worth mentioning is that Puig will likely have some crowd support from New York’s Puerto Rican community.

Anna Konjuh vs Ashleigh Barty

For once it’s youth versus slightly-less-youth among my match picks; Konjuh is 19, Barty 21. Barty, however, is in the second chapter of her career, having left tennis to play pro cricket for a time. It wasn’t designed to be a sabbatical, a temporary break from the game, but that’s what it turned out to be when she decided she missed the tennis courts and returned to the tour.

They’ve never played, both of their careers are on the upswing; Barty is 32/12 in 2017, while Konjuh is 22/17. They both made the 16’s at Wimbledon, Barty won her first main tour title this year (Kuala Lumpur), Konjuh was a finalist in Auckland. The ranking disparity means less here than first meets the eye.

Sloane Stephens vs Roberta Vinci

Is there a type of player Stephens would less like to start off against than Vinci, who won’t give the big, flat-hitting American two balls in a row that are the same? I doubt it.

Stephens is making her way back from foot surgery and a general lack of match toughness; still, she beat Safarova, Kerber, and Kvitova at the recent Rogers Cup in Toronto, and repeated the wins over both Safarova and Kvitova in Cincinnati before losing in the semis to Halep.

Vince famously made the final of the US Open in 2015, beating Serena Williams in the semis, where she came up against Flavia Pennetta, her roommate from their junior tennis days. Vinci is a crafty player, and left-handed, and will give Stephens little of the pace she likes and as much resistance of the Italian artistry flavor as she can; once again there is a big age difference, as Vinci gives up 10 years to the 24 year old Stephens besides having a losing record this year (10/18).

Should Stephens come through? Sure. Would I place really big money on it? No. I’d wager small money though, if it were appropriate (it’s not). Can Stephens continue her uptick in confidence and consistency?

Maria Sharapova vs Simona Halep

Far and away the weirdest first round match in memory. If you’re reading this and not in front of a screen for this match tonight, and don’t know the background, we have to consider revoking your Tennis Fan Club® membership.

 

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