By Matthew Marolf
This will be first up at 11:00am local time on the intimate Court 17, the fourth biggest court on the grounds. Azarenka is a two-time former finalist at the US Open, though she hasn’t advanced that far in five years. Since that time, she’s had injuries, birthed a child, and fought a custody battle, all of which took time away from her career. She’s just 14-10 in 2018, and is just 8-8 since her run to the semi-finals in Miami earlier this year. She’s never played her second round opponent before, the 25th seed from Australia. But Gavrilova has struggled a bit in 2018, with just about as many wins as losses. Daria went 1-3 in the summer hard court lead-up events. That being said, she impressively won her first round match without dropping a single game. While Gavrilova is a spunky competitor, she still cannot be
playing with a ton of confidence. This is a good opportunity for Azarenka to get a victory over a seeded player. The winner may play Sloane Stephens in the next round.
In their only previous meeting, Medvedev prevailed in three sets earlier this year in Miami. But Tsitsipas has come into his own since that match in March. It started in April with his run to the final in Barcelona. After further impressive tournaments at Estoril, Wimbledon, and Washington, DC, he beat four straight top 10 players to make the final at the Rogers Cup. Stefanos now at a career-high ranking of 15th in the world. On the other side of the net, while he hasn’t made quite as flashy a splash, Medvedev has also had some strong results this year. He started 2018 by coming through qualifying to win the title in Sydney, and won his second title of the season just a few days ago in Winston-Salem. Medvedev comes into New York on a seven-match win streak. A dip in Tsitsipas’ level considering his recent stellar results seems inevitable, and it could start here against his 6’6” opponent from Russia. But Tsitsipas showed off his composure and bounce-back ability throughout the Rogers Cup, so I wouldn’t wager money against him. This could be a good one to start the day on Court 10.
The second match of the day on Court 17 will see the ninth seed face an American who’s played extremely well on US soil in 2018. Steve Johnson won titles in Houston and Newport, and made the finals just last week in Winston-Salem. Meanwhile, Theim’s struggles off the clay have continued in 2018. He’s just 3-5 since Roland Garros, and comes into New York on a three-match losing streak, though he’s been hampered throughout the summer by a shoulder injury. Dominic is yet to be farther than the fourth round at a non-clay Major. A year ago at the US Open, he was cruising in his fourth round match against an ill Juan Martin Del Potro, before the Argentine made a comeback of legendary proportions. There’s got to be some scars for Dominic from a defeat such as that. Thiem is 2-1 against Johnson, but both of those wins came on clay. Johnson won their only hard court meeting, last year in Tokyo. All three of their matches have gone the distance. Both men won their first round matches in straight sets. Considering the court surface, as well as both men’s recent results, I like Johnson’s chances to pull off the upset here.
Seven-Time Major Singles Champion Venus Williams will be second up on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. Venus survived a near-three hour battle with Svetlana Kuznetsova during the hottest part of the day on Monday. Considering her lack of match play this season, and the leg injury she’s been nursing all summer, and 38-year-old Williams will not be 100% for this match in the scorching heat. Of course Giorgi is an unpredictable player who goes for broke on her shots regardless of the score or opponent. Camila was a quarterfinalist at the last Major, with that Wimbledon performance being her best Major result yet. She was defeated by Venus’ sister Serena in that tournament. In their only previous meeting, Venus won in three sets at the 2015 Australian Open. This match could go either way, and could just as easily be decided by Venus’ condition as it could Giorgi’s winner-to-error ratio.
Over on Arthur Ashe Stadium, this will be the second match of the afternoon. Murray made his return to Grand Slam tennis on Monday, a gruelling battle against James Duckworth that lasted over three hours in the heat of the afternoon. With this being just the ninth match into his comeback from hip surgery, how much will Andy have left? He’ll likely need all the energy he can recapture in his second round, as Verdasco is a significant step up in competition. While he came into the Open with a .500 winning percentage on the year, we’ve seen over the years that he’s capable of some big tennis and some big upsets. That being said, we’ve also seen him buckle under pressure on big occasions. Verdasco had an easier first round than Murray, defeating his countryman Feliciano Lopez in straight
sets. Murray is 13-2 lifetime against Verdasco, and has won their last eight meetings. Fernando’s last win came almost 10 years ago, during his great run to the semi-finals at the 2009 Australian Open. This should be an intriguing second round matchup, and a good litmus test to see exactly where Murray’s game is right now.
- Wimbledon Semifinalist Julia Goerges vs. Two-Time Major Semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova.
- Milos Raonic vs. an always-tricky opponent, Gilles Simon.
- Plus Six-Time US Open Champion Serena Williams, Defending Champions Rafael Nadal and Sloane
Stephens, 2016 Champion Stan Wawrinka, and 2009 Champion Juan Martin Del Potro all in action.
Order of play (All times local, -5 hours from BST)
12pm
M. Raonic (CAN) [25] v G. Simon (FRA)
