Friday, September 07, 2007
2007 US Open
A few observations and comments from the most lively & raucous of the 4 Grand SlamsA few teenagers had their best ever Slam results, including Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a 19 year old who beat two seeded players, including Tommy Robredo, before losing to Carlos Moya in the 4th round. Juan Martin Del Potro, the hard-hitting Argentine who turns 19 later this month, defeated one seed on his way to the 3rd round, where he took a drubbing from Novak Djokovic. Finally, American Donald Young, who just turned 18 a few weeks after winning the Wimbledon juniors, made it to the 3rd round before succumbing to the left-handed Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5. Another promising young 19 year old, Evgeny Korolev of Russia, lost in round 1 to former junior #1 Stanislas Warinka 7-5 in the 5th set. Look for all of these teens to be in the top 30 in a couple years time.
Speaking of the talented Wawrinka, Switzerlands other top 50 player (of course Federer is #1), he had his best Grand Slam result yet in reaching the 4th round before losing 6-4 in the 5th set to the tall, skinny Argentine veteran Juan Ignacio Chela. Along the way he beat American Robby Ginepri 6-3 in the 5th set in the 3rd round - good to see Ginepri playing well again. On the other side of the age coin, a few veterans had some nice results like Sebastian Grosjean, who made the 3rd round, Tommy Haas, who made the quarterfinals, and Carlos Moya, who will likely bow out tonight in the quarterfinals when he plays Djokovic.
Two matches I found quite entertaining were the Blake-Koubek Saturday night special, and of course, the Nadal-Ferrer 4th round treat. Both matches were full of amazing rallies featuring supreme displays of athletic shot-making, unbelievable points, and amazing retrievals - especially the latter match. The Roddick-Federer match was very different from those two, but entertaining as well - it's always fun to watch a master dominate his craft like Federer. His timing, reflexes, and smooth gliding on the court is delightful to watch. It looks like he'll be playing Djokovic come Sunday afternoon in a rematch of the Montreal finals where the Serbian upset Fed 7-6 in the 3rd set, winning the tiebreak 7-2. Could be a great final.
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