August 25th, 2017

Friday Tennis Blog: Rafa v Fed or Mayweather v McGregor? Everything US Open; More

MEMBERSHIP IS A PRIVILEGE — FREE SWAG, SNAPBOTS AT THE US OPEN

Free swag, Snapchat glasses and more await visitors to this year’s US Open starting on Monday.

USTA members making the trip to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center over the next two weeks need to seek out the USTA Membership Booth near Court 16, where you’ll receive a USTA Performance Hat, and a $10 gift card that can be used to buy merchandise on the grounds. The first 250 members at each session who stop by the USTA Membership Booth will also receive two free passes for the US Open Club, located on the ground floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Also new this year, patrons can purchase Snapchat Spectacles, which let users record video then post to Snapchat or elsewhere. For more swag info click here.

MAYWEATHER vs MCGREGOR, or FEDERER FINALLY FACING NADAL AT US OPEN?

What’s the hotter ticket in the next two weeks, Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, or tennis’ version which would be Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer at the US Open — a match-up that has never happened.

Nadal and Federer will enter the US Open ranked No. 1 and No. 3 respectively. The two players in 37 career meetings have never faced each other in Flushing Meadows. With world No. 2 Andy Murray fighting a hip injury and fellow Top 10ers Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic, and Kei Nishikori out with injury, Federer and Nadal fans are looking forward to a possible blockbuster meeting in the semifinal or final of this year’s Open.

The world No. 1 Nadal leads the career head-to-head 23-14, but the red-hot Federer, at 36 years old is in the midst of one of his best years. He has won the last four meetings with the Spaniard, including three this year at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami. Let’s get ready to rumble.

MISCELLANEOUS

Guess which one is Jack

Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day performers Jack & Jack played tennis in high school and are looking forward to this weekend’s event…25-year-old Melanie Oudin, who stunned Maria Sharapova and Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva en route to the 2009 US Open quarterfinals as a teenager, last weekend announced her retirement after a series of injuries over the years including eye surgery, muscle-damaging rhabdomyolysis and an accelerated heartbeat…Former No. 1 Boris Becker received help with his current bankruptcy situation this week — he’ll be receiving paychecks as the newly-created “head of tennis” for the German Tennis Federation…Last weekend’s win by Miami-Dade in the Men’s 4.5 at the USTA Florida 18 & Over 2.5/3.5/4.5 Sectional Championships was their third title in a row in the division, and the third in a row for Duval County/Jacksonville in the Women’s 2.5 division…Former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw from the US Open due to a custody battle for her 10-month-old child…Serena Williams could have her baby before the close of the US Open — here she maps out how the birth will go…Milos Raonic (wrist surgery) announced he has withdrawn from the US Open, which means four of the Top 11-ranked men’s players will miss the tournament due to injury…Angry Taco anyone? How about a double berry ice cream sandwich with vanilla bean ice cream sandwiched between a strawberry and blueberry donut coated with strawberry and blueberry crumble? Not making this up. Check out some of the other new US Open food offerings this year.

13 Players From U.S. in Final Round of US Open Qualifying; Final 2 Ousted at ATP Winston-Salem

Nicole Gibbs

Thirteen Americans are one match away from qualifying to the main draw of the US Open and will take to the courts Friday in an attempt to reach the big show in Flushing Meadows.

Final-round match-ups on the women’s side today are two all-American meetings in Sachia Vickery vs. Jamie Loeb and Allie Kiick vs. Vicky Duval, American Danielle Lao vs. Croat Jana Fett, American Claire Liu vs. Russian Victoria Kamenskaya, American Bernarda Pera vs. Russian Anna Blinkova, and American Nicole Gibbs vs. Brit Naomi Broady.

Americans one win away from the main draw on the men’s side are J.C. Aragone vs. Aussie Akira Santillan, Mitchell Krueger vs. Aussie John-Patrick Smith, Tim Smyczek vs. Canadian Peter Polansky, and the all-American meeting of former University of Michigan star Evan King and Bradenton’s Michael Mmoh.

The two remaining American were sent out of the Winston-Salem Open quarterfinals in North Carolina on Thursday when top-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut defeated wild card Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-6(3), and British qualifier Kyle Edmund upset No. 6 Steve Johnson 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

American Draws at the US Open

The men’s and women’s draws have been released for the 2017 US Open which begins on Monday in Flushing Meadows.

The U.S. women, led by No. 9-seeded Venus Williams, see three all-American first-round meetings and meetings with the No. 3 and 19 seeds.

American men, led by No. 10 seed John Isner, drew some tough opening match-ups, with meetings against the No. 2, 3, 15 and 23 seeds.

Women:

(9) Venus Williams (USA) vs. Qualifier
(15) Madison Keys (USA) vs. Elise Mertens (BEL)
(20) CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) vs. Alison Riske (USA)
(32) Lauren Davis (USA) vs. (WC) Sofia Kenin (USA)
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) vs. (3) Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Christina McHale (USA) vs. (19) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Jennifer Brady (USA) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Catherine Bellis (USA) vs. Nao Hibini (JPN)
Julia Boserup (USA) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Sloane Stephens (USA) vs. Roberta Vinci (ITA)
Madison Brengle (USA) vs. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
(WC) Taylor Townsend (USA) vs. Ana Bogdan (ROU)
(WC) Brienne Minor (USA) vs. Ons Jabeur (TUN)
(WC) Kayla Day (USA) vs. Shelby Rogers (USA)
(WC) Ashley Kratzer (USA) vs. Tatjana Maria (GER)

Men:

(10) John Isner (USA) vs. Pierre-Hughes Herbert (FRA)
(13) Jack Sock (USA) vs. Jordan Thompson (AUS)
(17) Sam Querrey (USA) vs. Qualifier
Tennys Sandgren (USA) vs. (2) Andy Murray (GBR)
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. (3) Roger Federer (SUI)
Ryan Harrison (USA) vs. (15) Tomas Berdych (CZE)
(WC) Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA) vs. (23) Mischa Zverev (GER)
Donald Young (USA) vs. Qualifier
Steve Johnson (USA) vs. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
Jared Donaldson (USA) vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
Ernesto Escobedo (USA) vs. Qualifier
(WC) Tommy Paul (USA) vs. Taro Daniel (JPN)
(WC) Patrick Kypson (USA) vs. Qualifier
(WC) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) vs. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)
(WC) Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
(WC) Chris Eubanks (USA) vs. Dudi Sela (ISR)

They Said It

“Just another day at the office. I never get too excited about winning anything; it’s just my philosophy of life.”
— Arthur Ashe, speaking to the Baltimore Sun 49 years ago after he won the US Open as an amateur, becoming the first and only player to win the U.S. Amateur Championships and the US Open in the same year

“He would only let me drink Fiji water because the pH level was lower than normal water. It was over the top, and I felt almost worse than normal because I was angry all the time. I didn’t see a noticeable difference in how I felt all the time. I didn’t like that at all.”
— Sam Querrey speaking to the Cincinnati Enquirer about the time he hired a live-in trainer that prepared his meals

“I’m nervous about childbirth. I’m not a spring chicken. The one thing I really want is an epidural, which I know a lot of people are against, but I’ve had surgeries galore, and I don’t need to experience any more pain if I can avoid it.”
— Serena Williams speaking to Vogue magazine