U.S. Open Day Four Preview: Djokovic and Serena Both In Action
As the second round continues today on the fourth day of the 2014 U.S. Open, a number of the men’s top players in the world will be seeking entry into the tournament’s third round. There are 14 men’s matches on the slate today as the second-round will come to a close at day’s end.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic headlines the action, while fifth-seeded Milos Raonic, eighth-seeded Andy Murray and Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey all will take to the court in hopes of advancing in Flushing Meadows.
Djokovic will take to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to play France’s Paul Henri-Mathieu, whom he has a 5-1 career record against. It will be a tall task for the Frenchman as Djokovic has never lost in the US Open second round and has lost to a player from France just one time since 2010 (lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rogers Cup). The last time these two got together was in the opening round of this year’s Australian Open, a match that the Serb took in straight sets.
The big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic will be on Louis Armstrong today when he meets Peter Gojowcyzk. The German qualifier won the only career meeting between the two back at the Gerry Webber Open earlier this summer, beating Raonic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. However, Raonic has found some success in Grand Slams this year, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and falling to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals. He has lost in Grand Slams to players ranked outside of the top 100 just twice in his career, and will look to even up the head-to-head matchup with Gojowcyzk today.
At Ashe, 2012 US Open Champion Andy Murray will play German qualifier Matthias Bachinger for a spot in the third-round. The two have never played one another, but Murray carries a 34-8 career match record on the hard courts of Queens. The Scot has reached the quarterfinals of each Grand Slam this year, while Bachinger recorded his first ever Grand Slam win when he defeated Radek Stepanek in straight sets on Monday.
Tsonga is one of nine Frenchman who advanced into the second-round, and will meet Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov on the Grandstand. Tsonga is hoping for an excellent showing here in New York this year after missing last year’s US Open with a knee injury. He won the Rogers Cup in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, and is 13-5 overall at Flushing Meadows.
Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey will both be in action Thursday. The top-ranked American and 13th seeded Isner will be playing Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany on Armstrong, while Querrey will look to improve to 4-0 against the 28th seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Court 17.
On the women’s side Thursday, top-seeded Serena Williams, third-seeded Petra Kvitova, seventh-seeded Eugenie Bouchard, eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic will all be in action seeking spots in the third-round, while 15-year old CiCi Bellis will try and build on her stunning first-round win.
Bellis knocked off 12th-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in her Grand Slam debut on Tuesday and takes on Israel’s Zarina Diyas in today’s second-round action. Diyas, the 48th ranked player in the world, made her US Open debut with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lesya Tsurenko on Tuesday.
Williams will take on fellow American Vania King who defeated Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the opening round. It was her first Grand Slam main draw win since the 2013 French Open and the 25-year old is making her 10th consecutive main draw appearance. She will look to equal her previous best result which was a third-round appearance back in 2009. In her way is the five-time US Open champion Williams. She is 73-9 in her career at the US Open, and is due a $4 million payout if she wins her sixth title at Flushing Meadows.
Wimbledon champion and third-seeded Kvitova will meet fellow Czech Petra Cetkovska for a place in the third-round. Cetkovska is 7-7 all-time against Czech players but has never played Kvitova. The third-ranked player in the world Kvitova’s best showing at the US Open was a fourth-round appearance in 2009.
Bouchard will take on 80th ranked Romanian Sorana Cristea for the first time today. The 20-year old Canadian is one of four players from north of the border in the tournament’s main draw, and will look to improve on her second-round appearance in last year’s US Open. Bouchard lost to Kvitova at this year’s Wimbledon final and is 27-17 on the year. She cruised past Olga Govortsova in the first-round 6-2, 6-1.
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic is looking to make her fifth third-round appearance at the US Open when she takes on Czech Karolina Pliskova. Her best showing came back in 2012 when she reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. She will be playing Pliskova for the first time in her career, and the Czech carries a 1-9 career record versus top 10 players.
Click here for a full schedule of day four at the 2014 U.S. Open.
