U.S. Open Daily: Day Three Preview

August 31, 2011 | By Eric C. Peck
Photo credit: Anthony Pastecchi

The present and future of American men’s tennis will be on display on Day 3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the U.S. Open, with Andy Roddick, John Isner and Robby Ginepri all beginning their tournaments alongside two-time reigning USTA Boys’ 18s national champion Jack Sock and 2011 NCAA champion Steve Johnson.

Roddick, who turned 29 yesterday, faces fellow American Michael Russell today at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Roddick enters the event seeded outside the top 10 for the first time since 2002. Johnson, opens action today against fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr. The 28-year-old Bogomolov was working as a Long Island teaching pro just two years ago and is now the number four-ranked American male on the ATP Tour. The 28th-seeded Isner will face Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Ginepri will meet Joao Souza from Brazil at the Grandstand. The 19-year-old sock will face 34-year-old Frenchman Marc Gicquel on Court 17.

Also at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the number four seed Andy Murray from Great Britain faces India’s Somdev Devvarman.

Among the women seeing action today, the American teenagers are out in full force, as 16-year-old Madison Keys and 19-year-olds Christina McHale and CoCo Vandeweghe will all attempt to advance to the third round against seeded opponents, as well as 21-year-old Irina Falconi, the 2010 college player of the year.

McHale is coming off a huge upset at the Western & Southern Open, an Olympus U.S. Open Series event in Cincinnati, where the 19-year-old stunned top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, 6-4, 7-5. Today, McHale faces another tough competitor in the number eight seed, Marion Bartoli from France. Keys will face the number 27 seed, Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic, and Vandeweghe will meet the number nine seed, Australian Samantha Stosur. Falconi faces another top seed, the number 14 seed Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia.

The number two-seed Vera Zvonareva will take on Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine, and the unseeded Venus Williams will face a tough test in her match with the number 22 seed, German Sabine Lisicki. At Arthur Ashe Stadium, the number three seed Maria Sharapova from Russia will take on Anastasiya Yakimova from Belarus under the lights.


Eric C. Peck

Eric C. Peck is Editor-in-Chief of Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by e-mail at eric@litennismag.com

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