US Open 2013: Matches to look out for on Day 2
With day one producing results going along expected lines, we move into the second day of the US Open 2013.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic and top-ranked American John Isner will be in action today along with Roger Federer, whose match from yesterday got postponed. Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams breezed through to the second round with dominating wins for each of them. World No.2 Rafael Nadal too won his first round encounter against Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Tommy Haas vs Paul-Henri Mathieu
German veteran Tommy Haas will face off against Paul-Henri Mathieu in his first round encounter (Getty Images)
World No.13 Tommy Haas will take on 107th ranked Paul-Henri Mathieu in his first round encounter at the US Open. The pair will meet for the third time in their career, with Mathieu enjoying a 2-0 advantage over his higher ranked rival. Though the previous two encounters were way back in 2005, Mathieu will have a mental advantage over his rival.
Tommy Haas’ recent record though will be in his favour as he has grown tremendously in the past few years. He played some quality tennis against Federer at the Cincinnati Open held recently, though he lost the match. On the other hand, Mathieu’s run up to the US Open has been far from impressive as he failed to reach the third round in all the recent tournaments.
Tommy Haas is expected to win this tie with ease and move into the second round.
Julia Goerges vs Christina McHale
In the women’s draw, World No.45 Julia Goerges will meet the 114th ranked Christina McHale in the first round. This will be an interesting match as the outcome of this match is quite unpredictable. Though Goerges will fancy her chances over her lower ranked rival, her recent performances haven’t been convincing. Having lost 7 out of her last 8 hard court matches, Julia will have to up her ante if she wants to sail into the second round.
Christina will try to use home advantage to get a win and move onto the second round. Having lost 5 matches in a row in her build up for the event, Christina’s only advantage will be playing at home. These two are meeting for the first time in their career and Julia will start as the favourite to win the tie.
Denis Istomin vs Nicolas Almagro
Istomin and Almagro will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Tuesday. Both their previous encounters have gone Istomin’s way, without the loss of a set. He won the at the grass courts inEastbourne in 2010 as Almagro retired in the second set. He also won 7-6(5), 7-6(7) a month later on the clay of Hamburg. Istomin’s run up to the US Open includes a semi-final showing in Memphis and four quarter-final finishes. The 65th ranked Uzbek is coming off a first-round loss in Winston-Salem to Guillaume Rufin, and he will be trying to put that loss behind him before the match.
Almagro who has a 32-17 win-loss record this year will look to put the recent poor form behind him. The Spaniard is riding a three-match losing streak dating back to the Hamburg semi-finals, in which he lost to an on-fire Fabio Fognini. Almagro lost to Radek Stepanek in the first round at Montreal and to Grigor Dimitrov in his Cincinnati opener. The world No. 15 is relatively underrated on fast surfaces, but it is true that he is by far his best on clay. Istomin may be able to take advantage of a favourable draw and will try to force a win in the opener.