Amandine 8-28-2007 14:27
Top Seeds, Top Talents Headline Day One
Monday, August 27, 2007
By Mark Preston
Welcome to Day 1 of the 2007 US Open. For these next two weeks, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be the center of the sporting world as tennis’ top talents battle for this sport’s toughest title. Indeed, everything about the US Open—from its courts upward—is hard. But should you somehow, some way, win seven matches over the course of this fortnight, you get a very nice trophy, a very large check and credentials that last a lifetime.
There are 14 players in these very deep draws who’ve captured Grand Slam singles titles—including both of the US Open’s top seeds, three-time US Open champ Roger Federer and 2003 US Open champion Justine Henin—each of whom see action during the day session. Tonight, two of tennis’ most luminous stars light up the evening, as Venus and Serena Williams play back-to-back following an Opening Night tribute to the late champion Althea Gibson on this 50th anniversary of her first U.S. Championships win.
Federer comes into this US Open chasing only history. In July, the universe’s No. 1 player notched his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and the 11th Slam crown of his career. That’s only three behind Pete Sampras’ all-time record and one more than Sampras had at that same age--25. A win here would make him the first player of the Open era to win four consecutive US Open titles, and would mark the fourth year in a row that he’d captured Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back. Atlanta’s Scoville Jenkins played his way through qualifying to get here, which pretty much defines the idea of “good news, bad news.” That’s not unusual here for Jenkins, playing his fifth career US Open match, three of which have been again the No. 1 or No. 2 player in the world. He lost to Andy Roddick in his US Open debut in 2004, Rafael Nadal in the second round of 2005, and now Federer. His luck has got to change, but not today. It’s Federer in three.
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_018_federer_082407.jpg[/img]
Henin captured her sixth career Slam title when she won Roland Garros in June. At 25, she is making her ninth consecutive US Open appearance, winning here in 2003 and reaching the final last year. She’s won six tournament titles this year, including the Toronto stop on the US Open Series two weeks ago, so she comes to New York with some hard-court momentum. Her opponent, qualifier Julia Goerges, is an 18-year-old German making her Grand Slam main-draw debut. It doesn’t figure to be a long one. It’s Henin in two.
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_002_henin.jpg[/img]
Two up-and-coming U.S. males promise to deliver some first-class excitement today. John Isner, who led the University of Georgia to the NCAA championship this spring, then followed that up by reaching the final of the Washington, D.C. stop of the US Open Series, faces No. 26-seed Jarkko Nieminen. Donald Young, formerly the world No. 1-ranked junior, who this year won his first USTA Pro Circuit event, takes on Aussie Chris Guccione. Both Americans have excellent chances to advance in their respective matches. Isner, 22, blasted his way into the limelight with his D.C. campaign—only his second ATP Tour event. At 6’ 9”, he plays a power game that matches up well against Niemenin, whose best-ever showing here was a quarterfinal finish in 2005. Young, 18, won this year’s Wimbledon junior championship and followed that up by winning the Aptos, Calif., Challenger, hinting that he may be primed to start proving his potential. Today, both U.S. stars earn their stripes, each pushing on to round two.
Venus Williams, winner here in 2000 and 2001, owns six Grand Slam singles titles, including this year’s Wimbledon crown. Her opponent, qualifier Kira Nagy of Hungary, has won 18 singles titles on the ITF Circuit but is making just her second Slam main draw appearance. No matter how you run those numbers, it’s not good for Nagy. Williams is through in two.
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_002_venus_082407.jpg[/img]
Serena Williams owns eight Slam titles, including the 1999 and 2002 US Open crowns. She lost here last year in the fourth round to Amelie Mauresmo in an uneven match, the ups and downs a microcosm of her last few years on tour. Still, after a near five-month absence, she returned to tennis in January and dismantled the field at the Australian Open, completely dominating Maria Sharapova in the final. She followed that up with a win on hard courts in Miami, again taking out Sharapova in the fourth round and Henin in the final. She hasn’t played a match since Wimbledon, sidelined with a bum thumb, but with nine fingers, she can still count on making short work of Angelique Kerber of Germany, whose Grand Slam experience consists of two first-round losses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year. According to her bio, Kerber speaks German, Polish and English, so that’s “auf Wiedersehen”, “do widzenia” and “goodbye.” Serena is through in two.
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_001_serena_082407.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_isner_08152007.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/thumbs/t_young_08152007.jpg[/img]