The U.S. Open men’s final is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11, the
10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States,
the day the World Trade Center came crumbling down just a New York
subway ride away from the Flushing Meadows tournament grounds.
There will be a solemn memorial for the victims and a tribute to
the heroes of that day. The date — 9-11-01 — will be painted on
the court
Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers
NEW YORK
The U.S. Open men’s final is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11, the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the day the World Trade Center came crumbling down just a New York subway ride away from the Flushing Meadows tournament grounds. There will be a solemn memorial for the victims and a tribute to the heroes of that day. The date — 9-11-01 — will be painted on the court.
If a Hollywood screenwriter were in charge of the script, an American would win the men’s Open title this year — either eighth-ranked Mardy Fish, playing the best tennis of his career at age 29, or his good buddy, Andy Roddick, slipping in the rankings and still searching for his second Grand Slam title since winning the U.S. Open eight years ago.
But standing in the way of a patriotic story line are three foreigners who are among the best players in tennis history: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Djokovic, in particular, is having an historic season with a 57-2 record, two Grand Slam titles (Australian Open and Wimbledon), and a 41-match winning streak to start the season. Although he was forced to withdraw from the Cincinnati tournament because of a sore right shoulder, he is the heavy favorite to win his first U.S. Open.
If he doesn’t, chances are it will be Nadal or Federer, who are as hungry as ever. Nadal is aiming to regain the No. 1 ranking from Djokovic, and Federer is seeking to maintain his streak of winning at least one major every year since 2002. Nadal and Federer are on the same half of the draw and are on course to meet in the semifinals.
“Mardy’s obviously playing the best tennis of his life, but the gap between him and the top three, and I’d add Andy Murray for four, is a pretty big gap,” said seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, a CBS analyst. “To win, he’d have to beat two, or maybe three of those guys, and that’s a really tall order. … To beat one of them is hard enough.”
McEnroe’s brother, Patrick, an ESPN commentator, agreed.
“What Djokovic has done this year has just been off the charts,” he said. “To win two majors, five straight masters events with Federer and Nadal right there, it’s pretty remarkable. Even saying that, he’s the favorite, but it’s definitely not overwhelming.
“You have two of the greatest players of all time who will be extremely motivated. For Federer, it’s been a pretty disappointing year by his standards, so you know he’ll be motivated. If he’s got to play Rafa and potentially Novak back-to-back at 30, that’s going to be really tough for him.
“But Nadal will be extremely motivated, so he’s going to want to show that he can get back to No. 1.”
Federer turned 30 this month. The last 30-year-old to win a Grand Slam title was Andre Agassi, when he won the 2003 Australian Open. Can the Swiss pull it off?
“Obviously, the window’s closing,” CBS analyst Mary Carillo said. “We know that, and he knows that. He’s not posting numbers the way he used to.
“But, even at 30, he has sustained his fitness, his passion and his focus. He might need some help with draws, but yes, I think he can win another major.”
Serena Williams, underrated but unhindered, returns
It’s been almost two years since Serena Williams left the U.S. Open, beaten in the 2009 final by Kim Clijsters after Williams lost her temper, threatened a lineswoman who had called a foot fault and left a permanent video record of how athletes are not supposed to behave in public.
Williams missed last year’s Open and most of an entire tennis season after several health issues stemming from an injury to her foot.
She returned to the spotlight this year at Wimbledon, where she lost in the fourth round, but Williams, 29, comes to New York with a revived game and the sense that the tournament is hers to win.
Since coming back to the game for a warmup event before Wimbledon, Williams has gone 16-2, her only losses to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon and a withdrawal in the second round at Mason, Ohio, before an Aug. 17 match with Samantha Stosur.
Williams cited a swollen right big toe, but she was next spotted at the Kim Kardashian wedding, leading to a sense that Williams felt she had played enough on summer hard courts after winning events at Stanford and Toronto.
Chris Evert, who will be doing commentary on ESPN during the Open, said she was impressed with how Williams has played this summer.
“She committed herself. She practiced, she’s won two tournaments. That’s unbelievable, it’s incredible,” Evert said. “Not to undermine the rest of the field, but it just shows that Serena is head and shoulders above anybody else again, when she’s healthy.”
Because of her lengthy absence from tennis, which saw her ranking drop to No. 175 in the world after Wimbledon, Williams is seeded 28th. The U.S. Open had an option of giving Williams any seeding it wanted and John McEnroe said the tournament made a mistake in not giving Williams a lower number.
“I don’t know why they didn’t,” McEnroe said. “It’s not as if she hasn’t played a single match. She asserted herself, won a couple of events.”
If seedings hold, Williams would meet fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the third round, and McEnroe said, “That’s a disservice to Azarenka to have to play Serena in the third round after making the effort to get a No. 4 seed. I don’t think anyone in the tournament, every female player, would have complained if Serena was a top-eight seed minimum.”
The top-seeded woman is Caroline Wozniacki, who has yet to win one of the four major titles. Wozniacki is certain to gain attention, at least, for her new boyfriend, golfer Rory McIlroy.
Two-time defending champion Clijsters is missing because of a stomach muscle injury. Outside of Williams, third-seeded Maria Sharapova has had the best hard-court season, winning the event at Cincinnati. Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva is looking for her first major championship.
- Diane Pucin, McClatchy News Service
