U.S.Open 2011 Preview: Eighth Day - A Drab Day!

The eighth day at U.S.Open 2011 promises to be a drab day since results are, by and large, going to be on expected lines.

There is no upset on cards when Juan Monaco takes on Roger Federer. Federer’s losses have come more against big hitters; those who can take time away from him. Monaco is a clay court specialist where he retrieves every ball thrown at him. He waits for mistakes from the opponents or for short balls. With this type of play, even if he is inspired to play at double his capacity, he can not put out Federer. He can win if Federer self destructs or is blindly complacent or makes tons of unforced errors.

There is no upset apparent in Novak Djokovic - Alexandr Dolgopolov match. Djokovic can not be upstaged by a raw talent like Dolgopolov even though the latter does play an unorthodox game. Barring serve, he does not have enough power or consistency to win break points on Djokovic serve. If he were to engage in rallies, he can not stand the barrage beyond a few shots. He does not have the serve and volley variety. Slices may keep the ball out of the comfort zone of Djokovic, but he has an excellent defence to wait for the ball to land in his strike zone. Any excessive use of drop shots would be suicidal since Djokovic has tremendous anticipation and speed. If Dolgopolov has put in a good performance so far, it could be due to the fact that he was allowed to play his best game by opponents who were not in the same category as a top ten player.

In the fight between the highest American seed Mardy Fish and the entertainer Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the higher ranked player might prevail. Tsonga is not impervious to crowd pressure. He benefits a great deal when stands support him and fails when crowd favours his opponents. If Queens Club ATP tournament was played not in London in June, he could have defeated Andy Murray. He faded against Murray in Wimbledon 2010 too. Mardy Fish is playing solid tennis. He is playing on his home soil. Tsonga will find it hard to produce his best. He is an entertainer and the crowd will be entertained most if he loses.

Janko Tipsarevic and Juan Carlos Ferrero will have equal chances. Tipsarevic will hit more aces and more winners, but Ferrero will commit less unforced errors. Tipsarevic can be sublime one day and ordinary the next day. Ferrero plays the same game over and over again. Tipsarevic sometimes goes for the spectacle whereas Ferrero mostly sticks to the percentage game. One player likes complexities and the other likes simplicity, as far as tennis is concerned. One likes innovation, the other likes robotics. It is difficult to see one player totally overpowering the other.