U.S. Open 2011: Fifth Day Preview - Second Round

There are interesting battles on card on the fifth day of the U.S Open. It also features some unpredictable matches involving native players.

James Blake will go back to wall practice days when he meets David Ferrer “The Wall” in the second round. Blake will be wary of the fact that wall never loses. There are many similarities between the playing style of Ferrer and Nadal. One of them is the never say die spirit. James Blake will have to hit numerous winners when Ferrer attempts to draw him into endless rallies. Can Blake do this without committing many errors? He has defeated Ferrer at Indian Wells last year in the second round in straight sets. Ferrer has never won in the two meetings between the two. But there is a difference. Ferrer is seeded at five and is in good form. On the other hand, Blake will have massive crowd support. Blake can hope for maintaining his invincibility over Ferrer and if he loses, he loses nothing since he lost to a top ten player.

In a clash of the two veterans who have been in the top four a few years ago, Ivan Ljubicic takes on David Nalbandian. Ljubicic has had the better of exchanges having defeated Nalbandian five times against three. Both are much slower having gone through several injuries and that would present a level playing field. Ljubicic has more aggression in his game and Nalbandian has better consistency. Perhaps the better serving power might tilt the scale in Ljubicic favour a bit.

An upset can not be discounted when the American young hope Donald Young meets the fourteenth seed Stanislas Wawrinka. Wawrinka is susceptible to crowd pressure. It will also be a battle between experience and inexperience. If Young plays a percentage game, he should attack the single fisted back hand of Wawrinka with his forehand cross court shots. The slender advantage of being a left hander should be exploited to the full. Wawrinka will draw upon his experience and the prominent victories he had over some great players in the past.

Both the all American battles will provide entertainment. Robby Ginepri will not go down without fight to John Isner, but it is the ace power of Isner that is likely to prevail in the end. Andy Roddick will find the going tough against Jack Sock, but with the crowd support not in his exclusive favour, Sock will find himself in a familiar and yet unfamiliar surroundings. Whether he can conquer the fear of the unknown is yet to be seen.