24-BERNARD TOMIC VS. LLEYTON HEWITT
The 2001 US Open champion, Lleyton Hewitt, said he’s not pleased at having to go up against the young Aussies. Hewitt is playing his last US Open tournament, as he will retire after the 2016 Australian Open. Right now, Hewitt is helping coach the young guns, including Tomic, and says they are very good buddies.
The 34-year-old Hewitt has been around for a very long time and when he was a teenager, he was difficult to deal with off the court, and extremely intense on the court – not unlike Tomic today. Despite some emotional outbursts, the young Hewitt was always locked in and super concentrated, which is why he was able to stun the then-No. 1 Pete Sampras in the final here in 2001. Sampras would bomb his first serves, and he would rush the net, but Hewitt could sense where the balls were coming and he flicked the racquet in front of him and passed Sampras time after time, painting the lines. What's more, he was super-fast and an amazing athlete.
But that changed over the years as his body gradually broke down. He doesn't have the speed he once did, but he is an intelligent player and his forehand first serve has improved over the years. But the fact is that he hasn't been able to hit as hard as the younger boys. That’s why Tomic should win the contest. Like Hewitt, Tomic likes to engage long rallies, but if he is successfully nailing his serves and cracking his forehand, he can shorten the points. The 22-year-old Tomic likes to slice, he likes to use topspin and he likes to flatten out both his forehand and backhand. Hewitt is a quality player, but he hasn’t played much this season and he’s pushing balls short quite a bit. This is the 15th time that Hewitt has played at the US Open and he has had some wonderful moments, but Tomic is too strong and will beat his older buddy in straight sets.
13-JOHN ISNER VS. MIKHAIL YOUZHNY
Believe it or not, Youzhny has reached the the US Open semifinal twice--in 2006 and 2010. Though the 33 year old has slipped a fair bit, if he wakes up and smells the roses, then maybe he will play as well as he possibly can. Youzhny isn’t as fast as he used to be, and he doesn’t crush the balls, but he mixes it up well and he can stroke deep off both sides. He can pass his opponents and can rush the net effectively.
However, reality says that Isner is more confident now than the Russian. The top-ranked American believes he can go deep at the US Open. Sure, he has not been perfect on the hard courts by any means, but he has improved his backhand and he is faster than he used to be. The 30-year-old dominates with his huge serve, his forehand is massive, and when he can make it up close to the net, he can bury it. I do think Youzhny will play extremely well and really push Isner, but big John will set up during the big points and come through, all in tiebreakers in five dramatic sets,
2- SIMONA HALEP VS. KATERYNA BONDARENKO
In 2009, the Ukrainian Bondarenko reached the quarterfinals at the US Open, and at the time it looked like she might end up reaching the WTA Top 10, but she did not. She had a baby and stopped playing for a while. This year, she has come back, and having begun the season ranked No. 201, she has cracked the Top 100 coming into this week. That’s pretty darn good. She has qualified for a number of significant tournaments on hard courts and the 29-year-old isn’t done yet. She was always pretty fast, and very aggressive. She won’t back off.
But how is she going to out-hit Halep? The world No. 2 may have done almost nothing in the Grand Slams this year, but she has been amazing on the hard courts this season, going deep at Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto and Cincinnati, among others. When her head is on straight, she is lethal, incredibly consistent, and has incredible depth. Really, Halep has a legitimate chance to reach the final here, but she has to focus and not play scared, as she has at the majors this year. While Bondarenko will go right at her and push her to the limits, Halep will be steady and more consistent as they trade big forehands. It will be close, but Halep will get through in three long sets.
5-PETRA KVITOVA VS. NICOLE GIBBS
The Czech can take down anyone, anytime, but Kvitova has never played fantastic at the US Open and has yet to figure out NYC. She is trying, though, and the two-time Wimbledon champion has lit it up on fast hard courts. As good as she is, she's put up spotty results in the U.S., which is too bad, becasue the tall and strong lefty is a terrific person, and she's good enough and powerful enough to dominate the best competitors. But until she actually does it, she's still just a potential contender for this title.
Gibbs was a two-time NCAA champion while at Stanford University, and since she's joined the tour, she's shown glimmers of promise but has yet to figure out how to compete with the big girls. She can run around very quickly, and on occasion she can crack her forehand, but cannot knock down the most powerful competitors. Gibbs will be enthusiastic, and she knows that Kvitova can disappear, so she has to hang in there. But Petra, ,coming off a win in New Haven last week, is playing with a boost of confidence and will win easily in straight sets.
