US Open: And on the Second Day...

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

The doubles has begun. What is also clear is that the US Open is not quite as well run as Wimbledon. They have a day off and still finish on the Sunday. Also, they do top half and bottom half on different days, which works brilliantly, but the US Open doesn't seem to do that. Well, anyway, Berdych, Federer and the Djoker all cruised in their opening round matches. Butorac/Nielsen won their match in a tight affair 7-5, 6-7, 6-4. Lopez/Sa of Spain and Brazil, respectively, beat Dolgopolov and Malisse-who won Indian Wells together recently I believe- easily 1 and 3. Fognini and Ramos needed a pair of breakers to see off Aussies Hanley and Smith. Brands and Oswald of Germany and Austria beat De Schepper/Hanescu 6-3,7-6 and the tenth seeded Dodig/Cilic went through safely, as well, beating Monroe and Stadler 7-6, 6-4. Also through were Guccione/Tomic, the Aussies. They beat Cabal and Farah of Columbia in two breakers.

But what of the singles? Well, read on...


BLOCKBUSTER BUST-UP: Querrey d. Pella, USA/ARG
...Querrey is a top thirty player, and he is also an American, which means that he was always going to be on a big court for his opener. Fair play to the US Open for putting him on LA. It gets the crowd going and it might help your guy to get a run going here. Anyway, despite being ranked at 90, Pella is an up and coming player. He is very good on the dirt and usually some of that can translate to the hard courts, especially the slower ones. Anyway, Sam took the first set 7-3 in the breaker in 44 minutes, but then lost the next set 6-4 in 43. It was hanging in the balance until the American took charge and won the next two sets 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes to close it out and move through. Just about 1 in every 6 of his points were aces- he hit 24, which was 4 times that of his opponent. He hit 50 winners, which amounted to roughly a third of his total points, and hit just 40 errors. His opponent, however, hit 46 errors but just 30 winners. He was broken just once but broke serve 6 times in what was overall a pretty dominant performance. His serving average was up at 126 (MPH) for first serves, which is really amazing.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Denis Istomin , UZB
...My surprise semifinal pick Janowicz had a freak injury occurrence just two days before the tournament. He didn't retire and instead battled on despite not being able to serve. I felt it would be somewhat harsh to put him here. Almagro going out isn't really a surprise but it is an upset. Istomin hit thirteen aces to the Spaniard's 7 in the 1 hour 55 minute match. He hit just 2 double faults whilst Almagro hit 5. The Uzbeki also hit just 2 unforced errors in his 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory. All in all, it was a solid performance from Istomin and he swept aside the fifteenth seed. He plays Kamke next and that is a winnable match.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Berlocq d. Giraldo, ARG/COL
...In four hours and six minutes, Carlos Berlocq came back from two sets to one down to win. He was 5-7 in aces to double faults but his opponent was 9-6. Carlos was also 39-49 with regards to winners and errors, but his opponent was slightly worse, going 47-59. It was a slightly scrappy affair in places, but it was also a match all about attrition and that area was perhaps the one the Argentine most excelled in.

I will always remember Berlocq for this:


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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Young d. Klizan, USA/SLO
...It was over in 80 minutes. Young actually handed someone a 1 love and 1 drubbing. That long winless streak appears to be worth it if he has found his inner zen. Young was consistent and aggressive, but not stellar. His opponent was 4-5 in aces and faults and 13-43 in errors. In fact, he won 45 total points and hit 43 unforced errors. He hit just 13 winners and won just 33 per cent of second and 37 per cent of first serves. It sounds like a spectacularly bad day at the office, but take nothing away from Young. He played well and was clearly the stronger player on the day. He plays Florian Mayer next, which is a winnable match for sure.
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ELVIS AWARD: Rogerio Dutra-Silva, BRA
...It took the Brazilian four hours and a minute over two days to come back from the dead to win through and break the heart of Pospisil. The young Canadian led 6-4, 6-3 and even had points in the third set breaker to put the match to bed, but couldn't and lost it 11-9. He lost the fourth 6-2 and then in the final breaker he had more match points, but went down 12-10 to the Brazilian. Despite 15 doubles, he hit 21 aces whilst his opponent was 3-3. Symmetrically, he was 21-15 in winners and errors whilst his opponent was 3-3. It was a truly remarkable comeback, and the reward for such a comeback? A second round meeting with some guy called Rafael Nadal.
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HOME GROWN HERO: John Isner , USA
...Isner could, with luck, make it the semifinals or even the final here. He didn't disappoint the fans in his opener, either. Taking the opening set in just 15 minutes and winning 24 points to his opponents 6 during that set, he looked very good. The entire match lasted just 76 minutes and Isner was utterly dominant, especially in the first set. The next two sets were half an hour each 6-2, 6-3. Isner was 16-3 in aces to doubles whilst his opponent was 1-5 and he was 29-20 with winners to unforced, but his opponent managed just 13-25. He goes on to play Monfils in a huge match.
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