2013 US Open

[Sir David Gray]

The final Grand Slam of the season starts on Monday and for the first time ever, Andy Murray will be coming into a Major as the defending champion.

The draw was made today and his potential route to the final and to defending his title will be;

Round 1-Michael Llodra
Round 2-Victor Hanescu
Round 3-Juan Monaco
Last 16-Nicolas Almagro
Quarter finals-Tomas Berdych
Semi finals-Novak Djokovic
Final-Rafael Nadal

I don't expect any problems for him before the quarter finals, but it will be really tough playing Berdych, Djokovic and then Nadal, all over best of five set matches over the course of around five days.

If that's how the draws pans out, he'll really deserve it if he manages to defend his trophy this year.

The 2013 US Open sees Roger Federer have his lowest seeding at a Grand Slam tournament since he entered the 2002 US Open as the 13th seed.

This year he's the 7th seed after dropping two places in the world rankings this week. That means he could face Rafael Nadal as early as the quarter finals and if he managed to win that one, he could then face either Murray or Djokovic in the final.

[Sylar]

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The final Grand Slam of the season starts on Monday and for the first time ever, Andy Murray will be coming into a Major as the defending champion.

The draw was made today and his potential route to the final and to defending his title will be;

Round 1-Michael Llodra
Round 2-Victor Hanescu
Round 3-Juan Monaco
Last 16-Nicolas Almagro
Quarter finals-Tomas Berdych
Semi finals-Novak Djokovic
Final-Rafael Nadal

I don't expect any problems for him before the quarter finals, but it will be really tough playing Berdych, Djokovic and then Nadal, all over best of five set matches over the course of around five days.

If that's how the draws pans out, he'll really deserve it if he manages to defend his trophy this year.

The 2013 US Open sees Roger Federer have his lowest seeding at a Grand Slam tournament since he entered the 2002 US Open as the 13th seed.

This year he's the 7th seed after dropping two places in the world rankings this week. That means he could face Rafael Nadal as early as the quarter finals and if he managed to win that one, he could then face either Murray or Djokovic in the final.

Wow!

How has Nadal looked on hard court? I've not seen any tennis since Wimbledon so my instant reaction is that I would still back Federer over Nadal on a hard-court surface.

Looking forward to this though as the US Open is always enjoyable.

Personally, I fancy Djokovic this year but it's based on nothing other than a good ol' fashioned hunch

[jodjam]

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Wow!

How has Nadal looked on hard court? I've not seen any tennis since Wimbledon so my instant reaction is that I would still back Federer over Nadal on a hard-court surface.

Looking forward to this though as the US Open is always enjoyable.

Personally, I fancy Djokovic this year but it's based on nothing other than a good ol' fashioned hunch

Nadal had been amazing on the hard court. Won the two back to back masters events and also beat federer , albeit in a tight match. Nadal has quite a tough draw.

I agree with FH re Murray and the berdych tie. However if Murray can serve well I think it's his to lose as nole is not in top form.

[Sir David Gray]

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Wow!

How has Nadal looked on hard court? I've not seen any tennis since Wimbledon so my instant reaction is that I would still back Federer over Nadal on a hard-court surface.

Looking forward to this though as the US Open is always enjoyable.

Personally, I fancy Djokovic this year but it's based on nothing other than a good ol' fashioned hunch

Nadal has been immense on hard court all year. Since he came back in February, he's played three hard court tournaments, at Indian Wells back in March and Montreal and Cincinnati back to back over the past couple of weeks and won all three!

It's even more impressive when you consider that hard courts are thought to be the most punishing on his knees.

Looking at his record as a whole in 2013, it really is outstanding. He has entered twelve tournaments this year and won nine of them. In two of the other three tournaments, he lost in the final and the only real blot on his copybook was the inexplicable first round exit at Wimbledon at the hands of Steve Darcis.

If Nadal does play Federer in the quarter finals, I honestly can't see Federer having enough to beat him over five sets. Nadal has beaten him on the last five occasions that they have met in a Grand Slam and there's just something about Nadal's game that Federer has just never been very comfortable with.

I would say that the top three players will all be in the semis, although as I said before, Murray will have a tough match against Berdych if it materialises.

I'd like to say that Murray will make the final and he's got every chance but if I was a betting man, I would say the final will be between Djokovic and Nadal.

[Sir David Gray]

Also a big well done to Dan Evans who has come through three rounds of qualifying to make it to the main draw.

It's the first time that he'll have played in the main draw of a Grand Slam on merit as his only other appearances in a Grand Slam have come at Wimbledon as a result of wild cards.

All the best to him next week.

His potential first round opponents are;

Igor Sijsling
Martin Klizan
Lukas Lacko
James Blake
Marcos Baghdatis
Feliciano Lopez
Milos Raonic
Jerzy Janowicz
Jack Sock
David Ferrer
Robin Haase
Kei Nishikori
Vasek Pospisil

Or he could face two other qualifiers.

Some big names in that list and he'll be up against it but it'll hopefully be a great experience for him.

[Sir David Gray]

Absolutely fantastic result for Dan Evans today, beating 11th seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets.

He'll now play Bernard Tomic in round two.

Well done to him on winning his first ever match in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

Also a solid start for Laura Robson as she won 7-5 6-0 to make the second round.

[--------]

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Absolutely fantastic result for Dan Evans today, beating 11th seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets.

He'll now play Bernard Tomic in round two.

Well done to him on winning his first ever match in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

Also a solid start for Laura Robson as she won 7-5 6-0 to make the second round.

He really played well, didn't he?

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Is Azarenka pregnant? She looks a fair size!

[HibbyAndy]

Eurosport wont show Murray matches live WTF???!!! Where you ment to watch them then??

Edit : Sky

[jodjam]

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Is Azarenka pregnant? She looks a fair size!

She's always looked a fairly big Burd. I always picture her looking more at home playing in the mothers comps at the braids tennis club.

[Sir David Gray]

Laura Robson through to 3rd round, beating Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-6.

Now a rematch from last year against Li Na, who she beat at the same stage in 2012.

Very tough challenge.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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She's always looked a fairly big Burd. I always picture her looking more at home playing in the mothers comps at the braids tennis club.

I quite enjoy keeping a close eye on her!

Her Ned Kelly is certainly a lot bigger than it was at Wimbledon, maybe she's been doing a couple of those Man v Food challenges in The States!

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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Laura Robson through to 3rd round, beating Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-6.

Now a rematch from last year against Li Na, who she beat at the same stage in 2012.

Very tough challenge.

I thought she looked quite concerned about her wrist at the end of the match, I think she might struggle in the next round, hopefully not though.

[Sir David Gray]

Things aren't going Andy Murray's way at the beginning of the tournament.

With his main rivals for the title already safely through to round two, he's yet to start his first round match and with the rain starting to fall yet again in New York, there is a chance that he may not complete his match against Michael Llodra until Thursday.

That would be a total nightmare for him.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray takes the first set 6-2.

[--------]

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Murray takes the first set 6-2.

Murray through 2-4-3 - Evans plays Tomic tonight?

[Westie1875]

Evans giving Tomic a match at the moment, one set each and 3-2 Tomic in the 3rd with Evans to serve.

[Treadstone]

Go on Dan ! Getting invested in this like its oor Andy. Up 2 sets to 1.

[Treadstone]

Well done Dan. Wins in 4 sets. A decent payday too. Hope the LTA provide some financial assistance as he has certainly earned it.

Edit: $93k so far

[Sir David Gray]

Outstanding performance by Dan Evans once again. The way he played tonight, he should be ranked inside the top 50 at least.

Probably faces Tommy Robredo in round three.

Very experienced player who was ranked fifth in the world a few years ago but from what I saw tonight, if Evans plays like he did tonight, he's got every chance.

If he beats Robredo, he'll possibly play Roger Federer in the last 16!

[Treadstone]

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I quite enjoy keeping a close eye on her!

Her Ned Kelly is certainly a lot bigger than it was at Wimbledon, maybe she's been doing a couple of those Man v Food challenges in The States!

Just watched Azarenka. Love the way she doesn't give a hoot about anything. Quite refreshing.

[Treadstone]

Looking forward to see Robson against Li Na. Quite impressed with her win vs Garcia and that level could be good enough here against the flaky Chinese player. Love that forehand. Good footwork against Garcia as well noticable improvement.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Robson pumped 2-6, 5-7

[Treadstone]

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Robson pumped 2-6, 5-7

So disappointed. Fifth seed wins so not a shocker but poor performance from Robson. Expected her to take the second to a tie-breaker.

[Sir David Gray]

I know she beat Li Na last year at the US Open but she's a really good player with a lot of experience.

Robson has a bright future in the game but I think top ten ranked players will beat her more often than not at the moment.

[Sir David Gray]

Andy Murray will be on very soon against Leonardo Mayer as Tomas Berdych has just won his match.

Players should be on in under 10 minutes for the warm up.

[HibbyAndy]

Murray WTF with the England shirt??"!!

[Sir David Gray]

Slight wobble from Murray here as he drops the third set, 6-3.

Still leads two sets to one.

[Sir David Gray]

Murray breaks to go 3-1 up in the fourth set.

Should be fine from here!

[Sir David Gray]

Murray wins 7-5 6-1 3-6 6-1.

Made it a bit harder for himself that it needed to be at times but it was still a fairly convincing win in the end and he's safely through to round three, where he'll meet Florian Mayer, who's no relation to his opponent tonight!