US Open Draw Throws Up Thrillers ( written by Emre Saridogan)
It is rare that a player will have the same first round match-up for two Grand Slams in a row. It is even rarer that the two players in question would be ATP World Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov and 3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who will face off in the first match on day one of this year’s US Open. They also played in Round One of this year’s Wimbledon, with Wawrinka prevailing in a four set thriller.
Another interesting match-up is Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer, with Nadal having 17 Grand Slams to his name and Ferrer being a former World Number 3. Their head to head adds to the interest surrounding this match, as although it is 24-6 in favour of Nadal, Ferrer did beat Nadal at the in their only US Open meeting in 2007. Roger Federer, has an easy opener Yoshihito Nishioka, although he could face the ever exciting Nick Kyrgios in Round 3.
There are several Britons playing in the Men’s and Women’s singles draw, with British Number One Kyle Edmund having a tough opener against Paolo Lorenzi. Andy Murray will play James Duckworth in his return to Grand Slam tennis, 14 months after his defeat to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon. Cameron Norrie faces Jordan Thompson, while Heather Watson faces Ekaterina Makarova. A struggling Jo Konta will play sixth seed Caroline Garcia.
Top seed Simona Halep was knocked out in her first match by Kai Kanepi, in a match where Halep struggled to gain a foothold, losing 6-4 6-4. This opens up things for other contenders such as Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, who face Sam Stosur and Magda Linette respectively.