Tennis Note #20
Flushing the NYC Competition
By Aimee Darke and Nikita Taparia
As always, the summer road trip through North America ends in Flushing Meadows, New York. If you are headed to the US Open this year, check out these 40 tips from Sports Illustrated. Typically, I do a history of the tournament but instead there really is one thing you need to know.
All eyes are on Serena. Regardless of who wins on the men’s side, if Serena Williams wins in New York, this will be the only headline to remember. She is already getting featured in many articles including the cover of Sports Illustrated and this piece in NY Times Magazine. We even had our own tennis note on her brilliance. Short list of records she will achieve [that we can think of on the top of our head]:
- Calendar Grand Slam — joining a group of five of men and women.
- 22nd Open titles (ties her with Steffi Graf with 2nd most…Court leads with 24) — five in a row
- 7 US Open titles — 4th straight US Open title [Note: she dropped 2 sets in the last 3 years].
- 70th singles total titles — Unbeaten in finals since 2013 US Open
If she wins, you can expect Tennis Note #22 to be a tribute to Serena journey to #22. The fact #22 is saved just for her probably tells you how confident we are her abilities.
Also, as you go through the draw and read our notes [Nikita in signature whiteboard font and Aimee in the neat printed font], follow along with the @ByTheMinTennis podcast team, which includes Nikita, as they go through the draw! Nikita had some fun with sound editing this time as well and is curious to see who gets the reference at the end, so check it out and make sure to retweet!
Men’s Singles
The First Half of the Draw
The Second Half of the Draw
Our Recommended First Round Matches:
- Fabio Fogini v Steve Johnson
- Borna Coric v. Rafael Nadal
- Viktor Troicki v. Frances Tifoe
- Nick Kyrgios v. Andy Murray
- Thanasi Kokkinakis v. Richard Gasquet
- Fernando Verdasco v. Tommy Haas
- Any match with Lleyton or Mardy since it is their last time
- Really all the teens since there is no guarantee they will win or they may pull off the upset — Special Note: Elias Ymer qualified for all four opens this year! Think of it this way, Nadal was 19 when he won his first major…
Women’s Singles
The First Half of the Draw
The Second Half of the Draw
Our Recommended First Round Matches
- All Serena Matches [typically first week is better for people to broaden their tennis horizons but read the introduction of this note]
- Coco Vandeweghe v Sloane Stephens
- Daria Gavrilova v. Maria Sharapova
- Oceane Dodin v Jelena Jankovic
- Dominka Cibulkova v. Ana Ivanovic
- Andrea Petkovic v. Caroline Garcia
- Jamie Leob v. Caroline Wozniacki
- Lucie Safarova v. Lesia Tsurenko
- Timea Bacsinszky v. Barbora Strycova
What do you think will happen? Let us know via notes/tweets/replies! Most matches are typically covered through ESPN3 online but you can also catch Aimee or Nikita commentating via @ByTheMinTennis or at their actual twitter handles!
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