Nadal, Roddick, Young Advance Friday at US Open
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A former world No. 1 had a light day while another young American made a breakthrough on the men’s side.
ADHEREL
No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal led Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-2 when the Frenchman retired due to a stomach strain.
Donald Young continued his boy-to-man transformation of the summer of 2011, ousting No. 14 seed Stan Wawrinka 7-6(1) in the fifth set.
“I would like to think I’m a pretty tough person deep down,” Young said. “Just had to grow up a little bit.”
Also on the upset tip were Russian Igor Kunitsyn defeating No. 17 Jurgen Melzer 7-6(5) in the fifth, and Argentine David Nalbandian beating No. 30 Ivan Ljubicic in four.
Other Top 10-seeded winners were No. 4 Andy Murray coming from two sets down to defeat Dutchman Robin Haase, and No. 5 David Ferrer beating American James Blake in straights.
“My legs were not getting me around the court like they normally do and I was out of position for a lot of balls,” said Murray, who will next face Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. “Once I really just forced myself to get to as many balls as possible, kind of hustled a few points and got the break in the third set, I kind of started playing better. That’s really a big part of my game, so I think it was down to that.”
Notable lower-seeded winners were former US Open champ and No. 18 seed Juan Martin del Potro, former US Opem champ and No. 21 seed Andy Roddick, and No. 28 seed John Isner.
Roddick gave American junior star Jack Sock a straight-set welcome to the pros, but Sock showed impressive court coverage and power in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 loss. Roddick little resembled the power player that claimed the US Open eight years ago, failing to hit a forehand winner until the 13th game of the opening set.
Isner said he was pleased with his performance, downing fellow American Robby Ginepri.
“I knew going in I’d have to serve my best because he’s such a good returner,” Isner said. “That’s what I did. When I had my chances I capitalized, so it was a very, very good match on my part, I thought. I was very pleased with how I played.”
Matches to look for Saturday include (3) Roger Federer vs. (27) Marin Cilic, (1) Novak Djokovic vs. unseeded Nikolay Davydenko, (9) Tomas Berdych vs. (20) Janko Tipsarevic, unseeded South African Kevin Anderson vs. (8) Mardy Fish, an all-unseeded in Juan Monaco vs. former world No. 2 Tommy Haas, (11) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (19) Fernando Verdasco, the all-Spanish (31) Marcel Granollers vs. former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, and (22) Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Ivo Karlovic.
Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 AM Start Time
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[1] v. Vania King (USA)
Roger Federer (SUI)[3] v. Marin Cilic (CRO)[27]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[4] v. Serena Williams (USA)[28]
Arthur Ashe Stadium 7:00 PM Start Time
Sloane Stephens (USA) v. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[16]
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[1] v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 AM Start Time
Tomas Berdych (CZE)[9] v. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)[20]
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[11] v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[17]
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v. Mardy Fish (USA)[8]
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[15]
Grandstand 11:00 AM Start Time
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[7]
Andrea Petkovic (GER)[10] v. Roberta Vinci (ITA)[18]
Juan Monaco (ARG) v. Tommy Haas (GER)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[11] v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[19]
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