Hey guys. As promised in the previous post, I'll write about my views on this year's United States Open. And because three of my five most viewed posts are written in English and I kind of feel like it, I'm going to write this one in Shakespear's language too.
First of all, I'm not betting on Nole to win this year - which I think I have done for every Grand Slam tournament since 2011 Australian Open. He hasn't played quite well in the US Open Series, and therefore I believe it will be Roger Federer who's gonna win his sixth in Flushing Meadows; the former world number one was runner-up in Toronto and winner in Cincinnati, which means he has reached, at least, the finals in his last four tornaments (winning in Halle and Cincinnati and losing in Wimbledon and Toronto).
Actually, I don't even believe in Serena for women's title. I know, she's Serena fucking Williams, she's the seventeen-times Grand Slam champion (as many as Fed), she's the winner of 2012 and 2013 and was also runner-up in 2011 (when she faced the best Samantha Stosur ever), but Serena is not being Serena in this year's Major tournaments. The world number one has only won six matches in Grand Slam events this season, which makes me believe that her "aura" is no longer there, like, players are not that afraid of facing her when entering the court.
Therefore, my bet goes to Simona Halep. The Romanian will be the second-seed and even though she's playing very well in Grand Slam tournaments this season (runner-up in Roland Garros, semi-finals in Wimbledon and quarter-finals in Melbourne), what makes me believe she'll be the one lifting the trophy is that Simona is not afraid at all of facing any single opponent. She's totally world's second best player of the moment, and I truly believe she already has what it gets to win a Grand Slam tournament.
There will be other points of interest in Flushing Meadows too, of course. For example, I'm curious for what Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori, both top10 seeded, will do in the last Major of the season. I also want to see how the Frenchmen will do, like Gäel Monfils (my darkhorse) and Rogers Cup winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and even the former champ Lleyton Hewitt - which I honestly believe that will defeat Berdych in the very first round of the tournament.
On women's draw, I'm really looking forward to see how Ana's going to perform. Being the eight-seeded gave her quite an easy draw, and if she makes it to the quarters, she can perfectly defeat Serena, just like she did in Australian Open - the only problem is that Ana has never lost to Williams sisters in the first month of the year, but has also never defeated any of them in the remaining months... Let's also watch the former world number one and runner-up in the last two editions, the Belarrusian Victoria Azarenka. In my opinion, she could have defeated Serena in both 2012 and 2013, and therefore I'm expecting another big performance of her on the next two weeks, regardless her recent bad shape.
Finally, I really have to mention Portuguese number one, João Sousa. Our best tennis player ever will be the thirty-two seed, which his an historical achievement for Portuguese tennis! João faces Dancevic in the first round and can meet Goffin in the next one, so I believe he'll be able to, at least, repeat last year's third round. Vamos João!
Pedro Mendes
First of all, I'm not betting on Nole to win this year - which I think I have done for every Grand Slam tournament since 2011 Australian Open. He hasn't played quite well in the US Open Series, and therefore I believe it will be Roger Federer who's gonna win his sixth in Flushing Meadows; the former world number one was runner-up in Toronto and winner in Cincinnati, which means he has reached, at least, the finals in his last four tornaments (winning in Halle and Cincinnati and losing in Wimbledon and Toronto).
Actually, I don't even believe in Serena for women's title. I know, she's Serena fucking Williams, she's the seventeen-times Grand Slam champion (as many as Fed), she's the winner of 2012 and 2013 and was also runner-up in 2011 (when she faced the best Samantha Stosur ever), but Serena is not being Serena in this year's Major tournaments. The world number one has only won six matches in Grand Slam events this season, which makes me believe that her "aura" is no longer there, like, players are not that afraid of facing her when entering the court.
Therefore, my bet goes to Simona Halep. The Romanian will be the second-seed and even though she's playing very well in Grand Slam tournaments this season (runner-up in Roland Garros, semi-finals in Wimbledon and quarter-finals in Melbourne), what makes me believe she'll be the one lifting the trophy is that Simona is not afraid at all of facing any single opponent. She's totally world's second best player of the moment, and I truly believe she already has what it gets to win a Grand Slam tournament.
There will be other points of interest in Flushing Meadows too, of course. For example, I'm curious for what Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori, both top10 seeded, will do in the last Major of the season. I also want to see how the Frenchmen will do, like Gäel Monfils (my darkhorse) and Rogers Cup winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and even the former champ Lleyton Hewitt - which I honestly believe that will defeat Berdych in the very first round of the tournament.
On women's draw, I'm really looking forward to see how Ana's going to perform. Being the eight-seeded gave her quite an easy draw, and if she makes it to the quarters, she can perfectly defeat Serena, just like she did in Australian Open - the only problem is that Ana has never lost to Williams sisters in the first month of the year, but has also never defeated any of them in the remaining months... Let's also watch the former world number one and runner-up in the last two editions, the Belarrusian Victoria Azarenka. In my opinion, she could have defeated Serena in both 2012 and 2013, and therefore I'm expecting another big performance of her on the next two weeks, regardless her recent bad shape.
Finally, I really have to mention Portuguese number one, João Sousa. Our best tennis player ever will be the thirty-two seed, which his an historical achievement for Portuguese tennis! João faces Dancevic in the first round and can meet Goffin in the next one, so I believe he'll be able to, at least, repeat last year's third round. Vamos João!
Pedro Mendes
