US Open: Who will be the strongest in New York? (Hélène Pelletier)

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020. 12:46 PM

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Although the situation surrounding this version of the United States Open in this year 2020 is far from obvious, the kick-off has been given. Lots of absentees this year and not the least in the top 10 for both men and women. We have already talked about it a lot. If you don’t mind, let’s focus on the brave people out there in New York instead.

Our top Canadian in the standings is the first to run on Monday. Denis Shapovalov faces off against Petr Korda’s son Sebastian. I remind you that at the Cincinnati tournament last week (moved to Flushing Meadows), Denis is on fire in his first game as he roundly shakes up former top-10 and US Open champion Marin Cilic.

Unfortunately against Jan Lennard Struff, he let some good opportunities slip away and lost in a big battle in three sets. Difficult to predict what will be the moods of our young backfiring for this meeting. Last February, I saw Korda play at the Drummondville Challenger. What you need to know is that he has a personality diametrically opposed to that of his rather rebellious and explosive dad. Admit that’s what it takes to win in a Grand Slam like he did so well at the Australian Open in 1998 in addition to a final at Roland Garros, to eventually propel himself to 2nd place global.

What is visible in this clash is that Shapo is tense and it is normal since he has everything to lose against a junior champion like him who is gradually improving in the standings, but who has not yet experienced a vertiginous rise like our Canadian. With his dad as his coach, it is obvious that Korda is well prepared as he goes up to the net as often as possible to avoid being dominated at the back of the field. It works well enough to tear off a set, but nothing more. Denis provides the essentials and will now face the Korean Soonwoo Kwon, 73rd in the world. After the interview, Denis admits to having been “extra nervous”. I expect a little more fireworks coming out of Shapo’s racket for his next game.

On this first day, two great heads that we follow closely, Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka, fulfill their mandate. With just one day off and a few extra games in addition to neck problems last week, the Serbian is disciplined and surgical in rounds 1 and 3, but he disperses a bit more in the second set. Damir Dzumhur gets into the rhythm to perfection in addition to getting rid of his inferiority complexes. The Bosnian will have the merit of getting Novak out of his hinges, while he stings some anger directed at the members of his clan. No doubt he needed to find a way to rekindle the flame as Damir defied him with panache. Hooked the Serbian, but only for a set. Go on, next!

Osaka also takes place at the start of her match against another Japanese, the little Misaki Doi, 5 feet 3 inches, but full of courage. Same scenario as in the meeting of Djokovic while the 2018 champion is far superior to the 1st and 3rd set, but loses its accuracy to dominate the exchange in the middle round. Recall that Naomi was unable to play in the Cincinnati final last Saturday due to a strained thigh. However, she managed to reassure us in the last round. Let’s keep an eye on his next matches, because it’s never easy to start a Grand Slam with a leg injury.

On this Tuesday, four other Canadians are at work: Félix, Milos, Vasek and Leylah. What a monstrous battle for the FAA against Thiago Monteiro which lasts 3h51! Auger Aliassime is forced to save some rounds in the 4th set to avoid the 5th, phew! Many beautiful and long exchanges, well conducted, but for my part I find that the game of our Quebecer is not varied enough. I would love for him to add some element of surprise either by going up the net, using the plus angles and short razor balls.

Monteiro is a ball machine at the back of the field so don’t imagine that just feeding the monster will be enough by hitting hard from the back. Moreover, the Brazilian did not win a hard match in a Grand Slam (0-2 in Australian and now 0-3 in NY) so there are flaws, sometimes subtle ways of destabilizing him that must be discovered to do not embark on a ” slugfest ».

The good news is that Felix signs a 1st victory at Flushing Meadows after 2 defeats in front of Shapovalov. You have to rebuild your strength quickly and prepare a game plan stuffed with attack patterns, because the unchanging grandpa Andy Murray is waiting for him. Yes the former United States Open champion survived in 4:39 ahead of Nishioka. Yet victory stretched out its arms to him …

Milos Raonic is amazingly handsome right now. Leonardo Mayer literally sees nothing but fire. In less than 2 hours and without offering a broken bullet and a lot of hope to the Argentinian, the debate is closed. No fuss, loss of focus, dominating the serve and forehand, the total from Milos. Wow! Vasek Pospisil, who easily disposed of semi-retired Philipp Kohlschreiber, until he served twice for the match, awaits him in the second round. Pospisil can be delighted with the quality of his game in this recovery and he will have to serve really well to have a chance to be competitive in the face of the threat ahead.

And then, our wonderful competitor Leylah Fernandez continues to impress with the former world 2nd Vera Zvonareva. The key for Leylah is the attack from the back. She surprises the former glory by sprinkling her playing with some formidable touches. Strong to close the debate in 2 sets and that is great, because Vera understood better and better the patterns of the Quebecer.

Higher and always higher for the one who will be 18 years old in four days. Here she is in the top-100 at the 95th place on this day! The Australian Open champion will be there in the next round. What a great experience that will be.

You go girl… Let go of your game without fear and have fun!

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