Djokovic’s quarter
Upset special: Tommy Haas over Juan Martin Del Potro in the fourth round. Haas is not quite as on fire as he was earlier this season, but he is well-rested. Del Potro, on the other hand, may not be 100 percent.
Deep sleeper: Marcel Granollers. His nearest seeds are Fabio Fognini and Benoit Paire and no other unseeded player in the Fognini-Paire section is ranked higher than No. 75 in the world.
Prediction sure to go wrong: Jurgen Melzer in the third round. Melzer is coming off a long week in Winston-Salem and a potential second-round opponent, Igor Sijsling, destroyed him at the French Open.
Winner: Novak Djokovic. Only a 100-percent Del Potro would have a chance of stopping him.
Murray’s quarter
Upset special: Denis Istomin over Nicolas Almagro and into the fourth round. If Istomin can channel what was on display at the 2010 U.S. Open against Rafael Nadal, this is a draw on which he can capitalize.
Deep sleeper: Ivo Karlovic. The 6’10’’ Croat advanced through qualifying without dropping a set or even losing serve a single time. He fired 37 total aces in his first four qualifying sets.
Prediction sure to go wrong: Donald Young over Martin Klizan. Three straight wins for Young in qualifying is an amazing feat by his standards. Asking for one more over a 2012 U.S. Open fourth-round finisher may be too much.
Winner: Andy Murray. The defending champ lost early last year in Cincinnati, too…. And look what happened. No time to panic.
Ferrer’s quarter
Upset special: Dmitry Tursunov over Richard Gasquet and into the quarterfinals. Tursunov is a player who feeds off momentum, and he is borderline on fire right now. He has a clean bill of a health and a relatively short week in Winston-Salem will only help.
Deep sleeper: Feliciano Lopez. The Spanish left-hander is playing well and has been to the fourth round of the U.S. Open twice in his career. He will fly under the radar with guys like Milos Raonic, Jerzy Janowicz, and Ernests Gulbis in this section, but all of Lopez’s opponents will be vulnerable.
Prediction sure to go wrong: Ernests Gulbis over David Ferrer. Based on current form, Gulbis may actually be the odds-on pick to win if this third-round clash takes place. And that’s what makes it scary.
Winner: Jerzy Janowicz. With experience from having reached the Wimbledon semifinals plus an absolute dream draw in New York, the sky’s the limit.
Nadal’s quarter
Upset special: Tommy Robredo over Kei Nishikori and into the fourth round. A revitalized Robredo is an outstanding 31-17 this season. He is 16-11 lifetime at the U.S. Open and has been to the fourth round an incredible seven times, including twice in his last three appearances.
Deep sleeper: Bernard Tomic. It’s not often that nobody is talking about Tomic. A relative slump is the reason, but the 20-year-old Aussie remains dangerous and Kei Nishikori as his nearest seed is not exactly a terrible draw.
Prediction sure to go wrong: John Isner in the fourth round. The Nadal-Isner rematch of their Cincinnati final is already hyped out of control, which is why it just seems destined not to come to fruition. Isner could face Gael Monfils in the second round and Philipp Kohlschreiber—who beat him last year in New York—in the third.
Winner: Rafael Nadal. There are two threats in this quarter and Nadal just took care of both of them in Cincinnati.
Full bracket
First round
Djokovic over Berankis in 3, Becker over Rosol in 4
Nieminen over Kubot in 4, Dimitrov over Sousa in 3
Paire over Bogomolov in 5, Smyczek over Duckworth in 5
Granollers over Zopp in 3, Fognini over Ram in 4
Haas over Mathieu in 3, Gimeno-Traver over Lu in 5
Dolgopolov over Goffin in 5, Youzhny over Mahut in 3
Melzer over Donskoy in 3, Sijsling over Gojowczyk in 4
Hewitt over Baker in 4, Del Potro over Garcia-Lopez in 3
Murray over Llodra in 3, Hanescu over L. Mayer in 4
Young over Klizan in 4, Monaco over F. Mayer in 4
Seppi over Malisse in 4, Devvarman over Lacko in 4
Johnson over Kamke in 4, Istomin over Almagro in 5
Wawrinka over Stepanek in 4, Blake over Karlovic in 4
Baghdatis over Soeda in 4, Anderson over Brands in 3
Benneteau over Przysiezny in 3, Chardy over Stakhovsky in 4
Vesely over Kudla in 4, Berdych over Lorenzi in 3
Gasquet over Russell in 3, Robert over Olivetti in 5
Struff over Rufin in 4, Tursunov over Bedene in 4
Lopez over Serra in 3, Klahn over De Schepper in 5
Andujar over De Bakker in 4, Raonic over Fabbiano in 3
Janowicz over Gonzalez in 3, Sock over Petzschner in 4
Kuznetsov over Sela in 4, Tipsarevic over Cuevas in 3
Gulbis over Haider-Maurer in 3, Kukushkin over Martin in 3
Bautista Agut over Bellucci in 5, Ferrer over Kyrgios in 3
Federer over Zemlja in 3, Giraldo over Berlocq in 4
Mannarino over Zeballos in 3, Querrey over Pella in 3
Robredo over Matosevic in 4, Haase over Dancevic in 4
Tomic over Ramos in 4, Nishikori over Evans in 3
Isner over Volandri in 3, Monfils over Ungur in 4
Roger-Vasselin over Montanes in 4, Kohlschreiber over Altamirano in 3
Verdasco over Dodig in 5, Davydenko over Williams in 4
Pospisil over Dutra Silva in 3, Nadal over Harrison in 3
Second round
Djokovic over Becker in 3
Dimitrov over Nieminen in 4
Paire over Smyczek in 4
Granollers over Fognini in 4
Haas over Gimeno-Traver in 3
Youzhny over Dolgopolov in 4
Melzer over Sijsling in 3
Del Potro over Hewitt in 3
Murray over Hanescu in 3
Monaco over Young in 4
Seppi over Devvarman in 5
Istomin over Johnson in 5
Wawrinka over Blake in 4
Anderson over Baghdatis in 4
Benneteau over Chardy in 4
Berdych over Vesely in 3
Gasquet over Robert in 3
Tursunov over Struff in 3
Lopez over Klahn in 3
Raonic over Andujar in 3
Janowicz over Sock in 3
Tipsarevic over Kuznetsov in 4
Gulbis over Kukushkin in 4
Ferrer over Bautista Agut in 3
Federer over Giraldo in 3
Querrey over Mannarino in 5
Robredo over Haase in 4
Tomic over Nishikori in 5
Isner over Monfils in 3
Kohlschreiber over Roger-Vasselin in 4
Verdasco over Davydenko in 4
Nadal over Pospisil in 3
Third round
Djokovic over Dimitrov in 3
Granollers over Paire in 5
Haas over Youzhny in 4
Del Potro over Melzer in 4
Murray over Monaco in 3
Istomin over Seppi in 4
Wawrinka over Anderson in 4
Berdych over Benneteau in 3
Tursunov over Gasquet in 4
Lopez over Raonic in 5
Janowicz over Tipsarevic in 3
Gulbis over Ferrer in 4
Federer over Querrey in 3
Robredo over Tomic in 4
Isner over Kohlschreiber in 4
Nadal over Verdasco in 3
Fourth round
Djokovic over Granollers in 3
Haas over Del Potro in 5
Murray over Istomin in 3
Berdych over Wawrinka in 4
Tursunov over Lopez in 5
Janowicz over Gulbis in 5
Federer over Robredo in 3
Nadal over Isner in 3
Quarterfinals
Djokovic over Haas in 3
Murray over Berdych in 5
Janowicz over Tursunov in 4
Nadal over Federer in 4
Semifinals
Djokovic over Murray in 4
Nadal over Janowicz in 4
Final
Djokovic over Nadal in 5
Comments and your own predictions are appreciated!
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deucy, how do you know that gluten free diet works for Nole? It’s like the Exercise Videos that the stars bring out leading everyone to believe that’s what did it for them when in reality they live on lettuce leaves and have had a tummy tuck and a face lift.
Well, works for Nole in the same way water turns green when he screams at it. Am not making this up, read his book.
#PowerOfTheMind
#Hocus-Pocus
Someone please take Isner out before the 4th round, PLEASE!!!!
@Clayqueen
Lol 🙂 and I remember a certain TV “personality” forced to admit she’s had a gastric band fitted…yukkety, yuk, yuk.
Well, Nole used to retire from matches with breathing difficulties, not doing that any more. Now he is incredibly fit. I rest my case.
Feel the same about Berdych as you do about Isner. Please someone, anyone, take him out b4 the quarters!
Ok, we’ll take his word for it. I too have hay fever allergies and considered a gluten free diet when Novak said that’s what helped him, but it’s not easy for Jane Blogs to pursue that sort of thing without a team looking after your every need.
I’ll swap Berdy for Isner.
So he used to have anxiety attacks, he went into therapy! It worked, good for him.
Nadal-RDS preview – https://tenngrand.com/2013/08/28/u-s-open-r2-previews-and-picks-nadal-vs-dutra-silva-federer-vs-berlocq/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/usopen/10267789/Today-on-YouTube-world-No-2-Rafael-Nadal-produces-early-contender-for-shot-of-the-tournament-in-US-Open.html
This is magic from rafa 😀
And I read JJ served a couple of underarm serves, threw his water bottle on the court and said his lower back felt like it was being stabbed by a knife…DISGUSTING
I saw the Jerzy match and he did serve underarm at one point. Then he got into a fight with the chair umpire screaming and yelling all over the place. His attitude on court is quite unappealing. The commentators were talking about the problems he had in school. He was always in trouble. There are some serious issues with this guy.
Ricky! I noticed the Recent Comments Widget at the bottom of the front page. Is it there to make a visitor to scroll down the page ? 🙂
I would prefer to see ‘POPULAR RECENT ARTICLES’ and ‘Recent Comments’ widgets near each other (wherever they are).
it’s there because recent comments widget is kind of worthless.
but i will think about your suggestion. thanks!
Bernard Tomic is looking the most comfortable on and off the court for some time. Keep an eye on him….
just no.
but he did have a good come-from-behind win on Monday
Roger’s PeRFect 2013 so far
http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/the-story-of-federers-2013-season-so-far/
Ricky’s prediction success rate (62.5%) for the top half of the draw was slightly down on the bottom half score (69%)
Overall for the first round 65.6%.
Not bad.
Rafael Nadal will have a breeze in this tournament. He hasn’t lost a single set until the Round of 16. He is unbeaten on hard courts this year, winning back-to-back titles recently with an additional Indian Wells title to add to it. With his defensive barrier allowing no winners from his opponent, and adding an aggressive style to his hard court play, an opponent the speed of even Usian Bolt won’t be able to catch his winners. Djokovic, I suggest you better watch out! Rafa will beat you in 3 easy sets .