Americans John Isner and Jack Sock will kick off their U.S. Open campaigns on Tuesday. They are set for respective encounters with Filippo Volandri and Philipp Petzschner.
(13) John Isner vs. Filippo Volandri
Isner heads into his opening-round match on Tuesday at the U.S. Open riding a wave of momentum thanks to another outstanding campaign on American hard courts. The world No. 14 won the Atlanta title and finished runner-up in both Washington, D.C. (to Juan Martin Del Potro) and Cincinnati (to Rafael Nadal). Isner was 16-15 for the season after Wimbledon, but since retiring with a knee injury at the All-England Club he is 16-4–including 14-2 on hard courts in the United States.
Up first for the 6’10” American is Volandri, whom he has never faced. On this surface, Volandri has to be considered one of the weakest opponents in the entire draw–and probably the absolute weakest. The 31-year-old Italian has not played a single match on anything other than clay since the first round of the Australian Open. He has not won a match away from clay since June of 2011 and he does not have a hard-court victory since January of 2007. The rest of Isner’s U.S. Open draw is extremely difficult on paper, but he might as well have a first-round bye.
Pick: Isner in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(WC) Jack Sock vs. (Q) Philipp Petzschner
Sock and Petzschner will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. It has already been a productive showing in New York for the oft-injured Petzschner, who qualified for the main draw with victories over Gage Brymer, Igor Kunitsyn, and Jared Donaldson. The 29-year-old German is down at No. 163 in the world due to inactivity and prior to the U.S. Open he had not played a singles match since losing in the Wimbledon first round.
By contrast, Sock is battle-tested following five tournament appearances during the U.S. Open Series. To say it has been an unsuccessful summer, though, would be an understatement. The 20-year-old American advanced out of the first round just once (in Washington, D.C.) and he did not even make it out of Montreal qualifying. On the bright side, Sock has reached at least the second round of his last two U.S. Open bids and he made a run to the last 32 in 2012 before falling to Nicolas Almagro in a tight four-setter. Sock should be able to take advantage of Petzschner’s rust and get a big win in front of the home crowd.
Pick: Sock in 4
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