The U.S. Open kicks off on Monday with Andy Murray battling in-form Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and Emil Ruusuvuori taking on up-and-comer Jack Draper. Will the Brits get off to a strong start in New York, or will they be going home early?
Andy Murray vs. (23) Francisco Cerundolo
Sir Andy Murray has had a spotty show on North American hard courts this summer. The world No. 49 has won just one match (over Stan Wawrinka in Cincinnati) in three tournaments played. He fared much better on grass, earning a spot in the Stuttgart final–but hard courts have been unkind to the Scot.
Francisco Cerundolo isn’t the worst first-round opponent Murray could have drawn. The Argentine is a force on clay, but–with an exception here and there–he comes up short on hard courts. The No. 23 seed stayed on European clay following the grass-court season with great success. He won the event in Bastad and made the semis in Hamburg. He hasn’t won a match on hard courts yet this summer.
This will be the first meeting between the two men and it’s a winnable match for Murray. He will have the support of the Armstrong crowd as the sentimental favorite and is facing an opponent who is susceptible to early exits off the dirt.
Cheryl pick: Murray in 4
Ricky pick: Murray in 4
Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Jack Draper
Despite its billing on an outside court, this could be one of the better matches on the docket for Monday. Emil Ruusuvuori, the 23-year-old Finnish star, has had some success on hard courts this year. He came close to knocking off Hubert Hurkacz in Montreal in the second round and was unlucky to run into an in-form Marin Cilic in Cincinnati (whom he also pushed to three sets).
Jack Draper, the young Brit, is officially “one to keep an eye on” after his out-of-nowhere run to the quarterfinals in Montreal from qualies. The world No. 55 took out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round before succumbing to eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarters. Fatigue was a factor in that match, so a deep run for Draper in a best-of-five event might be suspect–but he is likely to be dangerous in the first week in New York.
Ruusuvuori has already scored a win over Draper this summer, a straight-set affair at Queen’s Club. But even after just a couple months, Draper looks like a different player than he did in June. He is going into the U.S. Open brimming with confidence.
Cheryl pick: Draper in 4
Ricky pick: Draper in 5
WWW?
Murray in 4; R’vori in 4.
Murray playing pretty well.
I thought the courts were supposed to be very fast. This court doesn’t look that fast.
Apparently the humidity is fluffing up the balls so it plays slower. It’s probably going to be hot and humid for the whole fortnight so the court won’t be playing that fast
Rafa hates humidity though
I’m watching Wolf and RBA. Court 5 looks fast to me.
RBA is out !Shocker! Good for NK though
Yup. I didn’t see that one coming!
I thought Andy looked good! Yay! Crowd love him too, which is so nice to see.
OMG RBA tho!
I wish Id given Andy more support (only going to round 2) and also to Evans who I have losing to Cilic. Great win for Wolf. RBA was one of the big problems for Meddy and Nick .
I was really surprised to see RBA out in the first round. He didn’t do well at Cincy either.
Hello! What is happening with Tsitsipas? Bageled in the first set?
Tsitsipas down 4-0 in the second set. Something must be wrong.
He plays like garbage at the U.S. Open. I don’t know what it is about NY, but he just is always terrible.
It appears that he has some kind of injury. He called for the trainer. The physio pressed his bicep and that seemed to cause his pain. I know he had surgery for something, shoulder or wrist. Maybe it is flaring up again. They could give him anti-inflammatories.
Tsitsipas is ahead in the third set. But a long way back if he wants to win. I think Ricky said in his preview that Tsitsipas has not gone past the third round at the USO.
Wow! Fritz and Tsitsipas are out!
Everybody’s fav pick fritz out in first round
He wasn’t my favorite pick. I did not see him going to the final. But I also did not see him losing in the first round.
Absolutely CRAZY loss for Fritz.
Fritz lost to Tracy Austin’s son, of all people!
Big night for upsets!
Yes! That was a bad loss! That guy he played was in his first tournament! How on earth did he lose to that guy?
Altitude sickness? Some people get dizzy looking down from heights. Maybe Fritz is one of them.
LOL!
Might be true in part. He thought he had a chance to win the whole thing. The individual nature of tennis is simply brutal. This is what makes Nadal and Djokovic so extraordinary. They understand how to win when it’s all falling apart and they do it with startling, other-worldly consistency.
I think it’s because he wasn’t playing the enemy this time. He was more vulnerable than he otherwise would been. Plus, he hasn’t been in the best of form of lately and the open field probably had something to do with it, also.