Second-round action wraps up at the U.S. Open on Thursday, when Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini headline the schedule. Another intriguing encounter pits unseeded American John Isner against Holger Rune.
Fabio Fognini vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Nadal vs. Fognini at the U.S. Open.” And Nadal fans surely do want to stop right there, as the first Nadal-Fognini meeting in New York resulted in one of the Spaniard’s most infamous losses ever. In the 2015 third round, Nadal squandered a two-set lead and ended up losing 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. On the bright side for the 22-time Grand Slam champion, this matchup has gone in his favor for the most part since that blemish six years ago. He has won eight of their last nine encounters, including five in a row on hard courts–most recently via a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 beatdown at the 2021 Australian Open.
Although Nadal is a heavy favorite to improve on his 13-4 overall lead in the head-to-head series, he does appear to be vulnerable at the moment. The 36-year-old dropped his only match in between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to Borna Coric in Cincinnati and he also surrendered a set to little-known wild card Rinky Hijikata on Tuesday night. But is Fognini playing well enough to capitalize? Maybe not. The 35-year-old Italian is saddled with a losing record this season (17-18) and has plunged to 60th in the rankings. He has played 11 consecutive tournaments without advancing past the second round. That is where Fognini finds himself after outlasting Aslan Karatsev in five sets on Tuesday night, and it is likely where his U.S. Open road comes to an end. With a match–and his first win since Wimbledon–under his belt, Nadal should be on course for significant improvement.
Pick: Nadal in 3
John Isner vs. (28) Holger Rune
The Rune-Isner matchup is a much different story, as this will be their first-ever meeting. Somewhat surprisingly, it is Isner who is actually the unseeded player in this contest. The 6’10” American is understandably on the way down at 37 years old, but he remains extremely dangerous–especially on hard courts in the United States. He is coming off a quarterfinal run in Cincinnati, where he upset Hubert Hurkacz before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three-setter.
Rune is up to No. 33 in the world thanks in part to a breakthrough quarterfinal performance at the French Open. Since then, however, the 19-year-old Dane has a horrendous 3-9 match record–even after beating Peter Gojowyczk in straight sets on Tuesday. Rune would much rather face Isner on clay, too, as that has been by far the youngster’s best surface in the early stages of his career. He already has a history of being unable to physically withstand long matches, so best-of-five situations are not ideal. Isner may not be playing well enough to destroy Rune like he did Federico Delbonis in round one, but the American has to be considered the favorite despite being lower-ranked.
Pick: Isner in 5
who ya got?
Rafa should win this in str8ts!! I won’t accept anything less!!! And besides, my money’s in the line 🤣
Vamos, Rafa!!
Rafa in three or four sets. Rafa is a bit rusty but Foggy is not the Foggy of old. Rafa should win this.
Rune has WO as Isner pulled out.
Anyone nervous for this ?:-)
Rafa should remember that fabio said rafa likely faked his ab tear during wimby ..I hope he read it..wipe the floor with that rude useless joke of a person
I am nervous sanju
Rafa said he was nervous against Rinky so he may well be against Fabio and we know he is a shot maker.
I didn’t know Fognini said that. I hope Rafa did read it and it fires him up. Pathetic!
I’m a little nervous as well. Rafa playing well but not in top form, and Fog loves a big stage….he could get one set.
I am a bit nervous about Rafa playing Fog. I hope Rafa gets his nerves under control. His first match gave him time on the court to work off some of the rust and get his legs under him. Fog is not who he used to be, but players seem to get motivated when they see Rafa on the other side of the net.
Fog is a piece of crap for what he said about Rafa faking his ab injury. He knows better!
What makes you think he’s not faking it? Do you know him and his team personally? Fognini does, so his opinion holds more weight than yours.
And not only that, here’s got a strong motive to be faking it.
Seeing any n nny nervous makes me more nervous (:-
Amy..i was banking on the 3 slam prediction of yrs hehe
Just because we are nervous doesn’t mean he will lose sanju!
It’s just that he is still rusty so the early rounds may be stressful..
I won’t be able to watch as it starts in the middle of the night here…
Sanju,
I agree with Amy. It’s not that I think he will lose. It’s that I know the history with Fog and Rafa is lacking match play. Each match will give him confidence and help him get into really good form. Fog is a pain. I do not like him. I know he is not in good form these days. But these guys seem to get motivated when they see Rafa.
It’s just knowing that Rafa has played so little coming off the ab injury.
Thanks for saying that nny!
I really hope Rafa isn’t nervous tonight and gets it done in 3.
I won’t be watching as it starts at 2am here but wish you luck watching and really hope it’s stress free..
amy,
Well I am cooling my heels here as they have this women’s doubles match. Rafa has to wait until it’s over. I understand this thing with Serena but I am not okay with a doubles match in prime time, especially when it pushes Rafa back later.
I will be there cheering him on. I am glad we are on the same page regarding Rafa!
Why does Rafa insist on playing from behind the baseline and engaging in baseline rallies with Foggy, when he should know that Foggy’s hard flat groundstrokes are giving him all sorts of troubles?
Why not step inside the court and shortens the rallies as much as possible? He’s losing serves so often, hard to win the match playing like this, unless he makes adjustments to his game.
Well rafa tidied up third and fourth ,once again ended the match better than it started..even hit himself on the nose n bled..
But but but this level just won’t get him past Alcaraz .no way ..he may be able to sneak past gasquet ,Schwartz , norrie but no way against Alcaraz ..
Alcaraz needs to be taken out either by brooksby or cilic or sinner
Rafa ended better than he started but that level first set and a half was pathetic…
This level just won’t cut against Alcaraz ..he may get lucky vs gasquet ,maybe Schwartz , rublev ,norrie but it def won’t cut against Alcaraz ..Alcaraz needs to be taken out by brooksby or sinner or cilic
Very poor first 2 sets from rafa. This level just won’t cut it going ahead. He may get lucky against Gasquet, Schwartz, rublev, norrie but no way will he get past alcaraz with this level.
Buck up rafa
I think if he to win this uso, he will have to dig really deep. 2 sets already lost ,God knows how many more.he lost 6 in ao, 3 in French..
What a stressful beginning to Rafa’s match with Foggy! To make it worse I couldn’t get into the site last night. Not at all! I assume everyone else was locked out too, judging from the lack of hysteria here! 🙂 Grats to Rafa for finding a “solution” ™ after a set and a half. I had concluded that Rafa had a bout of amnesia and had forgotten how to play tennis.
So Rafa did get it done.
I was very nervous about this match because I thought Rafa was going to come out shaky and drop the first set. Looks like I was right.
I am glad I wasn’t watching live.
Although I am glad and relieved Rafa got it done in 4 ( I was secretly fearing it would go to 5 because of Rafa being nervous and timid) I am concerned he is so uptight. Am hoping and thinking this will be like wimby. Pretty dire and unconvincing play by Rafa first few matches at wimby then suddenly dramatically upping his level.
I am actually quite surprised by how nervous and uptight Rafa has been. Judging by the comments I have seen as I haven’t watched the match. I expected him to be nervy at first but the difference between the scintillating form he is showing in practice and the litany of ues on the court is a tad worrying. I do expect him to settle and raise his level soon.
Yes, Rafa was feeling nervous. But he knows Pablio has never beaten him when firing on all cylinders.
Let’s cut him some slack. It is normal to ‘forget’ the usual patterns when you lack match play. He is getting better and better. Personally, I am happy with almost all parts of his game. He continues to go for more with his backhand DTL. I can see how explosive and lively he is on the court. I think he is poised to go all the way here for the 5th time.
If he gets Alcaraz in the semis and Med in the final, sure he’ll be pushed to the limit but I think he’ll be ready.
Couldn’t have asked for a better 3rd rnd opponent. Rafa can consolidate his momentum and build more confidence.
Well if you are happy vr then I am reassured.
I didn’t watch the match and some of the comments I read from tennis journos about it were very disconcerting.
I am expecting him to suddenly up his levels he did at wimby.
I have been saying all year he was going to win 3 slams so hope I am right!
The site looks very different but finally one can actually use it.
Thanks Ricky!
It took me ages to post comments and access the site earlier.
None of my comments are going through