| U.S. Open 2000 Entering Week Two | |
Dateline: 09/04/00
As is often the case at Grand Slams, fewer male than female seeds survived the first week of this U.S. Open's singles competition.
Gone from the men's singles are top seed Andre Agassi and second seed Gustavo Kuerten. Agassi lost to Arnaud Clement in the second round, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 . Kuerten was upset in the first round by Wayne Arthurs, a qualifier with a huge serve, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1). Also out are Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5), Tim Henman (11), Franco Squillari (12), Mark Philippoussis (15), and Nicolas Lapentti (16).
Contributing to Kuerten's loss was the exceptionally fast court surface chosen by the U.S. Open this year. Kuerten's big swings are harder to time on a faster surface, and the court speed favors a big server like Arthurs. Of course, the court surface wasn't chosen to help Wayne Arthurs, but to favor the American power servers, most notably Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, and the Williams sisters, and to make things more difficult for the clay-court players, especially the Spaniards, one of whom, Alex Corretja, openly objected.
The intended result has, for the most part, occurred. Pete, Lindsay, Venus, and Serena have advanced without any serious trouble, although Sampras found a tougher-than-expected challenger in Agustin Calleri, whom he defeated 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the third round. Venus Williams also found a surprisingly strong opponent, for one set at least, in Meghann Shaughnessy, who took her to a tie-break before being overpowered in a 7-6 (3), 6-1 third round. A few big servers have fallen, including 15th seed Mark Philippoussis, but he lost to another power server, Jan-Michael Gambill. Of the other seeds upset in the first week, Anna Kournikova, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Amanda Coetzer, and Conchita Martinez are all relatively weak servers, although the heat was what finally put Conchita out.
One relatively weak server has survived quite well thus far, but top seed Martina Hingis is always exceptional. With the most versatile game in women's tennis, Hingis can adapt to any court speed. She'll face a strong field as the second week begins. Five of the top six seeds all remain, and the third seed, Venus Williams, is on a 23-match winning streak. Along with Lindsay Davenport, Venus has the most powerful game in women's tennis, and although both are benefiting from the fast surface this year, I thinks it's Venus who will be able to take full advantage and win the title, passing Nathalie Tauziat in the quarterfinals, then Hingis in the semis and sister Serena in the final.
On the men's side, I have to go with the obvious pick, Pete Sampras. The U.S. Open has made its court surfaces this year as similar to Wimbledon's as a hard court can be, and Pete's fifth U.S. Open title is almost as likely as was the seventh Wimbledon he picked up in June. He will cruise easily through the fourth round, ending the historic run of Hyung-Taik Lee, the first Korean ever to advance past the first round in a Grand Slam. Sampras will then out-serve the huge-serving Richard Krajicek in the quarterfinals and overwhelm the much less powerful Lleyton Hewitt in the semis.
Picking Sampras's opponent in the final is a tougher task. Magnus Norman, the highest remaining male seed at number three, survived four match points in a third-round, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (9) thriller against the relentless net attacks of Max Mirnyi. I would give Norman a slight edge to come through, but either of Marat Safin or Jaun Carlos Ferrero, who face off in the other fourth-round match of his quarter, could take him out. The other quarter in the bottom half of the draw doesn't look as strong, so I think whoever wins Norman's quarter will go on to lose to Sampras in the final.
Are my predictions totally off base? Take a look at the U.S. Open draws for each competition, then please join our forum discussion to make your own predictions.
