Top Five Factors: Best Women's Match-ups, First Round
By Nicholas J. Walz Friday, August 24, 2012 An initial look at the 2012 US Open singles draws provides several intriguing match-ups, as America’s Grand Slam arrests the attention of sports fans worldwide starting Monday morning. USOpen.org takes a look at five must-see women's matches in the US Open first round, featuring some of the best players in the world facing formidable opponents right at the start of main-draw play – and the likelihood of survival.
Serena Williams (4) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
Two Americans - one established as her country’s best, the other a standout in a new generation of bright U.S. neophytes - possibly under the lights inside a sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams is widely receiving praise as the odds-on favorite to win it all in Queens for the fourth time in her career after wins at Wimbledon and two gold medals at the Summer Olympics. Yet after a first-round dismissal at Roland Garros, there’s no such thing as certain victory, even for Williams. Vandeweghe won her first Grand Slam main-draw match at last year’s US Open and gave Serena a strong battle this summer in Stanford, with Williams prevailing in the final, 7-5, 6-3.
Na Li (9) vs. Heather Watson
The Chinese baseliner will try to avenge an early exit at the 2011 Open, when she lost to Simona Halep and subsequently dismissed coach Michael Mortensen (who had replaced her husband, Jiang Shan). A finalist in Melbourne and a winner at Roland Garros last year, 2012 has not been nearly as impressive for Na Li, though she heads into New York on a high after winning her first career WTA Premier 5 title in Cincinnati. Britain's Watson, the 2009 US Open girls’ singles champion, acquitted herself very well in a three-set opening-round loss last year to third-seeded Maria Sharapova in her first US Open main draw. The 20-year-old displays tremendous athleticism and footwork on the court and may very well one day be one of the best players on tour. The two have never met. Will Na Li be wishing that still was the case once their match is over?
Francesca Schiavone (22) vs. Sloane Stephens
Schiavone enters her 13th main draw in 2012 and has the luck of meeting the American Stephens right at the jump. The two have met just once, this year in Strasbourg, where Schiavone took the match 7-5, 6-1 on clay en route to her fifth career WTA title. Schiavone winning in France is nothing new, though – a former Roland Garros champ and two-time finalist, the French Open has been her best Slam. The US Open has not been as inviting, having never advanced past the quarters, and at age 32, long runs will become less and less likely on her weaker surface. Nineteen-year-old Stephens brings a big serve and offers an aggressive, powerful baseline game quite suitable for the hard courts. She attracted attention with a third-round finish in Queens last year and will have the home crowd behind her.
Kim Clijsters (23) vs. Victoria Duval
Still south of her 30th birthday, it’s both remarkable and regretful that 2012 will be the last appearance for the legendary Clijsters. The formula has been simple: When Clijsters plays in Queens, she wins – her last defeat coming in the 2003 women’s final to fellow Belgian Justine Henin. Surrounding US Open wins in 2005, 2009 and 2010 were years missed due to various injuries (wrist, abdominal) and her first retirement, a two-year layoff from mid-2007 to mid-2009. Duval, a wild card, will play in her first US Open main draw at just 16 years old, and that should be celebrated, yet it is Clijsters, whose next match could be her last at a major, that will be one of the most followed treks in the coming weeks.
#Vania King vs. Yaroslava Shvedova#
The two-time US Open women’s doubles finalists and 2010 winners are drawn to face one another, a lower-profile yet interesting scheduling quirk. Shvedova is having the superior singles season, knocking off defending Roland Garros champ Na Li in Paris and then notching an unheard of “golden set” in a win against 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani in the third round of Wimbledon. The 24-year-old Shvedova next battled Serena Williams, taking her to three sets. King is into her eighth main draw despite being just 23 and made the third round last year before losing to No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. No matter the outcome, the two will reunite for another doubles run later on in the week.
By Nicholas J. Walz Friday, August 24, 2012 An initial look at the 2012 US Open singles draws provides several intriguing match-ups, as America’s Grand Slam arrests the attention of sports fans worldwide starting Monday morning. USOpen.org takes a look at five must-see women's matches in the US Open first round, featuring some of the best players in the world facing formidable opponents right at the start of main-draw play – and the likelihood of survival.
Serena Williams (4) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
Two Americans - one established as her country’s best, the other a standout in a new generation of bright U.S. neophytes - possibly under the lights inside a sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams is widely receiving praise as the odds-on favorite to win it all in Queens for the fourth time in her career after wins at Wimbledon and two gold medals at the Summer Olympics. Yet after a first-round dismissal at Roland Garros, there’s no such thing as certain victory, even for Williams. Vandeweghe won her first Grand Slam main-draw match at last year’s US Open and gave Serena a strong battle this summer in Stanford, with Williams prevailing in the final, 7-5, 6-3.
Na Li (9) vs. Heather Watson
The Chinese baseliner will try to avenge an early exit at the 2011 Open, when she lost to Simona Halep and subsequently dismissed coach Michael Mortensen (who had replaced her husband, Jiang Shan). A finalist in Melbourne and a winner at Roland Garros last year, 2012 has not been nearly as impressive for Na Li, though she heads into New York on a high after winning her first career WTA Premier 5 title in Cincinnati. Britain's Watson, the 2009 US Open girls’ singles champion, acquitted herself very well in a three-set opening-round loss last year to third-seeded Maria Sharapova in her first US Open main draw. The 20-year-old displays tremendous athleticism and footwork on the court and may very well one day be one of the best players on tour. The two have never met. Will Na Li be wishing that still was the case once their match is over?
Francesca Schiavone (22) vs. Sloane Stephens
Schiavone enters her 13th main draw in 2012 and has the luck of meeting the American Stephens right at the jump. The two have met just once, this year in Strasbourg, where Schiavone took the match 7-5, 6-1 on clay en route to her fifth career WTA title. Schiavone winning in France is nothing new, though – a former Roland Garros champ and two-time finalist, the French Open has been her best Slam. The US Open has not been as inviting, having never advanced past the quarters, and at age 32, long runs will become less and less likely on her weaker surface. Nineteen-year-old Stephens brings a big serve and offers an aggressive, powerful baseline game quite suitable for the hard courts. She attracted attention with a third-round finish in Queens last year and will have the home crowd behind her.
Kim Clijsters (23) vs. Victoria Duval
Still south of her 30th birthday, it’s both remarkable and regretful that 2012 will be the last appearance for the legendary Clijsters. The formula has been simple: When Clijsters plays in Queens, she wins – her last defeat coming in the 2003 women’s final to fellow Belgian Justine Henin. Surrounding US Open wins in 2005, 2009 and 2010 were years missed due to various injuries (wrist, abdominal) and her first retirement, a two-year layoff from mid-2007 to mid-2009. Duval, a wild card, will play in her first US Open main draw at just 16 years old, and that should be celebrated, yet it is Clijsters, whose next match could be her last at a major, that will be one of the most followed treks in the coming weeks.
#Vania King vs. Yaroslava Shvedova#
The two-time US Open women’s doubles finalists and 2010 winners are drawn to face one another, a lower-profile yet interesting scheduling quirk. Shvedova is having the superior singles season, knocking off defending Roland Garros champ Na Li in Paris and then notching an unheard of “golden set” in a win against 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani in the third round of Wimbledon. The 24-year-old Shvedova next battled Serena Williams, taking her to three sets. King is into her eighth main draw despite being just 23 and made the third round last year before losing to No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. No matter the outcome, the two will reunite for another doubles run later on in the week.
