Before each day's play at Flushing Meadows, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.
This is a match that many of us have been waiting to see for a couple of years. And because Halep and Azarenka haven’t played each other since 2012, it’s also a tough one to predict. You might call it the “Will the Real Challenger to Serena Williams Please Stand Up?” sweepstakes.
There are good reasons to think that woman is Halep. At No. 2, she’s ranked 18 spots higher than Azarenka, and has had a much better season. She also pushed Serena in Miami and Cincinnati. But there also reasons to think that Azarenka is Williams’ real competition. She had match points on Serena in Madrid, was up a set and a break on her in Paris, and gave her one of the battles of the year at Wimbledon. By that measure, Vika’s ranking is artificially low, and eventually she’ll take her place at No. 2 again.
When you compare the 6’0” Azarenka with the 5’5” Halep, you might decide that Azarenka has the stronger case, but we won’t know until they finally take the court against each other. Vika won their only two meetings three years ago, but Halep didn’t sound too concerned about that in press yesterday. Both women know that was before Simona became Simona. Winner: Azarenka
It seems that all Anderson had to do, if he wanted to find an opponent he could handle, was make it to the quarters of a major. That’s where he’ll face Wawrinka, a player the South African has beaten in their last four meetings. The matches have been close; each of the last seven sets they’ve played has ended either 7-6 or 7-5. But Anderson’s serve and steadiness have been enough to give him the edge in six of them. Wawrinka has dropped just one set in the tournament so far, but even as he beat Donald Young in the last round in routine fashion, I didn’t feel like Stan was at his best. When Anderson beat Andy Murray, on the other hand, he was beyond his best. Winner: Anderson
