Before each day’s play at the U.S. Open, Steve Tignor will preview and predict three must-see matches.
Dominic Thiem vs. Juan Martin del Potro
Head to head: Del Potro leads 1-0
Load up on your coffee early. ESPN wants the Williams sisters for their late-afternoon Labor Day broadcast, so Ashe Stadium will open with a bang—or three, or three hundred—when these two heavyweight hitters take the court at the eye-opening hour of 11 a.m. Del Potro won their only meeting, on clay in Madrid earlier this year. Unfortunately for Thiem, that’s his favorite surface, and now Delpo will play him on the court where he won the Open seven years ago. Can Thiem find a way to do what surprisingly few others have managed to do this year: Exploit Delpo’s weaker backhand side? As spectacular as Thiem’s own one-handed backhand can be, I don’t think it will make that task any easier.
Winner: Del Potro
Venus Williams vs. Karolina Pliskova
Head to head: Venus leads 1-0
Two of the hardest hitters on the men’s tour will be followed by two of the hardest hitters on the women’s. Venus and Pliskova, both 6’1” and rail thin, have no shortage of weapons, starting with their serves. Both women play offense first and worry about safety last. Venus won their only meeting in straight sets late last year, but this match will probably reside on the younger Pliskova’s racquet. When she’s on, the winners flow. But she has rarely been on for long at the majors. Venus has.
Winner: V. Williams
Andy Murray vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Head to head: Murray leads 6-3
Dimitrov says he has rekindled his love for the game, the one that took him to the Top 10 two years ago and helped record a blowout win over Murray in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Since then, it has been mostly downhill for Dimitrov, who has only recently rejoined the Top 25. But his 2016 quasi-resurgence has also included another win over Murray in their most recent meeting, in Miami this spring. Now the flashy Dimitrov will try to do it again under the bright lights in Ashe. Too bad for him that Murray has a way of defusing flashy opponents. Since that Miami loss, the 2016 Wimbledon champion and Olympic gold medalist has also been playing some of the best—or at least most unbeatable—tennis of his career.
Winner: Murray
Bonus: Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Ana Konjuh
Head to head: Radwanska leads 1-0
You might want to stick it out for the late-night match in Ashe. At Wimbledon this year, Radwanska saved match points to beat Konjuh in a 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 epic.