Mornin'. I wanted to get a quick Crisis Center post up so y'all can follow the action from the start today. I have a few chores to tend to today, so I won't be getting out to the National Tennis Center until around noon. Not sure who I want to focus on today, since I've embraced the sometimes daunting handicap of steering clear of the top players until the second week of the event. Does Melanie Oudin count as a top player? It's an interesting question; I suppose you could say does at the NTC, given her track record at the U.S. Open.
Sam Querrey and Oudin are both on Armstrong today; perhaps a "double dip" post is in order. Both of them are, after all, the subject of great interest to fans, media and sponsors, as evidenced by the intense effort US Open sponsor American Express has been making with their Next Contenders effort. Three of the four players in that select group (John Isner, Querrey and Oudin) are in action today; the fourth, Caroline Wozniacki, won her first match last night.
This raises the interesting question: which of those four players will go furthest in the tournament? Wozniacki is the obvious choice, given that she's the defending finalist and has been playing like a house on fire, but she's also been underwhelming in the three majors played so far this year. On the other hand, she's head and shoulders above her three peers, results and rankings-wise.
Anyway, enjoy the tennis today.
- Pete