Men's Notable US Open First Round Matches

#32 Ivan Dodig vs Nikolay Davydenko: After being seeded 6th at last year's US Open, Nikolay Davydenko has taken a nose drive. After a horrible 2010 summer, where didn't win more than two matches at any tournament, he fell out of the top 20. By the end of January 2011, he had dropped to 35. Davydenko has not had a great summer and his ranking is now 39. Davydenko never won more than a match at any tournament this summer and didn't win a set off of Mardy Fish, Novak Djokovic, or Fernando Verdasco in three matches. Despite his rough summer and recent play, Davydenko shouldn't be totally dismissed in the early rounds as he has had past success at the US Open. He made the semifinals of the US Open in 2006 and 2007, and has made it past the second round of the tournament every year but once since 2006. While Davydenko has really struggled recently, Ivan Dodig has played very well. Last August, Dodig was ranked in the 140's, and now he is number 33. Dodig's best surface by far is the hard courts, as it is the only surface he has a winning record on. Dodig has a 14-8 record on hard courts this year including a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) win over Rafael Nadal in Montreal earlier this month. Dodig looks like the favorite to win the first round match because he has played well recently and Davydenko doesn't look like the same player that was in the top 10 for more than 5 years.

Prediction: 32. Ivan Dodig over Nikolay Davydenko in four sets.

# 27 Marin Cilic vs Ryan Harrison: United States tennis fans are hoping that Ryan Harrison can be the next great American tennis player. With just one American in the top 20, the struggling Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey still recovering from an arm injury, Harrison has a lot of pressure on him to perform well at the US Open. Last year he beat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round. However, it may be a lot to ask of Harrison to do it again this year because he has a very difficult first round match with the big Croatian, Marin Cilic. After falling outside of the top 30, Cilic had a nice run in Montreal to pick his ranking back up to 27. Cilic beat Andreas Seppi and had a big win over Juan Martin Del Potro in Montreal before losing to world number 1 Novak Djokovic. Harrison will have to return very well because Cilic is in the top 15 in both st and 2nd service points won. Harrison has a good shot of winning if he can play like he did earlier in the summer when he reached the semifinals of both Atlanta and Los Angeles before falling to Mardy Fish both times. Ryan has shown he can beat some of the top players in the world, like when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round of Cincinnati in straight sets.

Prediction: Marin Cilic over Ryan Harrison in four sets.

#23 Radek Stepanek vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Radek Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 last May, but he fell to as low as number 70 in April of this year. However, Stepanek made a huge comeback this summer and found himself ranked in the top 30. He made an outstanding run in Washington to win 6 matches and the 500-point tournament. Stepanek knocked out Fernando Verdasco in straight sets in the quarterfinals, and then ended up beating Gael Monfils in the final 6-4, 6-4. A few weeks later, Stepanek beat John Isner and Andrey Golubev enroute to a round of 16 finish in Cincinnati. Stepanek's two big summer tournaments enabled his rank to go from 54 to 23. He has a chance at making a run in the US Open as long as he can get by his tricky first round match against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Although Kohlschreiber can play some bad matches like he did when he lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets in Montreal, he has shown that he can beat the best in the world. The German beat top 25 players Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati this summer. Stepanek and Kohlschreiber met at the US Open in 2009, and Stepanek won that match in four sets.
Prediction: Radek Stepanek over Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets.

28. John Isner vs Marcos Baghdatis: Marcos Baghdatis and John Isner have played twice recently, and the they will meet for a third time in three weeks when they play in the first round of the US Open. Their first encounter came in the first round of Montreal when Isner beat Baghdatis in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Although Isner had just 8 aces, his big serve still caused a lot of problems for Baghdatis. Isner won 84% of his 1st serve points, and didn't allow Baghdatis to have one break point chance during the entire match. The two met again in the Winston-Salem quarterfinals just two weeks later. Although Baghdatis looked much better and returned Isner's big serve much more effectively, he fell in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. Isner won just 43% of his 2nd serve points and was broken three times by Baghdatis. Marcos won 37% of his return points, which is much better than when he won just 22% of his return points in Montreal. Although Isner has beaten Baghdatis twice this summer, it is extremely difficult to beat an opponent three times in a row, and Marcos has shown that he can return Isner's big serve as he did in Winston-Salem.
Prediction: Marcos Baghdatis over John Isner in five sets.

#16 Mikhail Youzhny vs Ernests Gulbis: In 2007, at the age of 18, Ernests Gulbis made a thrilling run in his first ever US Open. He beat two seeded players to make it to the round of 16. The Latvian teen was labeled the next great up-and-coming tennis star, but all of his immense talent has never led too much success on the tour. However, his recent success is a good sign that he can make a run in this year's US Open. Gulbis won his second ever ATP tour event when he won Los Angeles this summer. He knocked off Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 and then came back from a set down to beat Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Gulbis will have a lot to deal with in the first round of the US Open though because he will play an experienced Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny made it to the semifinals of the US Open in 2006, and again last year. Youzhny loves playing in front of the NYC crowd.
Prediction: Mikhail Youzhny over Ernests Gulbis in five sets.

Men's Notable French Open First Round Matches

1. Rafael Nadal vs John Isner: John Isner has really struggled this season. He began the season ranked inside the top 20 at number 19 in the world but has now fallen to 39 because of a rough 5 months to start the season. He is just 9-12 this year. Isner is not at all a clay court specialist and is much better on hard courts. John is just 3-5 on clay courts this season and hasn't reached the semifinals of any clay court tournament. Isner has never made it past the 3rd round at the French Open. However, his big serve and ability to hit the big forehand makes him somewhat of a threat to Nadal even if he is really struggling and has never been to good on clay. Nadal said about playing Isner, "He's one of these players that you prefer not to have to have in the first round. His style of game is dangerous. His serve is unbelievable. He can be dangerous... I have to be very focused with my serve."

24. Sam Querrey vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Philipp Kohlschreiber has always played very well at Roland Garros and he is very good on clay. In 2009, Kohlschreiber beat Novak Djokovic in the third round of the French Open 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 before he was knocked out in the round of 16. On the other hand, Sam Querrey has really struggled on clay. This season he is just 1-3 on clay courts and his only win came because Kevin Anderson had to retire after one set. Sam said about his early season struggles, "Even though I haven't had great results this year, my game feels really good and I actually feel confident. I have been hitting the ball as well as I have ever hit it and I am working really hard. I just need one little spaek to get going... Everyone has their ups and downs aside from gus like Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal], who are pretty consistent at the top. But I think I'm just a bit og a cycle and can turn it around pretty qucikly." Querrey has especially struggled at Roland Garros. He has never made it out of the first round and is 0-4 at the French Open in his career. Querrey said about his struggles at the French Open, "I have never won a match at the French, so the goal is to win one match. That is all I am really focusing on right now. I can't afford to look beyond that... Sometimes in sports you make runs out of nowhere. It would be great to do that here [at the Fench Open] and prove everything wrong." Thus, this matchup is so intriguing and could definitely be a possible upset because Kohlschreiber plays so well on clay and Querrey struggles so much on clay especially at Roland Garros.

3. Roger Federer vs Feliciano Lopez: Rafael Nadal is not the only highly seeded player who has a difficult first round match. Roger Federer will have a tricky match with the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. In fact, Lopez and Federer played a great match early this month in the 2nd round of Madrid that lasted nearly three hours. Federer won the extremely tight match, where all three sets went into tiebreakers, 7-6 (15-13), 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (9-7). Federer even had to save a match point during the third set tiebreak. Although Federer has never lost to Lopez and is 0-8, Lopez looks like a different player in 2011. Lopez has had a terrific season especially on clay as he made it to the quarterfinals of Bareclemona and the finals of the Serbia Open before he lost to Djokovic. Although most people believe that Federer will advance out of the first round, Lopez will be a tricky opponent especially if he is playing well.

Lleyton Hewitt vs Albert Montanes: This is by far the most intriguing matchup of two guys who aren't seeded in the French Open. Lleyton Hewitt hasn't played since he lost to Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round of Indian Wells due to a foot injury. However, as always you can expect the Aussie to fight, scrap, and crawl for every point like he always does. His coach Tony Roche said about Hewitt playing through the pain at Roland Garros, "I think he's used to that. Look, he'd be the toughest competitor that I've ever seen. He's had a lot of setbacks over the last couple of years but he keeps bouncing back... It's his first tournament back fom his operation. It's a big ask, but he could do it... Lleyton is still as keen as ever. He feels in the grand slams, given the right opportunity, that he can still be competitive with the top guys." The other side of this matchup is the Spaniard Albert Montanes. He is a clay court specialist, as his 4 runner-ups and 5 tournament victories, have been all on clay courts. His only winning record at a major is at the French Open. He has made it to the third round of the French Open 5 times. However, this season Montanes has just not been good on the clay. He is 6-7 in 13 matches on clay this season and his ranking has dropped from 25 at the beginning of the season to 37. 

13. Richard Gasquet vs Radek Stepanek: Richard Gasquet has looked absolutely fantastic this season. He began the season ranked 30 in the world and has moved up 16 spots to number 14. At Rome, Gasquet had a great tournament. He beat Roger Federer in the third round 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4). Gasquet beat Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 before his great tournamnet ended with a loss to Rafael Nadal 5-7, 1-6. He showed his new found toughness and grit by coming back to beat both Federer and Berdych after dropping highly contested first sets in both matches. Gasquet showed his maturity, which he failed to show when he was younger and has shown his resolve and determination to fight for every point. His change of attitude makes him look like a real contender to make a deep run at Roland Garros as long as he can first get by the old veteran Radek Stepanek. Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 just last year but has fallen to 57 in the world now. However, he has begun to show his 2010 form, which should be dangerous for Gasquet. He beat Marcos Baghdatis at Monte Carlo in the first round and made it to the semifinals of Munich on clay.

25. Juan Martin Del Potro vs Ivo Karlovic: Juan Martin Del Porto is 6'6. Ivo Karlovic is 6'10. These two guys are huge and their first round match at the French Open should have huge serves and hitting from both guys. Although Del Potro hits the ball very hard and flat, he is also very good on the dirt. In 2009, he made it to the French Open semifinals. Del Potro has been working himself back into shape and tennis form this season after a 9 month break due to a wrist surgery. Del Potro has played pretty well since his return. He has won 2 tournaments and has beaten 5 players in the top 20 including Robin Soderling in straight sets twice, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhali Youzhny, and Marin Cilic. Karlovic and Del Portro aren't very familiar with each other either, as their only meeting was on grass four years ago. Both of these guys are great servers. Karlovic ranks 1st in 1st serve points won at 80%, service game won at 91%, and break points saved at 73%. He also ranks 2nd in aces with 357. Del Potro is a pretty god returner. He rankes tied for 2nd with Novak Djokovic and only behind Andy Murray in break points converted at 50%. Del Potro isn't too bad serving himself either. He rankes 6th in service games won at 87%, 5th in break points saved at 68%, and 5th in 2nd seve points won at 55%. It should be a great match especially if Karlovic can serve well and stay in the match.