2013 U.S. Open Preview: Day Five

August 30, 2013 | By Eric C. Peck
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

Defending U.S. Open men’s champion Andy Murray and defending women’s champ Serena Williams lead Friday action on Day Five of the 2013 U.S. Open, headlining a field that also includes men’s top seed Novak Djokovic, and women’s number three seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Two matches are scheduled of particular intrigue, one bringing up-and-coming American talents Sloane Stephens and Jamie Hampton face-to-face, and the other, pitting 2009 Open champ Juan Martin del Potro against 2001 Open winner Aussie Lleyton Hewitt.

Kicking things off at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the fifth-seeded Na Li faces the 30th-seeded Laura Robson, a rematch from last year when Robson shocked Na Li. The top-seeded Djokovic will continue his run toward another Open title, as he is scheduled to meet Germany’s Benjamin Becker in afternoon action at Ashe. Djokovic is 1-0 lifetime against Becker. Following that, the all-American third round women’s singles clash between the 23rd-seeded Jamie Hampton and 15 seed Sloane Stephens. The 20-year-old Stephens and 23-year-old Hampton are familiar with each other, having played together in Fed Cup action. Head-to-head, they have played each other on three occasions: In 2011, Stephens took their first ever victory; Hampton won their encounter in 2012; and Stephens was a winner this past June on grass at Wimbledon.

Under the lights at Ashe, it will be a matchup of former champs as 2009 Open champ del Potro meets 2001 Open winner Hewitt. del Potro is currently dealing with a wrist injury, one that may have been injured further after a long four-plus hour win on Wednesday over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The two will meet for the fifth time Friday evening, each with two victories apiece, while Hewitt is 6-1 lifetime in night matches on Ashe. The last time he played at night on Ashe was in 2006 when he lost to Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Closing out the evening at Ashe will be defending women’s champ Serena looking to march onward toward another Grand Slam title as she faces Kazakhstani Yaroslava Shvedova.

Kicking things off at Louis Armstrong Stadium Friday as the number three-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska will face the number 32 seed, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The men take the court after this matchup, as American Denis Kudla will face a tough draw in the fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych, the first meeting ever between the two. This year marks the 11th consecutive U.S. Open appearance for Berdych, with his strongest showing coming in 2012 when he advanced to the semifinals where he lost top eventual champion Murray, but not before knocking off the top-seeded Roger Federer in the quarters. The aforementioned defending champ Murray will also be in round two action Friday afternoon at Louis Armstrong, as he faces Argentine Leonardo Mayer. Murray is 1-0 lifetime against Mayer, and has a career 26-1 record in Grand Slam second round matches. Mayer is looking for his first career win over a top 10 opponent. The top-seeded men’s doubles team of Americans Bob & Mike Bryan will take on the team of Eric Butorac from the United States & Frederik Nielsen from Denmark to close out Friday action at Louis Armstrong. The Bryans have won a “Bryan Grand Slam,” capturing the Gold Medal at the 2012 London Olympics last summer and the last four Grand Slam Men’s Doubles titles.

On Grandstand, the number 12 seed Tommy Haas of Germany, the oldest player in the draw at 35-years-old, takes on Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei for the second time (Haas leads 1-0). Haas is a three-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist (2004, 2006 and 2007) and a former world number two. The women are in third round action on Grandstand as the 24-seed, Ekaterina Makarova of Russia takes on the number 16 seed, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki. In the next men’s Grandstand match, American qualifier Donald Young looks to advance to the third round at the U.S. Open for the third time as he meets German Florian Mayer in their first tour-level meeting. Mayer captured his 200th career tour-level match win (200-196) in his first round win over Juan Monaco, 6-4, 6-2, 3-0 when Monaco retired with a stomach ache and headache.

Click here to view the full Day Five Schedule of Play at the 2013 U.S. Open.


Eric C. Peck
Editor-in-Chief, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Eric C. Peck is Editor-in-Chief of Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by e-mail at eric@litennismag.com

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