2016 U.S. Open Day Four Preview: Del Potro Continues Comeback Against American Johnson

September 1, 2016 | By Eric C. Peck
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Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

The 2016 U.S. Open is just three days old, but it has already delivered some fantastic matches and wonderful stories, maybe none bigger than Ryan Harrison’s upset victory over the fifth-seed Milos Raonic and 17-year-old CiCi Bellis’ comeback win over fellow American Shelby Rogers on Wednesday. Thursday’s action should be on par with the previous three days.

Last night, history was made as Arthur Ashe’s retractable roof was closed for the first time during the match between Rafael Nadal and Andreas Seppi. After about a 10 minute delay, the roof was closed, the court was cleaned and action resumed. Rain showers in the New York area have extended through Thursday morning, but the rain is set to clear in the late morning and expect a slight delay to begin the day’s action in Flushing Meadows.

When the draw came out last Friday, one potential second-round match that had everyone salivating was American Steve Johnson and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, and the two will kick off their match under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight.

Johnson forged a phenomenal comeback in his opener against Evgeny Donskoy on Monday, trailing 2-5 in the third set after dropping the first two sets, but the newly minted top American in the world fought off match points and won the final three sets to advance. Del Potro knocked off his countryman Diego Schwartzman in straight sets and looks to continue to ride his Olympics momentum as the 2009 U.S. Open champion is feeling fully healthy for the first time in years. The two have never met before and look for some devastating forehands from each player later tonight.

Johnson is looking to reach the third round for the first time since 2012 and sixth time in 18 career majors, while Del Potro is attempting to reach the third round in Flushing Meadows for first time since 2012 when he advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded  Andy Murray takes a 6-1 career record into his Thursday afternoon’s encounter with Marcel Granollers at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Murray is 23-1 since the beginning of the Queen’s Club in London where he won for the fifth time as he looks to become the fourth man in the Open Era to reach all four major finals in a calendar year, joining Rod Laver in 1969, Roger Federer in 2004 and again in 2006 and 2007, and Novak Djokovic in 2015.

The number three seed, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka will face the Italian qualifier Alessandro Giannessi in their first career meeting Thursday to close the day out at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Wawrinka is 9-1 in second round matches at the U.S. Open, with his lone loss coming in 2011 at the hands of Donald Young in five sets, while Giannessi is playing his first top 10 opponent in his 11th career tour-level match where he has a record of 4-6.

The sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan will face Russian qualifier Karen Khachanov to begin the day’s action at Louis Armstrong Stadium. A runner-up in Flushing Meadows in 2014, Nishikori is looking to reach round three at the U.S. Open for the first time since reaching final two years ago, while Thursday’s meeting will mark Khachanov’s first ever top 10 opponent faced in his career.

Both Williams sisters return to the court Thursday for their respective second round matchups.

Serena continues her quest for a 23rd Grand Slam title against fellow American Vania King under the lights tonight at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and is making her 12th appearance in the U.S. Open main draw. Serena was impressive in her opening round victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and is the second-oldest player remaining in the draw, after her sister Venus Williams.

Venus is making her 10th consecutive main draw appearance at the U.S. Open as she meets Germany’s Julia Goerges on Thursday on Ashe just before her sister’s evening matchup. Venus brings a 1-0 lifetime record into the match against Goerges, a victory in the second round of the Wuhan Open in 2015.

Click here to view the full schedule for Day Four of the 2016 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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