U.S. Open Day Two Preview: Federer and Serena Under the Lights in Flushing Meadows
Day Two of the U.S. Open will feature eight Americans in action on the men’s side of the draw, with number two seed and five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer leading off the evening session against Marinko Matosevic from Australia. Federer has the most match wins at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 22-1 record, and overall, Federer is 67-9 at the U.S. Open in his record 60th consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearance, the 15th straight in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
On Court 13, Wimbledon junior champion Noah Rubin, from nearby Rockville Centre, N.Y., will make his Grand Slam in-draw debut against Argentine Federico Delbonis. Rubin will be attending Wake Forest University this fall. Rubin received his wild card entry into the main draw by winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. The 23-year-old Delbonis is one of 23 players making their U.S. Open main draw debut inn 2014. In March, Delbonis overcame an early deficit in Sao Paulo to capture his first ATP World Tour title with a three-set win over Paolo Lorenzi.
Also under the lights at Ashe, top-seeded Serena Williams makes her 57th career Grand Slam appearance when she will meet wild card Taylor Townsend for the first time in their careers. Serena is a two-time defending champion at the U.S. Open (five titles in total), and is looking to become the second woman in the Open Era to win three consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows. She is also attempting the first three-peat at any Grand Slam since Justine Henin did so at Roland Garros in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
American John Isner, the number 13 seed, who began the Emirates U.S. Open Series with a repeat title in Atlanta, will meet the reigning NCAA champion from UCLA, 21-year-old Marcos Giron at Arthur Ashe. Giron is making his Grand Slam tournament debut, having turned pro after his junior season. Isner’s best U.S. Open result was a trip to the quarterfinals in 2011.
The number three seed on the women's side of the draw, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, will face France's Kristina Mladenovic on Ashe. With two Wimbledon titles under her belt (2011 and 2014), Kvitova is making her 26th Grand Slam singles main draw appearance. Kvitova and Mladenovic each have a victory in two career meetings.
At Louis Armstrong, American Sam Querrey begins action against 31-year-old Argentine Maximo Gonzalez, playing his first hard court match of the season. Querrey is coming off his third semifinal of the season in Winston-Salem last week. Querrey’s best result in Flushing Meadows was two trips to the fourth round in 2008 and 2010.
Following Querrey and Gonzalez, the seventh-seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada faces Olga Govortsova of Belarus. Bouchard is 1-0 lifetime against Govortsova, in her seventh Grand Slam main draw appearance, and was a runner-up at this year’s Wimbledon, falling to Kvitova in the finals.
Also in action on Armstrong, the number four seed and two-time U.S. Open semifinalist David Ferrer of Spain meets Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia & Herzegovina. Dzumhur reached the third round at the Australian Open in January. Ferrer has a 27-11 career record at the U.S. Open and is playing at Flushing Meadows for 12th straight year. His best result was a run to the semifinals in 2007 and again in 2012. He has a 9-2 record in first round matches at the U.S. Open, having lost to Americans in both first round exits (Robby Ginepri in 2003 and Mardy Fish in 2004).
The youngest player in the main draw will also be in action Tuesday, as 15-year-old American CiCi Bellis will face the number 12 seed, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on Court Six. Bellis is making her Tour-level draw debut in Flushing Meadows, and is currently the number two ranked junior in the world. She is playing just her 13th pro-level match of her career, all on the ITF Circuit (8-4 record to date). She locked up her wild card for the U.S. Open by winning the USTA Girls 18s National Championship.
Click here for a full schedule of Day Two at the 2014 U.S. Open.
