One down two to go as far as the Brit's are concerned at the US Men's Open after a night of predictable action apart from the exit of the current British Number 1 and World Number 16 Kyle Edmund who was on the wrong side of the upset of the night in New York.
My Dark Horse Tip Trail Blazes through his First Tough Test
Wild Card entry and my dark horse tip for the US Open Stan Wawrinka came through his first tough test in New York when he put on a power house performance to beat ranked 6 in the world Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. Bookies immediately slashed their odds on Wawrinka winning the Open from 40/1 to 22/1.Wawrinka's Backhand Was Looking Lethal AgainWawrinka's Backhand Was Looking Lethal Again
In the analysis I wrote on the Men's US Open yesterday I tipped Wawrinka as my outside bet along with Federer as my main choice to win this year. Wawrinka's odds of 40/1 were too tempting after watching him almost beat Federer in Cincinatti where at times he looked back to his old destructive self. Beating Dimitrov in the fashion he did is no easy task to accomplish. Dimitrov gave Djokovic a good run for his money for long periods in Cincinatti last week and took a set off him.
For Wawrinka to brush aside Dimitrov not allowing him even a single set is the best start he could have wanted. The 3 time Grand Slam champion was hitting ground strokes reminiscent of his famous US Open final victory against Djokovic in 2016. He was simply unplayable last night.
Watch Wawrinka Destroy Dimitrov in New York
Before this year Wawrinka had lost all 3 previous meetings with Dimitrov. However he also defeated the Bulgarian earlier at Wimbledon 3 sets to 1 and now marches on to face a far easier young French player in Round 2.
Obviously it's too early to get excited over Wawrinka, he has much sterner tests ahead but this is a real positive start for the outsider and those original odds looked too high from the bookies.
Number 1 Brit is Not Really Number 1
Britain's Kyle Edmund went out to World Number 94 and Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi who was just 4 wins to 14 losses so far this year before this match. The 36 year old Italian has only ever won one ATP title but managed to comfortably beat the hot shot Brit. It's not like Lorenzi is a blast from the past who simply managed to recreate previous form to knock out Edmund. But it could have been a whole lot different for the Brit having gone one set up in the match, if it wasn't for his slip up on serve in the late stages of the second set his which gifted the Italian two break point opportunities.
The third set proved decisive, Edmund again at the late end of the set having been 40 love up let his serve slide with Lorenzi coming back to deuce and then getting a break point which he snatched and took the third set. That seemed to knock all the wind out of Edmund he capitulated in the fourth set with Lorenzi winning it 6-1. Just to give you an idea of how poor Edmund's loss was, Lorenzi was 8/1 odds to win this match. The Brit has been struggling for form over the past 3 months, he's going to really have to knuckle down and find out why he's playing so inconsistently.
One things for sure, Edmund being the Number 1 Brit is a red herring with the simple fact being that Andy Murray had been sidelined with a hip injury for so long allowing his ranking to slip. But Murray will be back in the top 5 in no time if he keeps fit. I can even see British Number 3 Cameron Norrie overtaking Edmund longer term, he has a much more steadier game where he doesn't rely on just one weapon (a big forehand) to see him through his matches.
Murray Looked Good But Only Faced Number 448th Aussie Duckworth
Probably the best match up possible for an Andy Murray still trying to find form after injury. He got handed his first round match in New York against an Aussie ranked 448th in the world.
Hardly the most convincing of performances Murray took 4 sets to beat the Aussie and conceded the first on a tie break. Murray looked good but it was against a poor player, so he may have won 3 clean sets in a row, with each including a break of serve but his real test is yet to come.
Watch: Murray down Duckworth: Clearly Hungry for Success
Murray was clearly delighted with his win, some of his celebrations after hard fought points were like he was competing in the final. He clearly has the hunger even if his performances are not quiet reflecting his enthusiasm. He will now play Fernando Verdasco in Round 2, a tricky draw for him, even though Verdasco has had a mixed year with 22 wins and 22 losses he's a solid player and won't give away any cheap points to Murray. Murray will have to work harder and hit more aggressively if he doesn't want to end up in a 5 set dual.
2nd Brit through, Could Be One to Watch
Cameron Norrie, what a year he has had so far! He's cut his ranking in half whilst beating top 20 players like Roberto Bautista Agut, John Isner and Nick Kyrgios. He's also made two ATP semi finals so it's only a matter of time before we have a new Brit breaking through into the top 20. Norrie is an exciting player to watch because he has an excellent net game and isn't afraid to come forward to quickly finish points off.
It was another Britian vs Australia clash with Norrie taking on Thompson. The Brit looked the more composed throughout the full 4 sets defeating the Aussie 3-1. Thompson offered little in the way of opposition to Norrie who had a superior back and forecourt game that allowed him to take all his 3 sets through break of serve.
Nadal Get's Easy Passage Through
In what would have proved a more dogged match than many would have thought Nadal ended up getting an easy passage through to Round 2 when fellow Spaniard David Ferrer retired in the second set due to a calf injury. It was a bitter disappointment for the 27 ATP tour champion Ferrer as he was playing his last ever Grand Slam.
Clearly his tenacious way of playing tennis has caught up with him in his later years.
Nadal will now face a much easier opponent in Round 2 in the form of Canada's Vasek Pospisil. I can see a straight sets victory there.
Nothing New to See Here, Please Move On
In a night with a whiff of predictability about it there were routine victories for most big players including quick wins for Milos Raonic (Canada), Jack Sock (US), John Isner (US), Dennis Shapovalov (Canada - who defeated a fellow Canadian youngster due to retirement), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem and Del Potro.
Out of all the players above I was happy to see Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas get through - which was a formality against an ageing Tommy Robredo. Tsitsipas has had a break through year reaching 2 ATP tour finals where he lost to Nadal in both. But along the way he has claimed scalps as big as Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev whilst playing some exciting and inspired tennis.
Battle of the Youngsters in Round 2
Watch out for the Greek freak in Round 2 as he's up against last weeks Winston Salem winner Daniil Medvedev. That promises to be an intriguing clash between two youngsters who both look like they are blossoming in their respective games. Winston-Salem ATP was Medvedev's second ATP title at the age of 22. He defeated America's Steve Johnson in 2 sets denying him a hat trick of titles on home soil this year.
Can Thiem Crack the Hard Courts?
Another interesting player to watch at the US Open is Dominic Thiem. He did not feature in my top ten list of likely winners this year for one simple reason - he has an atrocious record on hard courts bowing out in the first or second round of many tournaments since he turned professional.
Thiem has 10 ATP titles to his name so far, 8 of which have come on clay, one on grass and only one on a hard court which was arguably because it was a weak event with a poor calibre of players. It will be interesting to see if he can actually break his hard court curse and actually progress deep into the tournament this year in New York. His ranking (now world number 9) has clearly suffered due to his lack of success on a hard court.
Fed-Ex and Djoker in Action Tonight
Federer and Djokovic play tonight against none entity opponents, I can see an easy straight set victory for Federer who plays ranked 177th in the world Nishioka from Japan. Djokovic is playing a more tricky opponent - world number 45 Marton Fucsovics. He is no light weight and could pinch a set off the Serb. That will be a good test to see if Djokovic is capable of maintaining a high standard of tennis throughout an entire match. I did mention that he was leaking sets to opponents in Cincinatti. Here we will be able to see just how susceptible he is at the Open.
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