US Open Day 2 - Stuttering Schiavone wins

Francesca Schiavone overcame a second set blip and a host of double faults to see off Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3 1-6 6-4. Schiavone was surprisingly poor on serve throughout the match with 16 double faults to her name including 3 in a row whilst serving for the macth at 5-3. However she was let off the hook by a frustrated Voskoboeva who was broken striaght back; Voskoboeva let her emotions take over in the third set as she repeatedly flung her racket in anger and let out some piercing screams. Schiavone will be relieved to have overcome what was a challenging, but she will have to improve if she is to continue her progression in the draw. She should have a much easier match in round two against Mirjana Lucic, who saw off Marina Erakovic in three sets.

Andrea Petkovic also progressed but in far easier circumstances against Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-2 6-2. Petkovic did not lose her serve throughout the match and was all smiles as she signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans afterward. I really like it when players take time to acknowledge the fans and Petkovic is one of the best on tour at doing this. I remember watching Venus after a win at Wimbledon this year just ignore her fans who wanted autographs. I think it is really rude when players do this so it always makes me smile to see the likes of Petkovic give back to the fans. The second day has seen no shocks so far with the likes of Wozniacki, Azarenka, Jankovic and Lisicki all moving into the second round without any problems.

In the men's draw, the biggest surprise has been the loss of Mikhail Youzhny who went down to Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. I suppose it was not a shock entirely because Gulbis is a talented player and won in LA earlier this year; however he often blows hot and cold so I expected Youzhny to win. David Ferrer brushed aside the loss of the first set to defeat Igor Andreev in 4 sets and Novak Djokovic lost just one game as his opponent, Connor Nilland retired at 5-1 down in the second set suffering from food poisoning.