US Open: 1st Round Predictions for Day 2

The Top 3 on Day 2

1. Francesca Schiavone v Sloane Stephens

The most interesting of the womens matches for tomorrow will see Francesca Schiavone take on the up-and-coming American, Sloane Stephens.  Stephens has had some solid results lately, most notably at the Grand Slams with a 4th round showing at Roland Garros and 3rd round at Wimbledon.  She has a pretty complete game, but is still learning on the mental side and has looked very fragile at the key moments in her matches.  Schiavone had solid showings at Roland Garros and Wimbledon but has since fallen back into a bit of a slump.  She was desperately short of form in a Cincy thumping by Camila Giorgi and I fancy Stephens will have too much game for Schiavone in this one...

Prediction - Stephens to beat Schiavone in 2 sets

2. David Goffin v Tomas Berdych

Tomas Berdych has the toughest opening match for the mens against the dangerous, David Goffin.  The Belgian youngster made a name for himself at Roland Garros where he reached the fourth round and put in an admirable performance against his hero, Roger Federer.  Goffin has since been extremely steady and reached the quarter-finals just last week in Winston Salem.  Berdych has had a tough few months and will certainly be vulnerable having lost his openers at Wimbledon and the Olympics.  I think that Goffin will win at least a set, but I will stick by Berdych to make it into the second round...

Prediction - Berdych to beat Goffin in 4 sets

3. Venus Williams v Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Venus Williams will open her campaign against the flamboyant Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Arthur Ashe stadium.  Mattek-Sands has a crazy game with the potential to scare the big guns, but often when things get tight she folds like a cheap tent.  Venus is always a question mark, but she showed great fight and resolve in Cincy where she made a superb semi-final appearance.  She did pick up a back injury there and has stated she is not yet 100%; however I think she will have enough in the tank to get into the second round where things could get a lot tougher with Angelique Kerber looming...

Prediction - Venus to beat Mattek Sands in 2 tight sets

Results so far...
The Germans are having a very rough time of it, but generally in line with my predictions ;-) Sorana Cirstea defeated an irratic Sabine Lisicki, 4-6 6-2 6-2.  Lisicki was particularly poor on serve and looked well below her best today.  Julia Goerges lost too, more suprisingly to Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6 6-1.  Anabel Medina Garrigues was the third womens seed to fall to Lucie Hradecka.   Sam Stosur produced the most impressive performance of play so far with a 6-1 6-1 thumping over Petra Martic.  She won the first 19 points of the match and was no match for Martic, who looked very rusty and short of match play having been on the sidelines since Wimbledon.

In the mens draw, Florian Mayer retired after losing the first two sets to the young American, Jack Sock and Andy Murray laboured to a first round win against Alex Bogomolov Jr... a win is a win though and I am not worried at all yet about my prediction!