US Open: 1st/2nd Round Predictions for Day 3

The Top 3 on Day 3

Kim Clijsters

1. David Ferrer v Kevin Anderson

David Ferrer opens up his US Open campaign on Wednesday with one of the trickier first rounders against the big serving, Kevin Anderson.  The South African has lost some form recently but remains a threat on his favoured hard court surface.  He won the title earlier this year in Delray Beach, beating Andy Roddick and John Isner along the way so the potential is there for all too see.  Ferrer once again will go into a Grand Slam completely under the radar and to be honest, I could see him falling before the quarter-finals with a number of dangerous players in his section of the draw.  Anyway in this first round, the Spaniard will be too solid for Anderson...

Prediction - Ferrer to beat Anderson in 4 sets

2. Kim Clijsters v Laura Robson

Kim Clijsters faces another of the youngest competitors in the draw having beaten Victoria Duval in the first round, 6-3 6-1.  Laura Robson however should be a tougher test for Clijsters who will retire after the US Open.  The Belgian is on course for a blockbuster third round with Li Na, but she will have to play well to get past Robson.  The young Brit beat Samantha Crawford in the first round and always raises her game on the big stages.  She has twice pushed Maria Sharapova hard at Wimbledon and the Olympics although I cannot see her having the mental strength to pull off an upset in this one.

Prediction - Clijsters to beat Robson in 2 sets

3. Aleksandra Wozniak v Lucie Safarova

The match-up between Aleksandra Wozniak and Lucie Safarova should be one of the closest encounters in the top half of the womens draw tomorrow.  Safarova has had some great results this year although her performances at the Grand Slams has been sub-standard as she is yet to reach the third round at any of the three previous majors.  Wozniak has had a very solid year and played particularly well in Canada where she made the quarter-finals earlier this month.  These two last played in Charleston where Safarova prevailed in three sets; however I am going for Wozniak to cause a mini-upset and nick the win...

Prediction - Wozniak to beat Safarova in 3 sets

Best of the rest: Women

Maria Sharapova

Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova both looked in superb form in round one and will look to continue their serene progression through the tournament; Azarenka plays Kirsten Flipkens who has been sidelined with numerous injury and health problems but looks to be finding her feet on the tour once again.  Sharapova will take on Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the night match on Arthur Ashe. The top seeds in action tomorrow should all progress with ease although some of the lower seeds have tough matches.

Nadia Petrova takes on Simona Halep who beat her on the hard courts earlier this year.  Zheng Jie will have her hands full with Magdalena Rybarikova who won the title in Washington DC and Varvara Lepchenko takes on the in-form Anastasia Rodionova, who strolled through qualifying and enjoyed a 6-3 6-0 victory over Julia Cohen in the first round.

Predictions:

Azarenka to beat Flipkens in 2 sets

Sharapova to D.Lino in 2 sets

Li to beat Dellacqua in 2 sets

Stosur to beat Gallovits-Hall in 2 sets

Bartoli to beat Oprandi in 3 sets

Kvitova to beat Cornet in 2 sets

Lepchenko to beat Rodionova in 3 long sets

Halep to beat Petrova in 2 sets

Del Potro

Best of the rest: Men

The scheduling of the mens draw at this year's US Open has been as ludicrous as ever with a number of first round mens matches still to be played and several are scheduled last on tomorrow.  John Isner, Janko Tipsarevic, Richard Gasquet and Tommy Haas will all take to the court tomorrow.  Juan Martin Del Potro was due to play David Nalbandian, but reports suggest that Nalbandian has now pulled out, which is a shame because that was the most enticing of the first round clashes.

Andy Murray will play his second round match against Ivan Dodig at night, but there is no sign of Roger Federer on the schedule... ridiculous!

Predictions:

John Isner to beat Xavier Malisse in 4 sets

Janko Tipsarevic to beat Guillermo Rufin in 3 sets

Tommy Haas to beat Ernests Gulbis in 4 sets

Philipp Kohlschreiber to beat Michael Llodra in 3 sets

Richard Gasquet to beat Albert Montanes in 4 sets

Andy Murray to beat Ivan Dodig in 4 sets 

You can view my full US Open predictions for the WTA and ATP draws, which I made before the tournament kicked off.  I have lost a few third and fourth rounders, but also correctly predicted the seeded exits of Lisicki, Niculescu, Zakopalova.