The first day of action at the 2014 US Open saw a number of scares, but just one seed fell; Garbine Muguruza lost in straight sets to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.  This was a disappointing result for Garbine after losing at the first hurdle of Wimbledon too. Simona Halep, Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Andrea Petkovic all dropped a set in their first round matches, but survived.  

Kerber had the toughest match of the lot, beating Ksenia Pervak, 6-2 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.  Pervak had a game point to lead *5-3 in the decider, but Kerber gritted out the win as she so often does, winning with a trademark down-the-line forehand.  On day 2, the 15 YEAR OLD, Cici Bellis caused a sensational upset knocking out Dominika Cibulkova.  If you didn’t get to watch Venus v Kimiko or Svetlana v Marina, then click on the links for the match recaps 🙂

Who will win the US Open Poll: After over 200 votes, Serena was the clear leader with 25% of the votes, followed by Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova.

TFF DreamTeam Update: Thanks to those who joined the league.  I will be posting updates of the leaderboard during the fortnight.  PaulYearley_GSMWTA is our early leader!

1. Maria Sharapova v Alexandra Dulgheru (WTA US Open, R2)

Photo by Omar Boraby

Maria Sharapova won the last 10 games of her first round match with Maria Kirilenko, 6-4 6-0.  Under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kirilenko made a great start, racing out into a 4-2 lead.  It was a surprise to see Kirilenko start so brightly having not played a match since Wimbledon.  Sharapova eventually gained control of the match and secured a comfortable win in the end.  In the second round, Maria takes on Alexandra Dulgheru, who defeated Kristyna Pliskova in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.  Sharapova leads the H2H 2-0; the main reason for previewing this match was to mention the match that Sharapova and Dulgheru played in Miami in 2011.  Sharapova won an absolute marathon, 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(5), fighting through an ankle injury and an inspired opponent to win in three hours and 28 minutes.  It was one of the nicest net exchanges i’ve ever seen from Maria.  It’s unlikely to be such a close match, but it’s nice to see Dulgheru winning matches again.

Prediction: Sharapova d. Dulgheru in 2 sets

2. Andrea Petkovic v Monica Puig (WTA US Open, R2)

After overcoming three setters, Andrea Petkovic and Monica Puig both won their first round matches to set up an intriguing second round clash. Petkovic defeated Ons Jabeur, 7-6(7) 1-6 6-3.  Jabeur served for the first set and had set points in the breaker before Petko secured the opener.  It’s possible that Petko could still be getting over the viral illness that forced her out of Canada as these bugs can often take a long time to fully get out of your system.  Her opponent in the next round, Puig, defeated Tereza Smitkova in the first round, coming from a set down to win.  Since winning her first WTA title in Strasbourg, Puig has not done a great deal, losing more matches than she has won.  In the Petko-Puig H2H, it was Puig who won their last match in the quarter-finals of Strasbourg.  In the match before that, Petko double bagelled Puig in Marseille; this is a match that for the life of me, I cannot recall! I could see this going three; Petkovic competed well in her first match and I think she will dig out another hard fought victory.

Prediction: Petkovic d. Puig in 3 sets

3. Daniela Hantuchova v Alize Cornet (WTA US Open, R2)

Defending quarter-final points, Daniela Hantuchova was heading for a first round exit in her opening match with Romina Oprandi.  After going down a set and a break, she came back strongly to book her place in the second round.

This was a very important win for Hantuchova over Romina Oprandi as she could face a pretty significant drop in the rankings.  In the second round, she takes on Alize Cornet.  The Frenchwoman has had a disappointing summer, winning just one match on hard courts, which came in Montreal against Lauren Davis.  She had no problems in her first round, dismissing fellow compatriot Amandine Hesse, 6-1 6-2.  Hantuchova has a great record against Cornet, winning six of their nine previous encounter and prevailing in the last four.  Cornet has improved dramatically since their last match at the Olympics in 2012, meanwhile Hantuchova has rather regressed.  I’d still give Daniela a very slight edge in what should be one of the more intriguing WTA matches on Wednesday’s schedule.

Prediction: Hantuchova d. Cornet in 3 sets

WTA US Open 2nd Round Predictions

Angelique Kerber d. Alla Kudryavtseva in 2 sets

Kurumi Nara d. Belinda Bencic in 3 sets

Sloane Stephens d. Johanna Larsson in 2 sets

Jelena Jankovic d. Tsvetana Pironkova in 2 tight sets

Lucie Safarova d. Zheng Saisai in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

Roberta Vinci d. Irina-Camelia Begu in 3 sets

Agnieszka Radwanska d. Peng Shuai in 2 tight sets

Sabine Lisicki d. Madison Brengle in 2 sets

Caroline Wozniacki d. Aliaksandra Sasnovich in 2 sets

Sara Errani d. Anastasia Rodionova in 2 sets

Venus Williams d. Timea Bacsinszky in 2 sets

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni d. Shahar Peer in 3 sets

Simona Halep d. Jana Cepelova in 2 sets

ATP US Open 2nd Round Predictions

Stan Wawrinka d. Thomaz Bellucci in 3 sets

Jeremy Chardy d. Blaz Kavcic in 3 sets