In year's past the US Open Series has resulted in a number of breakthroughs and breakdowns on both the men's and women's tours. This year will be no different as we fans search for answers to questions that are constantly being asked of the players. Here is the first part of this two part blog:
1. Can Safina Hold On?
Dinara Safina has been a large victim as of late. Constantly, her number one ranking is being questioned and she is not winning Grand Slams. The last two slams she lost in straight sets in huge matches, not playing spectacularly in either. Can her confidence survive this serious blow? I hope so. She may crack and crumble under the pressure from her coach, the media, and herself, but I would love to see her persevere and keep on battling through tournaments until she finds her form. Being entered in the small event at Portoroz is a smart decision and she can easily get some confidence back and restart her winning ways.
Overall, I predict she will stay in the top 2 by the end of the year, but Serena will pass her in the rankings and barely attain the year-end number 1 ranking. I hope she is wrong and holds on, though.
2. Will breakout stars from last summer defend?
Particularly, Gilles Simon and Juan Martin del Potro broke onto the tennis scene last summer. Both men posted a number of excellent results that catapulted them up the rankings into the top 15. Now is a critical moment for both players as they are forced to start defending the points they earned last year.
Firstly, Simon will have a much harder time defending his ranking this summer. Last summer he won a title and reached a semifinal of a Masters Event. Additionally he reached the finals of another Masters Event and the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup. This year, however, his results have been polar opposite. He has a mediocre record for a top ten player at 24-19 so far this year and has not reached a semifinal of an event since Dubai, which is one of his two semifinal finishes this year.
del Potro, on the other hand, has much more points from this year to back up his ranking. Despite winning four titles last summer del Potro should be able to balance that out with strong results at the Masters Events that he missed last year as well as an improvement on his US Open result.
To be frank, I expect Simon to drop off to the 15-20 range in the rankings. He is similar to the WTA's Agniezska Radwanksa and just lacks a weapon. del Potro should stay in the top 6 along with the other big names, but he still needs a breakthrough win at a top event like a slam or masters event to solidify his position at the top of the game.
3. Will the Williams Sisters Show?
Neither Serena or Venus Williams have played much on the US Open series. In fact, last year Venus only played the Olympics while Serena played Stanford and the Olympics during the summer before the US Open. Venus needs to play more if she wants to defend her ranking spot at number 3 because the Russian, Elena Dementieva, is closing in on Venus after the American lost points from Wimbledon.
Serena does not need to worry about moving down in the rankings but she needs to step up her game outside the majors if she wants that number 1 rankings many, including myself, think she deserves. We all know Dinara will play a few tournaments (not to protect her ranking, but she usually likes to have a at least 2 or 3 tournaments before a slam) but will Serena or Venus play as much? I doubt it. But I bet they will play at least two tournaments.
4. Crumble or Conquer?
Victoria Azarenka is a hard-hitting youngster that has soared up the rankings. Her shrieks are almost as famous as her fierce cross court groundstrokes. Now that she has ascended to top ten in the world, can the Belarusian get some big wins on some big stages?
She may have won Miami earlier this year over Serena Williams, but Serena was clearly not 100% and was suffering from a leg injury. On clay and grass Azarenka had some decent results, but nothing spectacular. As the fast hard courts of North America compliment Azarenka's game she should win even more matches and get some big wins. But still the question remains, can she do it at the US Open? I predict she reaches the semifinals as long as she doesn't face Serena or Venus along the way, and she will win a title this summer on hard courts as long as she stays healthy.
Part 2 and 4 more major questions on the game of tennis is soon to come!
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