U.S. Open Round 4 Recap: Oudin’s Patience Pays Off, Verdasco Plays to Win by Nadya Vlassoff
It was another day, another round, and another victory for the tenacious teenager
Melanie Oudin. Into the second week of a grand
slam tournament for the first time in her still
fledgling career, Oudin began to look like a potential
quarterfinal berth. But in order to continue her
quest for U.S. Open glory, Melanie had to get
past Nadia Petrova first. Three sets later and
Oudin was on track for a grand slam trophy after
dismantling Petrova who appeared to be in control
after taking the first set 6-1. However, it was
Oudin, who has been so patient throughout this
tournament that chose her shots carefully and
used a new finesse game for power in order to
come out the winner. Although Oudin won, it was
another letdown for Petrova who was up a set and
a break before falling victim to error after error.
Oudin,
sensing a shift in Petrova’s mental game, pounced
and broke back to even the set. In the tie-break,
Oudin took control of the mental game to storm
ahead with the resilience of a seasoned veteran
and serve notice to the Russians that she’s
indeed a threat. Next up for Oudin is 9th seeded
Caroline Wozniacki who will be the toughest
test for the 17 year old since Dementieva due
to the tactical hard court expertise of Wozniacki.
Does Oudin have a legitimate shot to win? Absolutely.
On the women’s tour, you can never be too sure
until the match is over.
Serena Williams continued her dominating ways as she blitzed Daniela Hantuchova
in straight sets. Serena has yet to give up
a set and is the most likely candidate to raise
the U.S. Open trophy for a second straight year.
Melanie Oudin faces an enormous challenge ahead
of her is she plans to pull off a Maria Sharapova
sized upset of the unstoppable Serena Williams.
On the road to victory ahead of Oudin, however,
Kim Clijsters could end up in a potential semi-final
match against Serena. After knocking out Venus
Williams in a lopsided 3 set victory on Saturday,
Clijsters looks strong but will need to hold
firm in her next match against Na Li who may
be the U.S. Open sleeper on the women’s side.
Kateryna Bondarenko, another unseeded player who knocked off Ana Ivanovic in the second round, routed Gisela Dulko in straight sets to give fans the most dominating performance by any of the women to date in the tournament. Bondarenko didn’t drop a game in straight sets and has one of the easiest draws remaining as Caroline Wozniacki is the only seeded player left in that half of the draw to pose a threat. Next up for Kateryna is Yanina Wickmayer.
Rounding out the quarter-final matches, 10th seeded Flavia Pennetta has the monstrous task of getting past Serena Williams in the quarter-finals in which she’ll need to play the game of her life to take out the defending champion in a hard-court grand slam match.
On
the men’s side, as one would expect after such
a great year, Roger Federer has been cruising
through the U.S. Open. After a fourth round
match-up against Tommy Robredo, Federer was
pushed in the first set before getting the decisive
break to run away with the match, losing only
9 games in total. With an 87% on first serve
wins, Federer could very likely win the U.S.
Open for the 6th year in a row. Up next for
Roger is a rematch of the French Open final
as Federer takes on Robin Soderling for the
third time in consecutive grand slams.
In strong form, Novak Djokovic had a commanding performance over Radek Stepanek where he gave up only 7 games in straight sets. After the match, Djokovic was in such good spirits that he called John McEnroe down to the court where the two traded shots with McEnroe still fully dressed in blazer and slacks. It appears Djokovic may have finally regained the form that gave him a grand slam title in Melbourne back in 2008.
Fernando Verdasco put an end to John Isner’s dream run, beating the American in 4 sets to seal a quarterfinal berth, and will next play Novak Djokovic. With the bottom half of the men’s draw still to play, fans will be watching to see if Andy Murray is worthy of his 3rd seeded status and if Rafael Nadal can continue his comeback despite an alleged stomach muscle injury. Both are fit contenders for a shot at the U.S. Open singles title and have a potential semi-final match-up if they can make it through the next two rounds.
Oudin,
sensing a shift in Petrova’s mental game, pounced
and broke back to even the set. In the tie-break,
Oudin took control of the mental game to storm
ahead with the resilience of a seasoned veteran
and serve notice to the Russians that she’s
indeed a threat. Next up for Oudin is 9th seeded
Caroline Wozniacki who will be the toughest
test for the 17 year old since Dementieva due
to the tactical hard court expertise of Wozniacki.
Does Oudin have a legitimate shot to win? Absolutely.
On the women’s tour, you can never be too sure
until the match is over.
On
the men’s side, as one would expect after such
a great year, Roger Federer has been cruising
through the U.S. Open. After a fourth round
match-up against Tommy Robredo, Federer was
pushed in the first set before getting the decisive
break to run away with the match, losing only
9 games in total. With an 87% on first serve
wins, Federer could very likely win the U.S.
Open for the 6th year in a row. Up next for
Roger is a rematch of the French Open final
as Federer takes on Robin Soderling for the
third time in consecutive grand slams.