1. Roger Federer, Switzerland
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain
3. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
4. Andy Roddick, United States
5. Marat Safin, Russia
6. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia
7. Andre Agassi, United States
8. Guillermo Coria, Argentina
9. Gaston Gaudio, Argentina
10. Mariano Puerta, Argentina
11. David Nalbandian, Argentina
12. Tim Henman, Britain
13. Richard Gasquet, France
14. Thomas Johansson, Sweden
15. Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia
16. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
17. David Ferrer, Spain
18. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia
19. Tommy Robredo, Spain
20. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain
21. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
22. Mario Ancic, Croatia
23. Jiri Novak, Czech Republic
24. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia
25. Taylor Dent, United States
26. Feliciano Lopez, Spain
27. Olivier Rochus, Belgium
28. Greg Rusedski, Britain
29. Tommy Haas, Germany
30. Max Mirnyi, Belarus
31. Carlos Moya, Spain
32. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

[ August 24, 2005, 07:07 AM: Message edited by: George_Twinsfan ]

Vahaly, Murray, Carraz, Clement, Bogomolov, Sa, Saretta, Mamiit, and Sam Querrey some of the more interesting names in action today in Flushing.

Bjorkman eek! , Delic, Armando, Okun, Dancevic (oh, Canada!), Bastl, Moodie, Squillari, and Glenn Weiner have already advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Its my hope that Roddicks new Coach has some video of Nadal/Federer, and Safin/Federer matches that he will show to Andy so that Andy can hopefully glean something, anything from them. I do think he will beat Roger someday, its inevitable, but this one is mental. Maybe his coach should employ some hypnotherapy while he is at it? eek! wink

I honestly don't think that the Roddick-Federer thing is mental ... it's more that Andy just doesn't match up well with Roger.

While Andy showed flashes of patience and stellar defensive prowess against Hewitt, against Roger ... he seems unwilling to play defensively (Granted, it's not his style of game, but if "his style" isn't working, he MIGHT have to try something different ... even if it isn't your strength because right now, you're 1-10 against him and lately, the scorelines are much closer than the matches have been as of late), he does the SAME approach shot EVERY time and his caveman mentality is INCREDIBLY predictable. Like most of the men on tour, I don't think that he has any clue how to possibly play against Roger.

I remember Gilbert telling Andy that he really needed to focus on his strengths and enforcing his game on someone. In theory, that's great ... but there comes a point where you have to continue playing to your strengths, but have the flexibility and confidence in your game plan to do something else when it's just not working.

Bottom line, Roger is just flat out better than Andy Roddick in most facets of the game, *shrug*. IMNSPO, mental fragility is the least of Andy's concerns in this "rivalry."

Nick

Poor Olivier Rochus is near Federer, as is Kiefer.

Ooh. Andy will probably have a re-match with Ginepri in the 2nd round.

Yeah, I saw that, too. Could be tricky 'cause Robby's really been tearing things up lately; it wasn't just the Roddick match. I also notice David Nalbandian in Federer's quarter, but Nalbandian's been in awful form, so I don't suppose that match-up will come up.

Nick, I totally agree with you on Roddick. If you can handle Roddick's power, you can handle Roddick. That's no small feat, but Federer can handle it and so can Hewitt, most of the time. Safin can match his firepower when he's on.

Federer has figured out Nalbandian in recent matches anyway. He's not the problem he once was.

I think the men's and women's draws are great. The disbursement of players makes it interesting from start to finish. The US Open is gonna be one hell of a tournament this year.

Here's a link to the Mens Draw:

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/ms/index.html

Okay, so I am looking at my young guys here, and I don't like it. Olivier Rochus does get a qualifier in the first round, and he should even get past the second. But then, he runs smack into Roger Federer. So much for that. James Blake's got it really tough, too. He opens with Greg Rusedski, whom I cannot stand. If Blake survives that, he would most likely get Igor Andreev. If he survives that he runs smack into Rafael Nadal. I'm happy with Andre Agassi's match-ups. I see him meeting Nadal in the quarters. My boy, Jonas Bjorkman, though, is nowhere to be found in the brackets. I didn't hear if he was injured, and since the doubles matchups haven't been set yet, I don't even know if he is making the trip to New York. I guess that #81 ranking is not helping too much .

Gotta love USA Network. They start at 8:00am here until 2:00pm west coast time, and then more tennis in the afternoon/evening. I may be cross eyed by the time the US Open is overwith. eek!

I thought they should have given a wild card to Andrew Murray, but oh well. He made it through qualies.

Safin has pulled out due to his knee this morning.

No huge hopes...but C'MON Jan-Michael!!!!!

Jan Michael Gambill is so cute. His body is gorgeous and I love the way he flips his shirt up before he serves. His service motion is beautiful. So much bend which allows him to get some pop on his serve. His legs are gorgeous. What on earth happened to his career though? He was doing well and I believe he was inside the top 20 and then his career just spiraled and has never recovered. He often has to get wild cards and rarely gets past the first or second rounds of tournaments. And he has/had a good game. A good serve, decent movement, and good groundies. I don't know what happened. If he had continued and gotten himself inside the top 10 and became a top 5 player he'd have a bunch of endorsements from his tennis and good looks.

Alot of injuries have contributed to his game or lack of, and alot of people have wondered about his choice of coach, who still, as I understand it, it his father. Years ago, I and others felt he should have considered changing his coach. At 28, his career isn't over yet, by a long shot, but I don't see him breaking the top 20 soon. That would be nice..but I don't think it will happen. I hope he gets over Massu today, whom he has a winning record over. I love the facial hair on Jan-Michael too. He is a hottie for sure.

I answered my own question regarding Jonas Bjorkman when I checked on his website today. He wrote today that he was able to defeat Italy's Stefano Galvani over the weekend, and will thus make it as a qualifier in his 13th straight US Open. He gets Tomas Behrend in the first round (who has a pretty similiar ranking). If Bjorkman gets past Behrend, he will most likely have a rematch with Mikhail Youzhny, who unfortunately defeated him in four sets at this year's Wimbledon(which included a thrilling tie-breaker in the fourth).

Biggest upset for the men so far Brian Baker from Nashville upsets Gaudio in 3 straight sets, and he is damn good looking too. Yet another good looking American. Go gettem Brian! Incidentally, I do like the look of the blue courts this year too.

[ August 29, 2005, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

Wow NADAL LOOKS HOT!!!!!!!! The tight red sleeveless muscle shirt in which you can clearly see his nipples. I love the red and black look. The ass is lookin nice in the capris. Thank god for Nadal cuz this is exactly what ATP tennis needed and he's got the game to back it up. I hope he's around deep into the second week cuz thats some eye candy I'll love to be lookin at.

And now Haas is down a set and in trouble against some guy named Luczak. Never heard of him, but he looks pretty sharp so far.

[ August 29, 2005, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

Beautiful Gambill out in the first round, too bad, I love looking at that guy.

then you better take a good look quick. He's gonna show up on the ATP as frequently as Jan-Michael Vincent does.

Good starts for Andre Agassi and Jonas Bjorkman as both won in straight sets yesterday. I have tons of appointments today at work, but I will be trying to keep an eye on the matches of Olivier Rochus and James Blake.

If Blake can get past Rusedski, and God, I hope he does..look out.! Go James! Roddick is on this afternoon/evening I think.

Well Roger is cruising over a Czech. Last I heard he took the first set 6-1, and up 3-1 over Minar. The really interesting match so far is Djokovic/Monfils. Four all in the first set. Djokovic is very easy on the eyes, in fact I think he is rather hot. Looking forward to Blake/Rusedski whenever that one is on.

When is someone going to post a picture of Lopez in the soaked through, see through pants and the jock strap? I've heard so much about it but missed it. It was in his match against Blake I hear. Sounds like it was tailor made for outsports....

An out of shape Henman lost to Verdasco 6-4 6-2 6-2

Blake won the first set over Rusedski.

The Blake/Rusedski match is shaping up to be a battle royale. But, Blake takes the first set,7-5, and looks pretty sharp. C'mon James beat the weasel!! James..James..James..James...!!!

[ August 30, 2005, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

Blake rips about 4 winners in a row, one on a dead run to take the second set from the weasel 7-6. Go James Go!!

Blake wins in three! He looked pretty sharp, whipping some nice passing shots past Rusedski. The crowd loved James (although it's easy to root against Rusedski).

YAY JAMES!!! Great win over gross Greg!! James has really been turning up the heat in the third set lately. Its great to see that he didn't lose focus or dump the third set as he had a tendancy to do in the past. I'm looking forward to a 3rd round showdown between Blake and Nadal. Blake is speedy and plays great defense like Nadal and Blake also has an explosive forehand. If I was Nadal I wouldn't want to see Blake as my possible 3rd round opponent.


As for the Monfils/Djokovic match...what a crock of shyt!!! Djokovic had all that time to recover and get himself together and I think thats bullshyt! It took the medial team forever to get out there and I think there needs to come a point where you say "get out and play or retire". That was not fair to Monfils and Monfils BETTER win this match. That pissed me off. If Djokovic can't go for 5 sets because of lack of conditioning than too bad. I agree with Courier in that it was so unfair to Monfils.

I am DISGUSTED at the USTA for how they allowed Djokovic to have ALL that time to gather himself in that 5th set against Monfils. It took the trainer forever to get out there and Djokovic deserved the boo's he received after the match. He even admitted to using up all the bathroom breaks and medical timeouts he could get to keep himself in the match. I hope his narrow headed ugly self loses next round. If I were Monfils I'd be pissed!! There is no way that would have happened if Andre Agassi were on the other side of the net.

[ August 30, 2005, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

O.K., I agree with you but, dude, it was only a tennis match, only the First Round, for Heaven's sake-it's not the end of the world! There are more important things to get upset about, like all those people dying because of the hurricane!

Monfils has the talent and resilience to bounce back and he will! He's young and has a bright future ahead of him!

And, I think the USTA definitely needs to take a look at the rule books there!

Who said I'm not upset about the deaths and devastation as a result of Hurricane Katrina?! But yeah I'm also upset at how that Djokovic/Monfils match played out and how Djokovic admitted to abusing the rules to keep himself in that match. Its not the end of the world but thats how I am when it comes to tennis. If it didn't make you that upset good for you.

No question that the rule needs to be changed. The players didn't used to be able to take injury timeouts for conditioning problems like they do now. The infamous Shuzo Matsuoka match changed all of that. The problem is the rule is now way too lenient, and it allows players to use it to get back into matches. The rule is wrong and unfortunately players will take advantage. I'm not so crazy about all the bathroom breaks players take either. I don't believe that so many player seem to have to go potty when they are down a break in the final set.

I fully agree. It's not like Djokovic was injured or something and so he needed a treatment, he simply wasn't able to play a 5 sets match. It's his problem if it's not fit. The rules need to be updated.

Roger bounced a Czech 6-1, 6-1, 6-1

I agree with you that there is some gamesmanshop that goes on with that. But what can you do?
Would you have someone follow the player to the potty and make sure that they hear "kids being dropped off at the pool"?

Short of that, there's nothing that can be done as all this is very subjective in order to be flexible enough to deal with situations. But without some kind of uniform standard, the no rule would be worth the paper it's written on.

Again, I agree that players abuse this. Venus williams was famous for that. But what happens when you don't allow bathroom breaks? Remember Greta Weitz running the marathon while being handed napkins from the sidecar? Would you want a match where federer is wiping his ass between points? (actually... just for sheer bizarre factor, I would like to see that happening)

But as you point out, to avoid what happened with Matsuoka (it was all done by the books. But pro tennis got a black eye as being cruel and heartless) to avoid that, we have to have these rules in place that do get abused from time to time.

I thought it was Serena who took advantage of the bathroom breaks, and it's been several years since I've heard of any controversy there.

Anyway, I feel bad for Monfils. However, he should have done a better job of taking care of his serve in the final set. There was no guarantee that Monfils would have won, even if the trainers took the appropriate amount of time to take care of his oppoinent. That said, I really thought I was seeing a star in the making out there. Monfils scrambles well and has a pretty big serve. I say top 20 within a year.

Not a bad first round for me... All of my guys (Jonas Bjorkman, Andre Agassi, James Blake, Oliver Rochus) are through the secound round :cool: .

Andy's not looking to good against Muller right now. Lost first set and Muller is looking pretty confident. Andy can't keep relying on service aces to win matches.

LOL...all I can think about is the big ego fest Andy had last year trying to initiate Scoville Jenkins into his first round match under the lights during the first round. You could tell Andy had that same cocky look in his eye tonight as he came out bombing aces. So I'm actually sitting back laughing right now thinking "not quite last year is it Andy?" I still think Andy can eek it out if he wins this third set but for right now Andy has lost his mojo.

Mojo. What a joke. Andy is choking pure and simple, that and being outplayed. I have my doubts that he can take 3 in a row, but I haven't lost all hope yet. C'mon Andy!!!

Maybe they can offer bathroom breaks only in between sets, as not to break the flow of the set. When it is obvious someone is using a bathroom break as gamesmanship it should not be allowed. Obviously hard to enforce, but we all know when it is happening and a chair ump should be able to make a judgement call.

BTW, I hope Andy can pull through. I'll miss seeing his fine ass on my TV if he doesn't.

Andy's out 7-6 7-6 7-6! I love upsets like this!

Is Andy's coach getting the pink slip? Hmm...

Neptune. Good question. Andy has this guy 5-3 in the first set, and then the dyke broke. Like Mac just said, its back to the drawing board for Roddick. Big time.

I'm not sure he should have ever fired Brad Gilbert.

Shocking and amazing. Love the upset, and I think someone was right to question his firing Gilbert, and you know Gilbert is saying 'I told you so.'

I was at the Open today for the first time, and it was a great experience, just walking around, seeing all the action, seeing players I have never seen live--just so incredible. Really enjoyed it and would encourage anyone to go.

And Lapentti, talk about an ass. That man was sweating


Oh my god, I just saw the Andy Roddick Mojo commercial--what a bad idea that seems now.

but back to Lapentti's ass--we were drooling. That man is fine to gaze.

Although Roddick says he's a better player now than last year, it's just clearly not true. He actually looks like he has regressed. Muller played great, but not better than Johanson last year, and Andy lost in straights. He needs Brad Gilbert back. At least when he was with him he was getting better. His game just looked so limited tonight. The backhand is a real liability and while his serve is big it is not getting him enough aces to soley rely on it. Such a shame. Mojo's left the building.