Given how Gulbis has played this year, you would expect Andy not have too much trouble making it through to round two, but perhaps is the ideal kind of opener as he'll have to guard against the possibility that Gulbis finds the court for once and so he can't afford to be sloppy.

Murray to get through in straight sets though without really having to do too much as Gulbis will once again self-destruct.

(A side note... at least we'll get some see some half-decent round one matches on TV with Murray-Gulbis, Nadal-Gasquet and Djokovic-Ljubicic all having the potential to be decent matches rather than the usual match where a straight sets win is guarenteed)

I agree with Indiana the draw isn't great but not as bad as some people have made out.
Round 1 Gulbis - Seriously out of form and was whipped by andy at wimby
Round 2 Whoever it is - good draw
Round 3 Karlovic - Always dangerous but very good H2H
Round 4 All potential opponents very good H2H
QF Del Potro - only nightmare IMO clearly will need to be at his very best to win . But if he is to win this Grand Slam these are the matches in which he needs to raise his game to win.
SF Nadal -Will he even get this far ?
F Federer - Assuming he's not mentally and phsyically exhausted will stretch him all the way this time.

The OOP for tomorrow is out, and Andy has the night session - but second after a ladies match (Sharapova) starting at midnight UK time. Drat it I can't stay awake that long, I'll have to just get the result the next morning. (Especially as it would be watching it on a tiny livestream).

Patchy display. More adventurous than usual; which is good to see. Tried a few serve and volleys behind 2nd and some other imaginative plays attacking the net; didn't always work but certainly worth a try in case it's needed in the later stages of the event. Did enough to win each set but was slightly careless, up a break in the first and second sets only to give it away through poor serving, 53% first serves in play is disappointing. 2nd serve looked very vulnerable throughout, though he did attempt to vary the direction, going into the forehand from time to time.

Gulbis was Gulbis; not too difficult to understand why he is currently ranked 95 in the world despite his big weapons. Hot in the first set with numerous stunning winners especially off the backhand and some huge 2nd serves. Unconvincing in the 2nd set and then tried harder than I expected in the third but didn't threaten to break Murray and eventually Andy found a cutting edge to his game and got the decisive break with a superb backhand crosscourt for a winner after an excellent point, working Gulbis from side to side to create the opening.

The crowd woke up when a ballboy slipped attempting to hurdle a barrier after a ball went into the photographer's area. His moment of glory/shame repeated on the big screen and enjoyed by the crowd.

Overall I'd say the imagination and variety on display was good enough to compete for the title but the execution will need to improve. Looking at the draw I think Andy needs to take the game to both JMDP and Rafa if he is to have the energy to contest the final. It's not his natural game but the scheduling of the US Open means that he can't afford to outlast opponents in the second week.

-- Edited by kundalini on Wednesday 2nd of September 2009 04:02:28 AM

Woke up this morning with a horrible feeling that Murray had lost for some reason...fortunately it didn't turn out to be true.

Seems like Murray did enough to get the win, which is all you can ask from him to start with.

Capdeville next should be a walk in the park and if he drops a set in that match, then we should be concerned about his chances.

Draw has opened up a bit with Karlovic and Wawrinka losing (and to a lesser extent Lopez's loss), so Dent or Navarro in round three should be a passing shot practice match, while Cilic in round four looks likely as well.

The tough draw suddenly looks a lot easier now...

Haven't seen any of the match so only really have your guys' comments and the stats to go on.

The bare scoreline is not that much closer than in the 2nd round at Wimbledon where most folk thought he played a good match. 

It also came after a much more dodgy opening match ( against Kendrick ) than this appears to have been.  First round matches at Grand Slams are matches to get through generally while it is good to see some form.

Ah, the serve.  Please soon work really really really hard on it ( I am sure you do  ) so I don't have to keep commenting on it's potential weakness.

51% first serves in is not good and I worry that after early season real improvement here ( was gettiing on average up not far off Roger and Rafa ) it has gone back a bit and he cerainlyy throws in too many matches with a very low percentage.

At Wimbledon against Gulbis, he served 73% first serves in and Gulbis got 16% return points, yesterday he serves 51% and Gulbis gets 31% return points.

I really think, as is often the case with many but particularly Andy, his serve is going to be so important for his overall chances.  Serve well and you win easier points, you are less likely to be broken ( and he always has ability to break himself against anyone ) and I think he would feel happier with his whole game.  That second seve as kundalini says looks vulnerable and I don't care what the ATP stats say about how good he is at winning points on his second serve. Most players can't and don't take advantage of it, the very top  players can and wil.  All the more reason to get the percentage up, although not at all costs since it does still need penetration.   I may have said some of this before 

Yes, the draw has opened up a bit.  I did say that Karlovic had no great GS record. Actually I just checked up and that iss 15 GS first round exits out of 26 GSs so it was never exactly much of a guaranteed appointment.  Ivo, being Ivo, he is still better out the way I'd say.

Yes JMDP is the biggest potential hurdle along the way ( more so arguably than Rafa although we wait to see how Rafa shapes up ) unless he obligingly drops out along the well.  However, don't see who is going to help out in his part of the draw and Fish didn't even reach the starting blocks.