Week 35 - US Open

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Week 35 - US Open

RJA · Hall of fame

Likely opponents

R1: Haase
R2: Stepanek
R3: Verdasco
R4: Tsonga
QF: Djokovic
SF: Wawrinka / Raonic
F: Federer

indiana · Tennis legend

That could have been a hell of a lot better and not that much worse.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Easy peasy lemon squeezie, or something like that.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, small consolation maybe but the French are moaning like crazy that Tsonga may well have Andy in R4 !!!

Good to look at the boot on the other foot :)

(Mind you, they're moaning about all their draws, as per normal . . . )

indiana · Tennis legend

Hmm, currently I rather think that Andy's more unlucky to get Tsonga from the 9 to 12 seeds than Tsonga is to get Andy from the 5 to 8 seeds.

But be very good if their fears prove well grounded.

Tsonga by the way is WR 10. Andy last beat a top 10 ranked player at some final in south west London in July last year.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Im afraid I dont see that being anything short of an absolute nightmare draw.

The only silver lining is that this must surely spur Andy to get his ranking back into the top 4. I know Andy is not a quitter but I cant help but feel he might begin to shift his focus to next season and try for damage limitation towards the end of this one.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

So clearly I'm in the minority but I don't think that's a bad draw at all. Having looked at the whole draw not just the expected route I don't think there's anyone Andy should fear until Tsonga and Tsonga's consistency is such that there's no point losing sleep over a match up which may or may not happen. Djokovic in the quarters isn't great sure but he's not exactly at his best right now either. Wawrinka/Raonic in the semis would be tough but again both have enough inconsistency that there is no guarantee they'll be there and if they are - aren't grand slam semis supposed to be tough? As for Federer in the final, if Andy makes it through to the final he'll be so rejuvenated that I don't care who else is there he'll have a fighting chance.

Of course, I'm also of the opinion that the Andy Murray of 2014 can lose to pretty much anybody so any draw which doesn't feature Mr Bye in every round has plenty of potential pitfalls

indiana · Tennis legend

Well, at least Andy "could" beat Fed in a Slam final ( as he could have at Wimbledon if he had got through his half ).

Would be rather satisfying to have that on his record.

Spectator · All-time great

It's not the latter part of the draw that feels so rotten - anything could happen before then, and there's no way of avoiding most of those players. In addition, Mr Murray only has to defend QF points ... and then has nothing to defend for the rest of the year. It's the nasty series of banana skins in the earlier rounds - Stepanek (who on a good day can still trouble anyone) and Verdasco (ditto). Ah well ....

steven · Tennis legend

L128: (8) Andy Murray WR 9 v Robin Haase (NED) WR 70 (CH 33 in 2012)

H2H 2-1 - Haase won in Rotterdam in 2008, Andy from 2 sets down in R2 here (USO) in 2011 & 6-3 6-1 6-3 at last year's AO

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

I'm glad that Andy got a tough draw. It's a good opportunity to see what he's got in him going into the late swing and I can guarantee that both Nole and Jo are not too happy with where they got Murray. If he can't beat Stepanek or Verdasco, he's not going to be able to beat Tsonga, Nole or even Milos. So, come on Andy. Time to step it up.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

the Telegraph call Andy's draw 'brutal':

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/andymurray/11049975/Andy-Murray-suffers-brutal-draw-for-US-Open-with-Jo-Wilfried-Tsonga-and-Novak-Djokovic-standing-in-his-path.htm

Whereas the US OPen says Djoko has a 'tough' draw and will be need a 'fierce fight' to get through

And the French say that Tsonga et al will need to be 'costaud' (really tough) to get anywhere as it's a draw that hasn't smiled favourably on them at all (Le tirage au sort ne les a pas ménagés.)

Does anyone out there think that their countryman has got an easy ride ? :)

philwrig · Hall of fame

It's tough because he's going to have to bring his 'A' game out every match, because if he doesn't he risks a loss against most of those prospective opponents. Sadly he's struggled to do that since Wimby last year. Long tough matches are also critical to avoid if you want to do well in the latter half of the tournament and not run out of gas, good example being this years FO.

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

Roger got a relatively kind draw, I think. :)