By Chris Oddo | Thursday August 23, 2018
The draws are out and popcorn plans are being made—here is the second installment of Five Thoughts, our new U.S. Open daily feature. What exactly is Five Thoughts? Well, it’s like thoughts… TIMES FIVE!
Five Thoughts, Thursday August, 23:
Thought No.1: Nole’s in Roger’s Quarter, and That’s Crazy
Is it a tough break for Roger Federer, a tough break for Novak Djokovic, or a tough break for tennis? Who knows, maybe it’s a tough break for all three—only time will tell.
But the fact that Federer and Djokovic have been drawn into the same quarter is one of the exciting touchpoints that we’ll all be looking forward to in week one—a potential 47th meeting between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at a place where they have so much history.
Remember Novak’s first major final, way back in 2007 at the U.S. Open, when he was a 20-year-old wild man that was gunning to end Federer’s run of three straight titles? Yeah, it didn’t work out. In fact, Novak’s first three attempts to knock off Federer in New York all failed, but the Serb got the hang of things by 2010, and he has since upended Federer three straight times in the Big Apple, including that Boisterous 2015 final.
Gosh, what history these two rivals have. They played consecutive five-set semifinals in New York in 2010 and 11, with Djokovic coming up YUGE in 2010 and 2011 in two of the most dramatic match point saves ever (both times he saved two mps to defeat Federer in 5).
Back to the present, where Federer, now 37, has just been blitzed by a resurgent Djokovic in the Cincinnati final, and many are wondering if Djokovic is going to end up being the reason that Federer never wins another major. It’s possible, and it wouldn’t be the first time Nole spoiled some of Roger’s best-laid plans. Ah, but we’ve doubted Roger before, and Novak? Well we were doubting him until he won Wimbledon.
Bottom line? It’s a tough draw for both players because of all the emotional stress and strain the two players will put on each other if they end up facing one another in the quarters. And then the winner will have two more matches to go. Very tricky.
Thought No.2: The women, once again, have a QUARTER OF DEATH!
Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Serena AND Venus Williams… Yeah, that’s a bona fide QOD peeps. Splash in a little Ash Barty, sprinkle a dash of Maria Sakkari and you have yourself a potent NYC cocktail that will put those Grey Goose bloody marys to shame!
Garnish with some Svetlana Kuznetsova and a dash of Camila Giorgi…
Thought No.3: Another Coaching Change for Pliskova?
Speaking of the QOD (quarter of death y’all), one of the players in that quarter has a new coaching arrangement for the U.S. Open.
Karolina Pliskova will work with Conchita Martinez through the U.S. Open and then return to working with Rennae Stubbs. Remember Martinez was guiding Garbiñe Muguruza in 2017 when the Spaniard claimed the Wimbledon title, but the pair have since stopped working together. Muguruza, btw, is also in the QOD.
According to the WTA, Pliskova’s team reached out to Martinez, who was in California last week. They’ll be out on the practice courts together in NYC tomorrow.
Should be very exciting to see if Martinez can help Pliskova take it up a notch at the USO.
Pliskova has gone 2-3 on the hardcourts this summer, and is 16-9 on hard in 2018. She was 39-12 on hardcourts last season, and reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals. What exactly is missing from her game? Hard to say, but it’s nice to see the former No.1 searching for a way to maximize her potential.
It will be very exciting if Pliskova ends up meeting Maria Sakkari in the third round. Who could forget (and really who could blame her, it was a horrible call) Pliskova’s freak-out in Rome where she went Paul Bunyan on the umpire’s chair after a bad call sabotaged her chances against Sakkari?
Thought No.4: Stan v Grigor, Round 1 Popcorn
How crazy is it that Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov have been drawn to face each other for the second consecutive major IN THE FIRST ROUND? Rough blow for Grigor, who could really use a cupcake draw to get his season fully on track. After going 49-19 and winning the ATP finals in 2017, Grigor has struggled mightily in 2018. He’s 22-15 and, to make matters worse, Stan is heating up. If Dimitrov couldn’t get Wawrinka when he had zero confidence in his game at Wimbledon, how is the Bulgarian going to do it now that Stan is starting to believe he can be a real threat?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but something tells me this match will have its fair share of epic moments…
Thought No.5: Random Stuff
Petra Kvitova pulled out of the Connecticut Open with a shoulder injury. Let’s hope it’s precautionary. The Czech has been an absolute delight to follow this year (five titles, tons of heart, grit, passion and what have you), and it would be nice to see her play well in New York to get that rough Wimbledon further in the rearview mirror…. Some great qualifying clashes are coming on the men’s singles side, including Tommy Robredo v Nicolas Mahut (old schooler's delight) and Felix Auger-Aliassime v Gerald Melzer… On the women’s side we still have 17-year-old Anastasia Potapova, former finalist Vera Zvonareva and former Top-5er Genie Bouchard in the mix. Should be an interesting few days of qualifying!
Thanks for reading today’s Five Thoughts, and enjoy the tennis!