US Open Seeds announced

by **laverfan** Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:55 pm

At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

New York

Aug. 27-Sept. 9

Men

1. Roger Federer, Switzerland

2. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

3. Andy Murray, Great Britain

4. David Ferrer, Spain

5. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, France

6. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

7. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina

8. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia

9. John Isner, United States

10. Juan Monaco, Argentina

11. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

12. Marin Cilic, Croatia

13. Richard Gasquet, France

14. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine

15. Milos Raonic, Canada

16. Gilles Simon, France

17. Kei Nishikori, Japan

18. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland

19. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany

20. Andy Roddick, United States

21. Tommy Haas, Germany

22. Florian Mayer, Germany

23. Mardy Fish, United States

24. Marcel Granollers, Spain

25. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

26. Andreas Seppi, Italy

27. Sam Querrey, United States

28. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia

29. Viktor Troicki, Serbia

30. Feliciano Lopez, Spain

31. Julien Benneteau, France

32. Jeremy Chardy, France

http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/19855998/us-open-seeds

by mangamuri Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:43 am

With this Federer has now been seeded #1 in 23 slams and ties the Sampras record.

http://tennis28.com/slams/oneseeds_summary.html

by HM Murdock Wed 22 Aug 2012, 7:41 am

So we have a number 4 seed who hasn't got beyond the 4th round of this competition since 2007 and has made a total of 3 slam SFs in a 12 year career.

Depressing.

by barrystar Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:41 am

Golden era

by slashermcguirk Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:43 am

To be fair, reason ferrer has only reached 3 semis is he always meets federer, nadal or djokovic in quarters!

by hawkeye Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:47 am

https://www.606v2.com/t33923-the-so-called-golden-age-of-tennis-is-boring-without-rafa

Zzzz...

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:57 am

hawkeye wrote:https://www.606v2.com/t33923-the-so-called-golden-age-of-tennis-is-boring-without-rafa

Zzzz...

No-one cares.....zzzzzzzz

by Josiah Maiestas Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:49 am

legendkillarV2 wrote:
hawkeye wrote:https://www.606v2.com/t33923-the-so-called-golden-age-of-tennis-is-boring-without-rafa

Zzzz...

No-one cares.....zzzzzzzz

only moral thing to say to this.

http://gifs.gifbin.com/092011/1316107895_rafael_nadal_faints_at_the_us_open_press_conference.gif

by slashermcguirk Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:01 am

any thoughts on the toughest players to avoid that are non seeds in the opening round?

I would have thought Nalbandian, perhaps Harrison as he would have American crowd behind him. Perhaps Tomic if he pulls a performance out of the bag. Cant really think of too many other real banana skins out there.

Perhaps Llodra or Goffin could be other tricky 1st round opponents for any of the seeds

by reckoner Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:11 am

Serne had better bite her tongue:

http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/19856461/us-open-referee-arrested-in-bludgeoning-death-of-husband

Shocked

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:52 am

slashermcguirk wrote:any thoughts on the toughest players to avoid that are non seeds in the opening round?

I would have thought Nalbandian, perhaps Harrison as he would have American crowd behind him. Perhaps Tomic if he pulls a performance out of the bag. Cant really think of too many other real banana skins out there.

Perhaps Llodra or Goffin could be other tricky 1st round opponents for any of the seeds

Karlovic, Nalbandian, Anderson, Falla Rosol Run

by lydian Wed 22 Aug 2012, 11:41 am

So who are the dark horses this year given most of the top 10-15 seem pretty gutless when facing any of the top4 these days?

I'm going for Nishikori to make a run. Maybe Haas.

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:02 pm

I think if Fish gets a good draw he could do well. For me doesn't lack the mental fortitude that the others do.

by **laverfan** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:49 pm

It would be good to see Haas, Nishikori, Del Potro (provided his wrist is all right), Raonic do well. Perhaps Davydenko can do better, as can Murray.

by slashermcguirk Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:04 pm

Haas would be a nasty draw alright. He is really back in form and is a very gritty competitor. Defo one to be avoided for the top seeds. Baghdatis despite his poor form is always a tricky match too. Always seems to take at least a set off the top players in the slams. Nalbandian sadly is nearing the end, shame as I have loved watching him over the years, in full flow he was such a talent and could beat anybody

by **laverfan** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:20 pm

What about Cilic or Wawrinka?

by reckoner Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:21 pm

I'll follow Brian Baker's fairytale comeback with interest in addition to the others listed here.

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:25 pm

How dangerous is Baghdatis on a hard court? I know he's dangerous on a grass court (as Murray has found out twice this summer).

by Henman Bill Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:47 pm

Is the seedings being announced really worth an article. Isn't it basically the rankings without a couple of injured players?

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:01 pm

There was the option of not commenting if that is how you felt.

by reckoner Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:10 pm

Bit harsh, Bill! I think it's useful to have this sort of resource and thank laverfan for it!

by lydian Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:56 pm

Yep agree, new threads can lead to all sorts of discussions...kind of like brainstorming where no idea is a bad one!

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:01 pm

Hmmm Janko in the top 8. Wouldn't mind Murray drawing him or Berdych as we all know Berdych won't make it that far. I see Del Potro being key to the winner; whoever avoids him will do very well. Tsonga is always dangerous but I wonder if the top players see him as a major inconvenience rather than a genuine threat (like Del Potro).

by dummy_half Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:19 pm

TSJ

I think the top players each have different views of who causes them problems.
Murray has a very good H2H against Tsonga and Del Potro (believe he's something like 5-1 and 7-1 ahead respectively), but has struggled against Berdych (who I believe leads the H2H 4-2) and to some extent against Ferrer (more on clay than hard or grass).

By comparison, I think Federer would be more worried by a match with Del Potro than any of the others, especially after the Olympics epic.

Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment. He seems to have been reaching the semi-finals of most tournaments this year with little trouble, but then struggling to get the wins against Fed, Nadal and Murray (heck, even at the AO when he won, he was within a couple of points of defeat against Andy)

by reckoner Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:38 pm

dummy_half wrote:TSJ
Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment.

I think he might be abit antsy about Del Potro - after losing to him at the Olympics he sawed up all his racquets...

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:47 pm

dummy_half wrote:TSJ

I think the top players each have different views of who causes them problems.
Murray has a very good H2H against Tsonga and Del Potro (believe he's something like 5-1 and 7-1 ahead respectively), but has struggled against Berdych (who I believe leads the H2H 4-2) and to some extent against Ferrer (more on clay than hard or grass).

By comparison, I think Federer would be more worried by a match with Del Potro than any of the others, especially after the Olympics epic.

Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment. He seems to have been reaching the semi-finals of most tournaments this year with little trouble, but then struggling to get the wins against Fed, Nadal and Murray (heck, even at the AO when he won, he was within a couple of points of defeat against Andy)

I understand that. It's very interesting to see which players the Top 4 struggle against. The one that really sticks out for me is Murray v Berdych. The big servers are normally no hassle for Murray at all so why Berdych bucks the trend I don't know. Berdych is in such poor form at the moment it's not guaranteed he'll get very far at the USO anyway.

by barrystar Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:52 pm

reckoner wrote:
dummy_half wrote:TSJ
Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment.

I think he might be abit antsy about Del Potro - after losing to him at the Olympics he sawed up all his racquets...

Djoko can sometimes struggle against a truly in form Tsonga - but you'd expect Djoko to prevail in Bo5 on hardcourts.

by dummy_half Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:08 pm

The Special Juan wrote:
dummy_half wrote:TSJ

I think the top players each have different views of who causes them problems.
Murray has a very good H2H against Tsonga and Del Potro (believe he's something like 5-1 and 7-1 ahead respectively), but has struggled against Berdych (who I believe leads the H2H 4-2) and to some extent against Ferrer (more on clay than hard or grass).

By comparison, I think Federer would be more worried by a match with Del Potro than any of the others, especially after the Olympics epic.

Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment. He seems to have been reaching the semi-finals of most tournaments this year with little trouble, but then struggling to get the wins against Fed, Nadal and Murray (heck, even at the AO when he won, he was within a couple of points of defeat against Andy)

I understand that. It's very interesting to see which players the Top 4 struggle against. The one that really sticks out for me is Murray v Berdych. The big servers are normally no hassle for Murray at all so why Berdych bucks the trend I don't know. Berdych is in such poor form at the moment it's not guaranteed he'll get very far at the USO anyway.

Yep, really don't see why Berdych gives Andy so many problems when his record against apparently similar players (i.e. big, big hitting and slightly lacking mobility) is so solid. Is Berdy better at hitting low bouncing balls than the likes of Tsonga and Del Potro, or is it an issue with shot direction?

by **laverfan** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:42 pm

Henman Bill wrote:Is the seedings being announced really worth an article. Isn't it basically the rankings without a couple of injured players?

I was hoping to change the focus to the upcoming USO, rather than the rear-view of Cincy/Toronto. I agree it is not very different from the ATP Rankings. rose

If no one else does, I may put up another article after the draw on Thursday.

by **laverfan** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:43 pm

The Special Juan wrote:How dangerous is Baghdatis on a hard court? I know he's dangerous on a grass court (as Murray has found out twice this summer).

He can be a handful. He has beaten Nadal and Federer in recent past on slow HC, IIRC.

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:09 pm

Don't know if this was posted or not but:

"The singles draws for the 2012 US Open will be revealed live during an official draw ceremony on Thursday, August 23, at 12 p.m. ET at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The draw will be streamed live on USOpen.org. Defending US Open champions Novak Djokovic and Samantha Stosur will make an appearance at the ceremony."

I think that's 5pm BST tomorrow.

by Danny_1982 Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:25 pm

dummy_half wrote:
The Special Juan wrote:
dummy_half wrote:TSJ

I think the top players each have different views of who causes them problems.
Murray has a very good H2H against Tsonga and Del Potro (believe he's something like 5-1 and 7-1 ahead respectively), but has struggled against Berdych (who I believe leads the H2H 4-2) and to some extent against Ferrer (more on clay than hard or grass).

By comparison, I think Federer would be more worried by a match with Del Potro than any of the others, especially after the Olympics epic.

Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment. He seems to have been reaching the semi-finals of most tournaments this year with little trouble, but then struggling to get the wins against Fed, Nadal and Murray (heck, even at the AO when he won, he was within a couple of points of defeat against Andy)

I understand that. It's very interesting to see which players the Top 4 struggle against. The one that really sticks out for me is Murray v Berdych. The big servers are normally no hassle for Murray at all so why Berdych bucks the trend I don't know. Berdych is in such poor form at the moment it's not guaranteed he'll get very far at the USO anyway.

Yep, really don't see why Berdych gives Andy so many problems when his record against apparently similar players (i.e. big, big hitting and slightly lacking mobility) is so solid. Is Berdy better at hitting low bouncing balls than the likes of Tsonga and Del Potro, or is it an issue with shot direction?

Interesting discussion. I think it needs to be remembered that 2 of those wins come from their only 2 encounters on clay, on which Murray always has (and in my opinion always will) struggled.

But even excluding clay, it is bizarre that he is only at 2-2 with a player who is so similar to players that he deals with relatively comfortably. Whenever I watch their match ups I'm always struck by how confident Berdych is. Seemingly with no inferiority complex at all. Murray usually out manoeuvres the bigger guys, but he can't to it to Berdych for some reason.

I hope Berdych isn't in Murrays quarter. His form is pretty woeful, but if he manages to get a few wins together he is by a mile the one Murray would worry most about outside the traditional top 4.

by The Special Juan Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:37 pm

dummy_half wrote:
The Special Juan wrote:
dummy_half wrote:TSJ

I think the top players each have different views of who causes them problems.
Murray has a very good H2H against Tsonga and Del Potro (believe he's something like 5-1 and 7-1 ahead respectively), but has struggled against Berdych (who I believe leads the H2H 4-2) and to some extent against Ferrer (more on clay than hard or grass).

By comparison, I think Federer would be more worried by a match with Del Potro than any of the others, especially after the Olympics epic.

Djokovic? Not sure he really considers anyone outside of the top 4 as a particular challenge at the moment. He seems to have been reaching the semi-finals of most tournaments this year with little trouble, but then struggling to get the wins against Fed, Nadal and Murray (heck, even at the AO when he won, he was within a couple of points of defeat against Andy)

I understand that. It's very interesting to see which players the Top 4 struggle against. The one that really sticks out for me is Murray v Berdych. The big servers are normally no hassle for Murray at all so why Berdych bucks the trend I don't know. Berdych is in such poor form at the moment it's not guaranteed he'll get very far at the USO anyway.

Yep, really don't see why Berdych gives Andy so many problems when his record against apparently similar players (i.e. big, big hitting and slightly lacking mobility) is so solid. Is Berdy better at hitting low bouncing balls than the likes of Tsonga and Del Potro, or is it an issue with shot direction?

I'm not sure at all. There's something he can do which Murray can't cope with and he may well have the mental edge over Murray. The next time they play I'll need to pay real attention to Berdych and see what he does well. Maybe he serves consistently well against Murray and gives him few chances to break.

by **laverfan** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 11:01 pm

This was a close match, which Murray should have won in the second set TB.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6EThHpJtQ

For example it could have ended this way...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DPqNhpnto

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:03 am

On the Berdych vs Murray and why Murray struggles with Berdych, I have a theory (having watched a fair bit of Murray over the years Wink

)

1) Berdych seems to have a read on Murray's serve. This means Murray doesn't get as many free points as he'd like behind his serve which obviously makes things difficult. The only other player who seems to do this is Wawrinka (who Murray also struggles with on occasion).

2) Murray's best FH is the hooked FH cross courts where he wraps his racquet around it and creates a lot of angle. His FH down the line is (was?) much much weaker. Berdych plays the hooked forehand better than Murray thus Murray finds himself at a disadvantage in the rallies.

However I'm not really fussed about Berdych: on current form I'm not sure he'll make the QFs anyway. My main bugbear with this draw is that Ferrer at n°4 (well deserved though it is) makes it very unbalanced, as there's no way Ferrer will trouble Federer or Djokovic the way Murray could (even less beat them). Of course this could be avoided if Del Potro is drawn in Ferrer's quarter and goes on to beat him, but that's only a 25% chance. I hope the organisers at least put Ferrer vs whoever in the second semi on "super Saturday" to compensate...

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:09 am

Murray's ideal draw Very Happy

R3: Lopez. Murray has a great record against big servers, and left-handers (excluding Nadal). He's something like 5-0 against Lopez and has barely lost a set to him.

R4: Simon. Murray does everything Simon does, but better. Hasn't lost to him since his junior years.

QF: Tsonga or Berdych. Tsonga Murray seems to have the wood over recently (big servers and all that), Berdych because I don't think he'll get that far.

SF: don't really care, if he's to win he'll have to beat the top 2 anyway, but for a repeat of the Olympics I'd favour the Djokovic then Federer route.

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:20 am

laverfan wrote:This was a close match, which Murray should have won in the second set TB.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6EThHpJtQ

For example it could have ended this way...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DPqNhpnto

What I noticed from the second video was that Berdych is super-aggressive v Murray. He hits him right behind the baseline and when Murray is off balance and attempting the defensive lob he charges forward and puts it away. I think that scenario happened at least 5 times during the video. A bit of a good old moan from Berdych at the end though Laugh

by Born Slippy Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:42 am

Ideal draw for Fed:

R3 Youhzny
R4 Dolgopolov
QF Tipsarevic
SF Ferrer

Ideal draw for Djokovic

R3 Troicki
R4 Simon
QF Tipsarevic
SF Ferrer

Will be intriguing to see who gets closer to their ideal draws.

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:49 am

Goran's Pick:

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:24 pm

Tell me this is a lie!!

" Roger Federer is aiming to become the first man in 87 years to win the US Open six times, while Andy Murray targets his first Grand Slam title.

World number four Murray is seeded third for Thursday's draw in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal.

The Olympic champion will not meet top seed Federer until a potential final, but is in the same half of the draw as 2011 US Open winner Novak Djokovic. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/19354738

by Mad for Chelsea Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:44 pm

The Special Juan wrote:Tell me this is a lie!!

" Roger Federer is aiming to become the first man in 87 years to win the US Open six times, while Andy Murray targets his first Grand Slam title.

World number four Murray is seeded third for Thursday's draw in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal.

The Olympic champion will not meet top seed Federer until a potential final, but is in the same half of the draw as 2011 US Open winner Novak Djokovic. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/19354738

TBH I fail to see how Murray can already be in the same half as Djokovic when "Both draws take place from 17:00 BST. " Think it's a case of the Beeb getting confused (ie assuming 1 will llay 4 and 2 play 3).

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:50 pm

Mad for Chelsea wrote:
The Special Juan wrote:Tell me this is a lie!!

" Roger Federer is aiming to become the first man in 87 years to win the US Open six times, while Andy Murray targets his first Grand Slam title.

World number four Murray is seeded third for Thursday's draw in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal.

The Olympic champion will not meet top seed Federer until a potential final, but is in the same half of the draw as 2011 US Open winner Novak Djokovic. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/19354738

TBH I fail to see how Murray can already be in the same half as Djokovic when "Both draws take place from 17:00 BST. " Think it's a case of the Beeb getting confused (ie assuming 1 will llay 4 and 2 play 3).

That's the bit that got me. Does the USO have a rule where 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3? I know they like to be "different" with their 5th set tie break. Wikipedia have it up too if that's any help Laugh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_US_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

by Guest Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:51 pm

The Beeb back to their usual cockhead selves!

by sirfredperry Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:53 pm

Clearly, the BBC have got it wrong. Or perhaps they merely assume that Djoko will get the short straw and have Murray in his half, while Fed gets Ferrer.
Is del P going to be fit ? Talk by one of the posters today of a wrist injury.

by **laverfan** Thu 23 Aug 2012, 12:53 pm

Someone got a TARDIS. Laugh

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/index.html?promo=topnav

by barrystar Thu 23 Aug 2012, 1:24 pm

The Special Juan wrote:Tell me this is a lie!!

" Roger Federer is aiming to become the first man in 87 years to win the US Open six times, while Andy Murray targets his first Grand Slam title.

World number four Murray is seeded third for Thursday's draw in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal.

The Olympic champion will not meet top seed Federer until a potential final, but is in the same half of the draw as 2011 US Open winner Novak Djokovic. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/19354738

USOpen.org does say that the draw will be "revealed" live later today. Perhaps the cupcake was prepared overnight and was "revealed" earlier to BBC who have jumped the gun? More likely it's lazy reporting.

Given Super Saturday I don't think it will be easy for the old man will win if he has to face Muzza in the SF (assuming the both get there of course). Obviously Muzza is capable of beating him, which is well and good, but if he is able to beat Muzza that is likely to take a lot out of him, even if it is the 1st SF. I guess he'd have to hope that Djoko would face an anamalistic JMDP on the other side or that one of his bunnies would somehow emerge.

To my mind for Fed the USO is a points consolidation exercise - SF is a must, F would be great and a win would be out of this world.

On this occasion, and for the first time, I want Murray to win ahead of Fed.

by HM Murdock Thu 23 Aug 2012, 1:31 pm

The use of the word "revealed" rather than "made" and the BBC publishing this article is awakening the conspiracy theorist in me!

There is, however, a more likely theory in this instance though. That is that the BBC's tennis reporting is lamentably awful!

I'm working on the assumption that Djoko gets Murray anyway.

If Fed gets Murray, I think that would have to be the death knell of the draw manipulation theory.

by sirfredperry Thu 23 Aug 2012, 1:32 pm

Be ironic that the one time Fed wanted Rafa to be around - to wear out him (Rafa) and Djoko in a gruelling semi-final - the Spaniard is not playing.
It could be that Murray and Djoko will have a long semi instead, but all will be on the draw.

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 1:33 pm

Well the BBC have updated it.

" Andy Murray has been seeded third for the US Open as he continues to chase his first Grand Slam title.

With Rafael Nadal out injured, the Olympic champion and world number four is in the same half of the draw as 2011 winner Novak Djokovic. "

by The Special Juan Thu 23 Aug 2012, 1:53 pm

And again!!

" Andy Murray has been seeded third for the US Open as he continues to chase his first Grand Slam title.

The Olympic champion will find out later on Thursday whether he is in the same half of the draw as Roger Federer or 2011 winner Novak Djokovic. "

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