Roger Federer and Andy Murray have had vastly different US Open tournaments thus far. World No. 2 Federer has barely broken a sweat through the first two rounds, while World No. 3 Murray was one set away from a shock exit. But like Federer, Murray will be a big favorite to win his third round matchup on Saturday.
Read on for our previews of these two tennis heavyweights in the round of 32. And on the women’s side, get caught up with a couple of intriguing matchups in the form of Simona Halep vs. Shelby Rogers, as well as Angelique Kerber vs. Victoria Azarenka here.
The Federer Express has steamrolled through the first two rounds at the US Open. The Swiss maestro swept past Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in just 77 minutes and did the same to Steve Darcis 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 in 80 minutes. Federer’s serve has been locked in thus far. He’s put 68 percent of his first serves in play, and has won 85 percent of first serve points.
Federer, the World No. 2, has been in superb form this season. He’s 45-7 on the year, and 21-2 on hard court. Moreover, he’s a perfect 9-0 in his career against third round opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber, with four of those nine wins on hard court. And if that weren’t dominant enough, keep in mind that Federer has dropped just two sets in those nine matches.
By all accounts, it’ll be an uphill battle for the 31-year-old Kohlschreiber. The World No. 29 labored through a five-set war in the first round against Alexander Zverev, but he put in a much more assured straight-sets win over Lukas Rosol.
However, Kohlschreiber doesn’t have the greatest track record on hard court. He has only won 53 percent of his hard court matches in his career, and is 4-8 on the season. He’s been even worse against Top 10 players, winning just 21 of 70 career matchups.
Writer’s Prediction
Federer wins his 10th straight over Kohlschreiber in straight sets.
World No. 3 Andy Murray has been far from his best in his first two matches at Flushing. He was taken to four sets by Nick Kyrgios, which is understandable. Although Kyrgios is a hothead, he had the talent to be a potentially dangerous first-round opponent.
[sc:Other240banner ]However, Murray was then taken to the brink by World No. 35 Adrian Mannarino. Murray dropped the first two sets before sweeping the next three to win 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Despite being far from his best, the 2012 US Open champion keeps finding a way to win, especially on hard court. He’s now 29-7 on the surface this season.
On the other side, 30th-seed Thomaz Bellucci has breezed by the first two rounds, with straight-sets wins over James Ward and Yoshihito Nishioka. Bellucci’s return game has been very strong. He’s converted exactly half of his break points (13-of-26) in the tournament thus far.
Bellucci is known more as a clay court specialist, and that’s where he won his only match against Murray way back in 2011. Bellucci isn’t as successful on the hard surface. He’s just 51-80 for his career on hard court in the ATP, and 5-28 against Top 10 opponents.
Writer’s Prediction
Murray labors to another four-set win over Bellucci.
