US Open 2014: MOTD Day 1 Mon 25/08/2014

Hello everyone,
       Here comes the last Grand Slam of the year, the US open 2014 and along with it starts the daily prediction game. Same rules applies as last time. Joker etc. will start from the 2nd week.

The defending champion is SB. Good luck everyone and Roger Federer

1. Robin Haase (NED) [33]
vs.
Andy Murray (GBR) [8]


2. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21]
vs.
Nick Kyrgios (AUS


3. Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
vs.
Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]


4. Benoit Paire (FRA)
vs.
Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]


5. Alejandro Falla (COL)
vs.
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]


6. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
vs.
Andreas Seppi (ITA)


7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9]
vs.
Juan Monaco (ARG)




My picks:


1. Murray
2. Youzhny
3. Roger-Vasselin
4. Bennetau
5.  Chardy
6. Seppi
7. Tsonga

Started with safe play

Murray
Youzhny
Robredo
Benneteau
Chardy
Seppi
Tsonga

rotla wrote:Started with safe play

me even safer..

Murray
Kyrgios
Robredo
Benneteau
Chardy
Seppi
Tsonga

Haase
Kyrgios
Robredo
Benneteau
Chardy
Stakhovsky
Tsonga

1. Andy Murray (GBR) [8]


2. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21]


3. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]


4. Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]


5. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]


6.Andreas Seppi (ITA)


7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9]

Has anyone got any feedback from the players about court pace? compared to Cincy/Toronto?

We're not giving you that inside information

Don't think, we'll see many, if any upsets in the chosen matches.


1. Andy Murray (GBR) [8]

2. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21]

3. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]

4. Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]

5. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]

6. Andreas Seppi (ITA)

7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9]

My picks:

1. Andy Murray (GBR) [8]

2. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21]

3. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]

4. Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]

5. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]

6. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9]

Kyrgios in 2- sets up.. but Youzny pullls one back..

Another good win for Kyrgios at a slam, having a big weapon already at that age pays off. His section of the draw doesn't look too bad either, so maybe he can put together another good run. 

Was watching a bit of his match before switching to Murray - Haase which turned out a lot closer than I expected. Murray doesn't seem to enjoy himself at all on the court, touching himself here, there and in the place next to it, grimacing and whining. He looks so heavy on his legs, what a contrast in style to the great lightfooted movers in the game. Murray in that form won't even reach the QF, much less threaten Djokovic. So much for the tough draw.  

Djokovic - Schwartzman was a good game to show during the night, because it could put you to sleep. Schwartzman had to punch well above his weight there. If he only had a serve, it could have been a match - maybe.

Of the other potential pretenders: Wawrinka and Tsonga looked both rather average, but neither had to do more to win, nothing much to tell about them for now.

Yes I watched Stan v Vesely on the ferry crossing back to England and frankly both disappointing. Vesely is very young I believe but he is built like a big guy already but he needs to muscle his brain more than anything.

he served for the second set and completely collapsed. SO did Stan but we are used to that.

Murray hasn't a prayer and I don't think he will ever win another slam now.

I don't know who Murray's playing next, but see him as Nole's main threat in that half of the draw.

I believe he has put on yet another few kgs of muscle and played quite well against Fed recently.

Aggression does not come to him naturally, but he's got enough muscle in his shots to keep frustrating his opponents and scrape through.

He is a very solid player. To be able to get through when cramping says a lot....but Murray is clearly pushing his body too much. I also think he'll struggle winning another slam. I doubt he'll even win a TMS in fact.

Hi T,
are you staying up to watch Fed?

Tenez wrote:He is a very solid player. To be able to get through when cramping says a lot....but Murray is clearly pushing his body too much. I also think he'll struggle winning another slam. I doubt he'll even win a TMS in fact.

I reckon he's overtrained before USO and his muscles are tired. He should be fine in week two if he survives the next few matches.
I saw the highlights, his lats and back are quite big now, still that extra weight must exhaust him during the match which is why he plays the way he does.
I still believe Lendl was a better choice than Mauresmo, although I can see how she has already relaxed him and mixed up his game.
But because it's so brutally physical, he probably can't look forward to playing, hence the lethargic dips and drops of focus which often cost him matches.

About the Murray case: Overtraining can be very serious, if it is truely that and it's certainly possible. In that case he won't be fit to compete in USO as it's treated by rest and mild exercises over at least several days.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm

Symptoms we could observe in Murray: 

- Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
- Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
- Pain in muscles and joints
- Sudden drop in performance
- Moodiness and irritability
- likely (?) Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
- Increased incidence of injuries.

• "Total recovery from overtraining can take several weeks and should include proper nutrition and stress reduction."
  
  

I didn't watch Murray's match only short highlights, so can't comment.

What I have observed over the years is that he has transformed his body into a muscle machine that doesn't match either his spirit or athletic ability, i.e. it's artificial and not harmonious.

He tends to clutch something all the time anyway, so it's hard to tell when he is injured and when just dealing with match pressure that way.

He has developed into a difficult player, with a lot of muscled  mixed-up retrieving that is perfect for slow conditions.

It's always tough to tell, how much they are acting up on court, but he said himself he was cramping all over and I don't think he has a reason to lie. I'd predict that Murray won't make QF in this form.

I agree. I believe Murray has been cramping in many of his matches actually maybe the pain was amplified but a pain nonethless. I think he is simply not built for run...but does run a lot...so...