Americans Make Some Noise: US Open Day 2 Recap

USA USA USA. Big day for the American men, as 4 men advanced to the second round of the main draw. I did not cover this match, but American qualifier Donald Young made some loud noise as he took out Martin Klizan (SVK) 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. Young will play German Florian Mayer in the second round.

My first match of the day that I covered featured 2013 Kalamazoo Champion Collin Altamirano. I was interested in how his game from the junior level would stack up at this high of a professional level. The story line of the match as the commentator said, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Altamirano did not have his best performance surely but there is improvement to be made. He played too far back compared to him playing on the baseline most of the Kalamazoo. For how defensive he was playing against German Phillip Kohlschreiber, he was making to many errors. This would've been fine if he were playing the aggressive style he played in KZoo but for his passive style that was not working today. There is room for improvement for Altamirano which is a plus, including his obvious frustration throughout the match. Kohlschreiber will play Edouard Roger-Vasselin from France in the second round.

Keeping with an American theme, I briefly watched Jack Sock's match with qualifier Phillip Petzschner from Germany. The German's high red socks didn't get anything going for him as Jack Sock took him out in 3 sets (Although Petzschner retired at 5-2 in the third set). Sock has a very good opening in the draw, playing Argentinian qualifier Maximo Gonzalez in the second round.

Canadian Milos Raonic was next for my viewing, after having a very big summer on the hard courts (including reaching the finals in Montreal). I was not very impressed with his performance as he played as defensive as I've ever seen Raonic played. But as seeded players sometime do, they are just trying to get through the first few rounds versus being concerned with playing well. The 28 aces though helped Raonic cruise to a straight set record over Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano. Roanic will play Pablo Andujar in the 2nd round.

Lastly, my disappointment of the day goes to Polish player Jerzy Janowicz as he lost in straight sets to Argentinian qualifier Maximo Gonzalez 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. After being down 6-4, 2-1, Janowicz came out rejuvenated but couldn't convert on three break points. Janowicz seemed to have a back problem as he called the trainer and took an injury time out. After that, the frustration kept building up as he hit 2 balls out of the stadium after missing a first serve. Gonzalez did what he had to do and kept the ball in play, as Janowicz had a meltdown and beat himself. So much for following up on that Wimbledon Semifinal run.

I went 16-10 Tuesday (Not Good) and am now 29-16 with my picks. Here are my picks for Wednesday:
Garcia-Lopez vs. Del Potro
Murray vs. Llodra
Hewitt vs. Baker
Blake vs. Karlovic
Brands vs. Anderson
Stepanek vs. Wawrinka
Smyczek vs. Duckworth
Ram vs. Fognini
Lacko vs. Devvarman
Paire vs. Bogomolov
Baghdatis vs. Soeda
Mahut vs. Youzhny
Sijsling vs. Gojowczyk
Goffin vs. Dolgopolov
Mayer vs. Henescu
Seppi vs. Malisse
Melzer vs. Donosky
Zopp vs. Granollers

Have a good day,
Fry That Chicken