U.S. Open nears final matches

Ansser Sadiq Guest Writer

September is upon us and the final grand slam of the year is in full swing. The U.S. Open, a two-week tournament that began Aug. 27, has finally reached its semi-final and final stages, and it is anyone’s guess as to who will become the next women’s and men’s singles champions. After multiple rounds of play, the tournament will conclude on Saturday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 9 with the women’s and men’s singles finals, respectively.

As always, fans saw plenty of excitement during the tournament’s earlier rounds. While Russian women are dominating the singles bracket, defending champion Maria Sharapova is out of the tournament after her loss to No. 30 Agnieszka Radwanska. Sharapova is the first No. 2 seed to lose before the round of 16 since 1981. On the winning side, however, No. 20 Shahar Peer became the first Israeli woman to advance to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open when she defeated No. 13 Nicole Vaidisova.

A loss on the men’s side brought a grand slam career to a close, as Britain’s Tim Henman fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets during the second round. Henman will play one last Davis Cup match on his home turf before retiring his racket. American James Blake finally learned how to win a five-set match, defeating Fabrice Santoro in the second round in a long five-setter. Ironically though, he would fall two rounds later in a five-set match to German Tommy Haas.

At the tournament’s start the Williams sisters looked to be the potential champions to fear. The fact that they do not enter as many tournaments as everyone else on the tour has always created plenty of controversy and confusion. However, they certainly seem to find a way to hit correct form at just the right time.

Justine Henin-Hardenne though has already upset this American dream. Facing off against Serena in the quarterfinals, she won in straight sets, 7-6, 6-1. Henin-Hardenne already has the French Open under her belt this year, and will be looking for another Grand Slam title to make up for her disappointing semi-final defeat to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon a few months ago. Playing in the United States with a patriotic home crowd behind Venus though could be a tough force to overcome in their possible semi-final match-up.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer is the huge favorite to lift his fourth U.S. Open and his 11th career Grand Slam Singles’ title. He has been ranked first in the world for the past three years, and has not lost a match at the U.S. Open since 2003. Despite this, he must be at his very best this year to fend off the challenges of America’s Andy Roddick and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and now, Spain’s David Ferrer who shockingly ousted No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.

Roddick, who is in the hunt for his second U.S. Open title, will carry the hopes of the American nation on his shoulders in the men’s side of the draw. Everyone will be hoping that he can rediscover the form of 2003 that led him to his first and only Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows. Unfortunately before he reaches the coveted final-showdown he’ll need to do the nearly impossible and take down Federer.