ATP News : 2008


NADAL: US OPEN NEXT GOAL

There could be another Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer Grand Slam final showdown at the 2008 US Open, however, there will not be another Venus Williams-Serena Williams final.


At the Draw, the 32 seeded players were randomly selected for each open spot in the men?s and women?s singles draws after the 96 unseeded players had been put on the drawsheet.

Jim Courier, four-time Grand Slam champion and now a tennis analyst for USA Network, and Katrina Adams, winner of 21 WTA Tour doubles titles and analyst for Tennis Channel, served as the draw analysts.

Federer will face Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in his first round match as he attempts to win his fifth straight US Open title and first Grand Slam title of 2008, after losing to Nadal in the final at both Roland Garros and at Wimbledon. The 2008 Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer was a five-set instant classic and arguably the greatest men's match of all time.

Federer could meet No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals in a quarter of the draw with several intriguing matchups. The most notable first round match will be No. 12 Richard Gasquet of France against Tommy Haas of Germany, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 US Open.

Federer could then face either Djokovic or No. 8 Andy Roddick. Roddick and Djokovic could meet in the quarterfinals but neither will have an easy path in what is arguably the toughest quarter of the draw. Roddick will have a tough first-round opponent in the ageless Fabrice Santoro and could then face Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round.

Djokovic opens against Arnaud Clement of France and could have some difficult fourth round opponents. He could have a rematch with No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round, who he defeated to win the 2008 Australian Open title or he could meet No. 15 Tommy Robredo.

He also could meet Marat Safin, the 2000 US Open champion, who defeated Djokovic in the second round at Wimbledon this year.

For Nadal, the new world No. 1 and Olympic gold medalist, it looks to be a relatively smooth path to the quarterfinals, where he could meet No. 9 Blake or No. 7 David Nalbandian after opening against a yet-to-determined qualifier. Nadal is also the 2008 Olympus US Open Series champion and like Safina, is competing for $2.5 million in prize money - the largest payout in tennis history.

Blake has an interesting first round match with up-and-coming American star Donald Young, who reached the third round of the 2007 US Open.

In the semifinals, Nadal could potentially meet Murray, the No. 6 seed, who has been playing well all summer, including defeating Djokovic to win the title in Cincinnati or his friend No. 4 David Ferrer. But to get that far, Ferrer will likely have to beat No. 17 del Potro in the fourth round. Del Potro has been red-hot the last few weeks after taking the titles at both the Countrywide Classic and the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in the Olympus US Open Series.

The US Open has been Nadal?s least successful Grand Slam in his career, never having advanced past the quarterfinals. However, the Spaniard has been playing the best tennis of his career the past few months, with his first career Wimbledon title, and could be poised for his first trip to the final ? something many people would love to see.



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