2012 US Open - pick the winners by Midnight September 5th! | Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction

2012 US Open -pick the winners by Midnight September 5th!

Posted In Commentary | 92 comments

Federer and Serena capture Wimbledon, Murray and Serena capture the gold at the Olympics, and Novak Djokovic looks to defend the title he captured in his stellar 2011 year .

Serena is the story in the women’s draw. Yes Azarenka is showing good hardcourt form, but with the best serve in the history of the women’s game – the ball is in Serena’s court and the title (as they say) is on her racquet. She has continued to improve her fitness, she feels she is “Number 1″ in spite of rankings that may say otherwise.

As regards the men, the ATP Ricoh match facts tell an interesting story.

Federer, riding high with his 17th grand slam title and a 6-0 set against Djokovic – leads in the serving categories

And if you are only as good as your second serve, Federer rules the roost in first place winning 60% of the points on his second serve, and winning 91% of his service games, Novak is 6th at 87%, Murray is 18th holding serve 84% of the time.

Murray is at the top of the match fact board when it comes to the return game.

Andy leads in points won returning second serve, Djokovic is one hair behind in second place 56 to 55%, Federer is 20th at 50% (most probably occurring out wide to the ad court).

And finally, his coach Ivan Lendl returns to familiar territory.

This could be Murray’s Grand Slam breakthrough.

But interestingly, I don’t believe Djokovic is serving as well as he has or as well as he needs to.

Djokovic is second in points won returning the 1st serve, Murray is 9th, Novak is 2nd in return games won, Murray is 5th and Roger 17th

Something about technique – check Novak as though a spinning top – he is totally vertical, no wobbling, and not off balance. But further, look at his hitting arm and racquet – at right angles to his spinning torso. Levers work best when at right angles to a turning axis – this one is worth working on for you and me.

Forecasting – I am reluctant on this one. In the main, I love this event, watching the tele day and night. The coverage and camera angles are superb. And the evening matches played under the lights in the Arthur Ashe stadium are truly spectacular.

So here goes – I believe both Andy and Novak are more prone to an early round upset than is Roger. But if they follow their seedings, Andy will play Roger and Novak will play David Ferrer. So the finalist who plays the shorter semifinal match will have the slightest edge. As much as last years semifinal match between Roger and Novak came down to a match point ball on the line (rather than one inch out) I think this years title is up for grabs. A toss up. A contest. No clear favorite.

Now for the contest where you can win one of my free online courses of your choosing (or 6 months access to ETI Network) .

Pick the winner and runner up in the men’s or women’s draw
Specify the number of sets in the final match
The score of the final set
Deadline midnight EST Wednesday September 5th

Rules

One winner will be selected for the person that names the winner and runner up in the men’s draw.
One winner will be selected for the person that names the winner and runner up in the women’s draw.

If more than one person selects the winner/runner up correctly, the tie will be broken as follows:

How many sets in this final match.
What was the score of the final set.
Whoever gets it right (and on the score closest to right) wins a free online course of their choice!!

Tags: djokovic, Federer, murray, serena