Tennis News

sky star 2 · Aug 26, 2009

MURRAY TO ADD TO FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

Andy Murray has been backed to follow in the footsteps of cricket's Ashes heroes and make it a summer to remember for Britain when he plays at the US Open.

With the action at Flushing Meadows starting next week, Murray heads to New York second in the world rankings and with a chance to add to the feelgood factor Andrew Strauss' men created, according to his former coach Mark Petchey.

England's footballers could also edge closer to the World Cup when they play against Croatia next month.

"The cricket was awesome, Fabio Capello has done a wonderful job with the football team and Andy is doing fantastically well so we have a lot to look forward to, especially with the Olympics in 2012 as well," Petchey said.

"We've been in a dark period with the recession and it's almost like sport lifting our spirits."

Petchey believes many factors are going in Murray's favour ahead of the tournament.

"It's the surface he plays his best tennis on so he does go into it feeling he has a great shot of winning it," Petchey said.

"He's been on the brink of it for a while now."

Petchey, who has been supporting the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in November, is anticipating an exciting tournament in America.

"There are a lot of interesting sub-plots and being number two has implications for Andy potentially not having to play Federer and Nadal back to back," he added. "That could play into his hands.

"Roger Federer in Cincinnati again set the benchmark of how to play tennis so he is the hot favourite. Rafa Nadal has showed signs of coming back and his best might not be far away - if he puts in a big performance in the first week people will take notice."

sky star 2 · Aug 26, 2009

O'BRIEN MAKES PROGRESS

British number three Katie O'Brien progressed to the second qualifying round of the US Open with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Nikola Hofmanova of Austria.

The world number 104 from Hessle will now face Georgia's Anna Tatishvili in the next round.

O'Brien said: "It went better than I expected to be honest. I haven't felt great in the last few weeks so it's great to come through today. She's young and inexperienced but it's obvious that she's got a lot of talent.

"I don't think I gave her a chance to get into it and I closed it out really well.

"I will definitely have to play better in my next one but this is a really good start.

"It definitely helps to have been in qualifying at the grand slams before. In the past I've been really nervous before my first match in quallies but today I went on court feeling really relaxed and that meant I could play well from the start."

Georgie Stoop failed to follow O'Brien's lead but put up a battling against experienced Marta Domachowska.

She stunned the Pole by racing through the first set 6-1 and though she lost the second set by the same score only went down after a final-set tie-break, losing it 8-6.

In the men's draw, Josh Goodall failed to make progress.

He won the first set against Dutchman Igor Sijsling on a tie-break but lost the second 6-2 and was 4-2 down in the third when he was forced to retire due to injury.

sky star 2 · Aug 26, 2009

DAVYDENKO SURVIVES TOUGH TEST

The top two seeds in the men's draw at the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven progressed into the third round - although it was far from easy for Nikolay Davydenko.

The number one seed was pushed all the way by American Robbie Kendrick in the first set, needing a marathon tie-break to move ahead.

He finally won it 12-10, before breaking in game eight of the second set to seal a 7-6 (12/10) 6-3 win.

Things were a little easier for second seed Fernando Verdasco, who cruised to a 6-0 6-3 win over Paul Capdeville.

His fellow Spaniard, and third seed, Tommy Robredo became the highest-profile casualty so far when he was beaten 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7/5) by Jose Acasuso.

Robredo seemed set for a comfortable night when he claimed the first set with a pair of breaks but Acasuso secured the crucial break in the second before a seesaw third set went to a tie-break, which the Argentinian won.

Elsewhere, there were wins for the seventh and eighth seeds, Igor Andreev and Victor Hanescu - the latter needing three sets to get past Janko Tipsarevic - but ninth seed Nicolas Almagro was downed by Bjorn Phau of Germany.

Jurgen Melzer progressed when his opponent, Pablo Cuevas, withdrew, while Igor Kunitsyn and Fabrice Santoro were also second-round winners.

Twelfth and 13th seeds Philipp Petzschner and Andreas Beck lost to Frederico Gil and Simone Bolelli respectively, while Andreas Seppi saw off Yen-hsun Lu and Leonardo Mayer beat Olivier Rochus.

In the women's draw, there second-round wins for Amelie Mauresmo and Anna Chakvetadze.

Eighth-seeded Frenchwoman Mauresmo strolled past Alona Bondarenko 6-1 6-1, while the Russian saw off Sybille Bammer 4-6 6-4 7-5.

Third seed Flavia Pennetta was in first-round action, beating Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1 6-2, while sixth seed Marion Bartoli and Samantha Stosur also reached the second round.

Champion Caroline Wozniacki made a perfect start to the defence of her crown, the second seed denying Romania's Edina Gallovits a single game in a 6-0 6-0 victory.

There were further seeded casualties in the men's tournament, with wild card Rajeev Ram defeating fellow American Sam Querrey, the fifth seed, 6-3 6-3 while 10th seed Jeremy Chardy lost 6-7 (8/10) 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 to Florent Serra.

Seventh seed Igor Andreev ended the hopes of another American, beating Kevin Kim 6-3 6-1.

sky star 2 · Aug 26, 2009

MURRAY SEEDED TWO FOR US OPEN

Andy Murray will start a grand slam tournament at the bottom of the draw for the first time after being seeded second for next week's US Open.

The 22-year-old climbed above Rafael Nadal to be number two in the world last week after winning the Masters 1000 event in Montreal.

Reigning champion Roger Federer, who is bidding for his third successive major title after triumphing at the French Open and Wimbledon, is the top seed and therefore cannot face Murray until the final.

After recovering from the knee problems that prevented him defending his Wimbledon crown, Nadal is seeded third ahead of Novak Djokovic and SW19 runner-up Andy Roddick.

In the women's event, world number one Dinara Safina again tops the list and will hope to break her grand slam duck.

Defending champion Serena Williams, who currently holds three of the slams, is second with sister Venus seeded third. Former champion Maria Sharapova makes the top 32 at number 29.

The singles draws for the tournament, which begins next Monday, take place at 1700 BST in New York on Thursday.

sky star 2 · Aug 27, 2009

Sharapova - I can win it

Former US Open champion Maria Sharapova insists she has what it takes to claim her second title at Flushing Meadows.

The 22-year-old returns to the scene of her 2006 triumph after being ruled out of action for nine months with a chronic shoulder injury.

The setback has kept her out of action for nearly all of the 2009 season, however she made a promising comeback in May where she reached the quarter-finals of the Warsaw clay court tournament.

Her recent form has also caught the eye, Sharapova producing her best tennis in over a year at the two US Open warm-up tournaments by reaching the semi-finals in Los Angeles and the final in Toronto.
Improved

Speaking ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year, Sharapova said: "My mindset going into every single tournament is obviously to be the champion.

"If you're not ready to do that and you're not ready to compete for six or seven matches, then I don't think you should be in the draw.

"So you always have that positive attitude, and with every tournament that I played in the summer, I felt like I was starting to play better and get a good feel for the hardcourts.

"After the grass season I put a lot of work in outside the court. I've definitely improved over the weeks and with every match I felt like I stepped it up when I had to."

Another player looking to mark her tennis comeback with a fairytale win is 2005 champion Kim Clijsters.

The unseeded Belgian retired from tennis in 2007 citing injuries and her pending marriage as the main reasons.

However, the 26-year-old competed for the first time in over two years at Cincinnati earlier this month and recorded a stunning first round win over world number 14 Marion Bartoli before reaching the last eight.

Aggressive

She then reached the third round in Toronto before losing in three tough sets to world number five Jelena Jankovic.

And Clijsters, who won her only Grand Slam title in New York four years ago, believes that she still has something to offer at the top level.

"I think a lot of the girls these days that are up there, they play a very similar game," she said.

"They play tennis like this is a perfect game, playing that aggressive tennis, stepping in and just really hitting the ball over the net and not giving your opponent a lot of chances.

"But on the other hand, if that doesn't go the way that they want it to go, I feel like the plan B is not always there.

"And that's something that a lot of girls - Venus, Serena, even Justine, even myself - even if we're not playing our best game, we can still work on - we still have a plan B."

sky star 2 · Aug 27, 2009

Serena starts against Glatch

The three-time champion at Flushing Meadows has been drawn in the same half as sister Venus and the pair could meet at the semi-final stage.

World number one Dinara Safina, who is still chasing her first Grand Slam title, has been drawn against Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska in the opening round while Venus takes on another Russian, Vera Dushevina.

Former champion Maria Sharapova, seeded 29, begins her campaign against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova and could face fourth seed Elena Dementieva in round three.

Belgian former world number one Kim Clijsters, who returned to the tour this month after a two-year layoff, will play Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine in round one.

The 2005 champion could play Venus Williams if both players progress to the fourth round.

Elsewhere, 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova faces a first round duel with German Julia Goerges, while beaten 2008 finalist Jelena Jankovic kicks-off against Roberta Vinci.

sky star 2 · Aug 27, 2009

Murray handed Gulbis test

World number two Murray is seeded second at Flushing Meadows for next week's US Open, and his campaign to go one better than last year's final begins against the dangerous Gulbis.

Murray made his first Grand Slam final in New York last year, beating Rafael Nadal in an epic semi-final before finding Roger Federer too good in the final.

The Scot will renew hostilities with fiery Latvian Gulbis, who he beat in straight sets in the second round en route to the Wimbledon semi-finals this year.

The build-up to Murray's and Gulbis' meeting at the All England Club two months ago was dominated by the latter's claims that the Scot had employed gamesmanship to beat him at Queen's Club a year earlier.
College champ

Defending champion Federer's opening match will be against American college champion Devin Britton, while the new world number three Nadal faces a testing opener against Richard Gasquet.

Nadal and Federer have been kept apart in the draw, meaning they could meet in the final despite not being the top two seeds for the first time at a Grand Slam since 2005.

"I am still playing very well," Federer said as he prepares to defend his title and try and win a record sixth consecutive US Open title.

"I played great in Cincinnati (where he won the Masters Series title last weekend) and I hope things can go well at the US Open."

Federer could face either Novak Djokovic or Andy Roddick in the semis, with the pair slated to meet in the quarter-finals should they make it that far - the Serb faces a battle with Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, while A-Rod has an easier task against Bjorn Phau of Germany.

Nadal and Murray could fight out another semi-final should they go all the way, although Federer says that Roddick could be his main danger after the American pushed him all the way in a thrilling Wimbledon final.

"I think he believes again he can win big tournaments," Federer said. "He was so close at Wimbledon. It has changed him. I think he has improved as a player in the past year or two. I also see him going deep into the tournament again at the Open."

sky star 2 · Aug 28, 2009

Kuznetsova crashes out

The top-seeded Russian was eventually edged out in a marathon contest 7-6 (11-9) 2-6 6-3 at the quarter-final stage.

The contest may have ended differently had Kuznetsova taken one of five set points in the opening set against her occasional doubles partner.

The Russian bounced back in the second 6-2, however two-time Grand Slam champion Mauresmo reclaimed the momentum to advance to the semi-finals of the final US Open warm-up event.

There the 24-year-old Frenchwoman will play Elena Vesnina after she won an all-Russian clash with Anna Chakvetadze 6-1 7-5.

Also on Thursday, defending champion Caroline Wozniacki stayed on course for a tournament double with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Virginie Razzano.

The Dane will play third seed Flavia Pennetta, who was a 6-2 6-2 winner against qualifier Magdalena Rybarikova.

sky star 2 · Aug 28, 2009

British duo on the brink

Former Wimbledon junior champion Robson, 15, caused a second upset in as many days with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Hungary's Aniko Kapros, ranked 207 places above her in the world rankings.

And Baltacha, ranked 102nd, produced an equally impressive display to prevail past Czech player Andrea Hlavackova 7-5 6-0.

Robson, ranked 460th, came into the match on the back of an impressive victory over French world number 128 Stephanie Foretz the previous day.

And her latest triumph means only Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic, ranked 203rd, stands between her and a place in the main draw.
Crunch clash

Robson rates the two wins as her best achievement, saying: "I had some good wins when I made the semi-finals of Shrewsbury last year but this definitely means the most to me.

"I came here just wanting to play as well as I could but getting to the final round of qualifying is obviously great and is a pretty good job by me - I'd give myself a big pat on the back."

Baltacha's victory sets up a crunch clash with Australia's Anastasia Rodionova on Friday.

It is the second consecutive year Baltacha has reached the final round of qualifying and she is looking to go one better after making the main draw at the Australian Open and falling just short in Paris.

"I didn't really deserve to be in the last round of qualies last year but this year I am a much better player and things are completely different," the Scot said.

Surprise

"I really do feel that I belong in the main draw of these tournaments and that gives you a lot of confidence.

"This time it doesn't come as a surprise to me that I'm in the final round of qualifying. Now I'm beginning to show that I can perform consistently."

Victory in the final round would almost certainly see Baltacha break into the world's top 100 for the first time.

There was disappointment for qualifying third seed Katie O'Brien however, the Brit was defeated 6-2 6-4 by Georgian Anna Tatishvili while Melanie South lost 6-4 5-7 6-3 to German 15th seed Julia Schruff.

In the men's qualifying draw, Ireland's Conor Niland was a second-round casualty, falling 6-1 6-1 to Colombia's Alejandro Falla, the 31st seed.

sky star 2 · Aug 29, 2009

A-Rod eyes home win

Roddick was the last home favourite to lift the title at Flushing Meadows in 2003, and again he will be the main man for the New York crowd to get behind.

Following the likes of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras brings it's own pressures, especially when no other American looks likely to get as close as Roddick to challenging for the grand slam title.

American fans will have extra expectation of A-Rod after his battling performance at Wimbledon, where he came so close to beating Roger Federer before losing an epic final 16-14 in the fifth.

That defeat has given Roddick hope rather than deflated him though, and he will be using that as a building block to his way back to the top - starting at the US Open.
New start

"If anything I'm looking at it as a new beginning as opposed to something that's a finisher," Roddick said. "I've always had a pressure to win, that's the nature of American tennis.

"I've been in that position my entire career following Andre and Pete and probably the greatest generation ever. So it's been on my shoulders and I'm not that concerned about the pressure of it all.

"At the end of the day my first concern is going in and winning a tennis match and I think as long as I can keep it simple like that, it will be okay."

Seeded fifth and on schedule to face fourth seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals before a potential rematch with Federer in the semi-finals, Roddick will play Germany's Bjorn Phau in the first round.

Defending champion Federer is a believer that Roddick can go from strength to strength, having felt the power of his game during their Wimbledon epic.

Dangerous

"He was never really gone," Federer said. "Unfortunately he had an image where people thought he could be dangerous, have great runs but not win tournaments.

"Now people, and himself, believe again he can win big tournaments. He was awfully close at Wimbledon, obviously, where he played so great and automatically things change again.

"All of a sudden he is thinking of winning a tournament again instead of losing in the quarters or semis and that has a big effect on Andy Roddick now.

"I think has improved as a player again in the last year or two, he's moving better and his serve has always been great.

"For him it was always about playing the right way from the baseline and it seems he's doing the right things so I see him going deep again in the tournament here at the Open."

sky star 2 · Aug 29, 2009

Wozniacki one win away

Play was relocated to an indoor college court after heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Danny hit the region hard.

And when play finally did get under way, second seed Wozniacki maintained her composure to oust third seed Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-1.

"I was so focused on the match, I didn't really think too much about the other things," Wozniacki said afterwards.

"I like to play indoors, so I don't mind playing indoors. The most important thing is that I won. All the other things really don't matter."

Elena Vesnina now stands between Wozniacki and her third title of the year, after the unseeded Russian came from a set down to stun eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo 5-7 6-1 6-2.

Vesnina lost her only previous WTA Tour final in Auckland earlier this season and will face a tough test against Wozniacki, who has already won at Ponte Vedra Beach and Eastbourne this year.

It looks a tall order for the Russian, especially because Wozniacki has won two of their three previous meetings, the last of which came in the semi-finals at Ponte Vedra Beach.

sky star 2 · Aug 29, 2009

Ruthless streak needed - Mac

McEnroe, a four-time champion at Flushing Meadows, says the British number one must add a ruthless streak to his game in order to triumph in New York.

Murray, ranked number two in the world, reached his first Grand Slam final last September at the US Open, losing to Roger Federer in straight sets having been involved in a number of long matches en route.

Murray goes into this year's US Open after losing to Federer last time out in the semi-final of the Cincinnati Masters.

"It's certainly an issue. Against Federer he seemed a bit passive and defensive and if you get caught up in long matches it can hurt you in the end," McEnroe said.

"Certainly (Murray) believes in his fitness, which is part of why he's doing that, but I think he'd be better served in the long run at a major to be more aggressive at certain stages to win some easier points.

"He's capable of that, he's got incredible hands and I'd like to see him be a little more aggressive."
Impressed

Nevertheless, McEnroe believes Murray, who opens his campaign against Wimbledon second-round victim Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, has what it takes to go deep into the tournament, with Rafael Nadal possibly lying in wait in the semi-finals having returned from injury.

"Murray could, and quite possibly will, go all the way although he's probably got the one guy in the draw that you'd least like to play, which is his (potential) third round match, Ivo Karlovic," McEnroe added.

"He plays Gulbis first round and he handled him rather handily in Wimbledon but hard courts are a better surface for Gulbis and he can be dangerous.

"Murray has worked to number two in the world although I'd like to see Nadal do well, particularly because he wasn't able to defend his title at Wimbledon."

Murray beat Nadal in the semi-finals in New York last year but McEnroe believes the Spaniard's enforced recent lay-off could be a blessing in disguise.

"It could be ironic, as spent as he was last year, that if he were able to get to the semis that he may be the freshest guy of the bunch," he noted.

sky star 2 · Aug 29, 2009

Federer still hungry

The world number one has had an amazingly successful year so far, as he completed a career grand slam with a maiden French Open success in June.

The Swiss superstar followed that up with a thrilling Wimbledon final win over Andy Roddick to claim a 15th grand slam title and overtake Pete Sampras as the all-time leader in slam singles titles.

Off the court has been just as eventful, with Federer marrying girlfriend Mirka in April and becoming a father to twin girls just five weeks ago.

Despite everything that has happened so far this year, Federer insists he still has the focus and desire to battle for what would be a sixth consecutive US Open title.
Arrivals

"I guess my two little girls that arrived in the summer, that's been a life changer for sure," he told ESPN at the draw ceremony in Manhattan.

"But to be quite honest I've been chasing 15 for maybe the last few years but it's been more hyped up by the media.

"It was a dream come true for the way it happened, against (Andy) Roddick, 16-14 in the final set at Wimbledon, where it all started for me in 2003, but I love the game and I have plenty of motivation left."

Having his new arrivals with him did little harm as Federer powered to the Cincinnati Masters title last weekend, and he says it has had a positive affect on his game.

"They're only five weeks old so it's not like I've been travelling with them for a year," Federer said. "I'm still learning a little bit and we're trying to make it as easy as possible for the little ones.

"Mirka's a great mum, she takes great care of the babies and I try to help as much as I can and also during the night.

Juggle

"We try to juggle both things at the same time. I know it's not an easy thing to do but so far it hasn't prevented me from playing great tennis and it's actually going to have more of a positive impact than a negative.

"That's what I really expected because Mirka was great through the pregnancy and I realised that she is not the type of person that's going to say, 'Okay, I just want to stay at home now, I don't like tennis any more, it's all about the kids'.

"We want to try and enjoy this great life we have."

Federer will face teenage American wild card Devin Britton in the first round while second seed Andy Murray meets Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.

Third seed Rafael Nadal, battling back to fitness after knee trouble, has a potentially tricky opener against Richard Gasquet, himself on the comeback trail after a drugs ban was overturned last month.

Nadal, chasing the only grand slam title he has yet to win, is in Murray's half of the draw and could face the British number one in the semi-finals.

sky star 2 · Aug 30, 2009

Wozniacki wins in New Haven

The Dane won her sixth career title and her third of the season against Vesnina, converting four of 11 break points to clinch success in an hour and 16 minutes.

The 19-year-old was unseeded when she won the title 12 months ago but is already ninth in the world rankings and backed up her position as second seed this time around.

"Now it's my time," said Wozniacki, who has also lost in four finals this season. "It's my turn to win some tournaments. I just feel I've had a great year. I'm so happy that it's my name coming up a lot of times now.

"It's really surprised me how fast everything has been going and that I'm right now eight or nine in the world.

"That's just amazing at age of 19, being one of the youngest players out there. Yeah, I mean, it's what I've been working for so hard. I'm happy everything is going my way."

Wozniacki kicks off her US Open campaign next week against Galina Voskoboeva.

sky star 2 · Aug 30, 2009

Fed and Williams eye records

World number one Federer will be chasing a modern-day record sixth straight title at Flushing Meadows, which would extend his record of grand-slam wins to 16.

And victory for Williams in New York over the next two weeks would see her equal Billie-Jean King's mark with a 12th grand-slam title.

Federer, playing in his first grand-slam event since the birth of his twin daughters last month, will face American wild card Devin Britton in the first round.

The Swiss is hoping to equal the mark set by American Bill Tilden in the 1920s in adding the U.S. Open to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he won earlier in the year.

It is a far cry from 12 months ago when he arrived at the tournament without having won one of the first three grand slams for the first time since 2002.
Confidence

"I'm just more relaxed this time," he said. "I've already won slams this year.

"That takes away pressure from having to do well here, like the feeling I had last year, not having won a slam last year, trying to get the first one.

"This year is different. I feel like I'm playing great. That gives me obviously a lot of confidence and relaxes my mind."

Women's champion Serena Williams, seeded second, will play fellow American Alexa Glatch in her first round match.

Sister Venus, who is third seed, plays the first night match against Russian Vera Dushevina, while Kim Clijsters returns to grand-slam tennis for the first time in two years.

The Belgian former world number one, who had her first child 18 months ago, plays Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine when the tournament begins (1500 GMT).

Eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta (10) and Amelie Mauresmo (17) are also in first-round action on Monday.

sky star 2 · Aug 30, 2009

Robson focused on juniors

"The first two matches were good and it was really fun and a really good experience," she said. "Only the third set of that match today wasn't that fun. Well, half of it was.

"I think it's definitely going to help. I'll know what the atmosphere and everything's like when I get to the juniors.

"I thought I played really well for all of the matches really, it was just I didn't finish it off the way that I wanted to."

"I was lucky enough to get a wild card into qualifying and then I'm just glad that something as unfortunate as this happened in a qualifier now rather than in two years in the main draw.

"It's all about experience really, dealing with nerves and all that, it's just something you have to get used to."

Frustrating

Fellow Briton Elena Baltacha will also be staying on a little longer despite losing 4-6 6-2 6-4 to Russian-born Australian Anastasia Rodionova at the same stage of qualifying.

As the second seed in the tournament and having reached the final round of qualifying, Baltacha could yet make it into the main draw as a lucky loser if there are late withdrawals.

Losing to the 30th seed, though, was a frustrating blow.

"You know it was big - one more win and you're into the main draw and they are always kind of the one where, if you lose it, it's going to be hurtful," Baltacha said.

"I knew going into the match that it was going to be very difficult, I knew that I was going to have to give everything because she is a good player.

"It's a shame and look, I'm gutted, but I think it was a good performance and she was the better player today."

sky star 2 · Aug 30, 2009

Robson focused on juniors

"The first two matches were good and it was really fun and a really good experience," she said. "Only the third set of that match today wasn't that fun. Well, half of it was.

"I think it's definitely going to help. I'll know what the atmosphere and everything's like when I get to the juniors.

"I thought I played really well for all of the matches really, it was just I didn't finish it off the way that I wanted to."

"I was lucky enough to get a wild card into qualifying and then I'm just glad that something as unfortunate as this happened in a qualifier now rather than in two years in the main draw.

"It's all about experience really, dealing with nerves and all that, it's just something you have to get used to."

Frustrating

Fellow Briton Elena Baltacha will also be staying on a little longer despite losing 4-6 6-2 6-4 to Russian-born Australian Anastasia Rodionova at the same stage of qualifying.

As the second seed in the tournament and having reached the final round of qualifying, Baltacha could yet make it into the main draw as a lucky loser if there are late withdrawals.

Losing to the 30th seed, though, was a frustrating blow.

"You know it was big - one more win and you're into the main draw and they are always kind of the one where, if you lose it, it's going to be hurtful," Baltacha said.

"I knew going into the match that it was going to be very difficult, I knew that I was going to have to give everything because she is a good player.

"It's a shame and look, I'm gutted, but I think it was a good performance and she was the better player today."

sky star 2 · Aug 31, 2009

Fed runs rule over Britton

Vying for a sixth successive title at Flushing Meadows, Federer was given a tough workout by his wild card opponent before prevailing in 88 minutes.

Next up for the world number one is a meeting with unseeded German Simon Greul after he overcame qualifier Giovanni Lapentti in five sets.

Federer strolled through the first set in just 18 minutes, however his 18-year-old opponent rallied as the game went on, breaking the Swiss maestro twice to the delight of the home crowd.

World number 1,370 Britton, who has never won a match on the ATP Tour, settled better after his opening set mauling, breaking the Federer serve in the fourth game of the second set.

His serve and volley style was making life harder than expected for the top seed, however Federer responded to the break emphatically by reeling off 12 successive points to move 4-3 ahead.
Davydenko through

Another break saw him clinch the second set, however any hopes of a speedy finish were thwarted by the young American who clinched his second break of the afternoon in the third set.

Britton, who was reading the Federer serve with surprising ease, unleashed two stunning return winners to set-up two break points, and he needed just one to move 4-3 ahead.

But once again the 15-time Grand Slam winner bounced back, breaking immediately before holding to ensure Britton was serving to stay in the match.

The American held his nerve, however Federer made sure the match did not stray into a tie-breaker and a classy forehand winner queued muted celebrations on the Arthur Ashe court.

Elsewhere in Federer's quarter of the draw, two-time US Open semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the second round by defeating unseeded German Dieter Kindlmann 6-3 6-4 7-5.

Next up for the Russian is a meeting with world number 70 Jan Hernych after he outlasted Rainer Schuettler 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 2-6 6-3.

French Open finalist Robin Soderling dropped a set en route to victory over Albert Montanes, next up for the Swede is a second round duel with Marcel Granollers after he dispatched Mischa Zverez 2-6 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-0.

sky star 2 · Aug 31, 2009

Murray handed late start

The world number two has been given a prime-time spot on day two of the final Grand Slam of the year, with his first-round tie against Ernests Gulbis scheduled as the second night match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium .

Murray will follow former women's champion Maria Sharapova on to the main Flushing Meadows show court after the Russian, seeded 29th, plays Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the opening match of the evening's play beginning at 7pm local time (12am Wednesday BST).

Murray reached his first ever Grand Slam final in New York last year and is the second favourite to end Roger Federer's run of five successive US Open titles.

The Scot is no stranger to floodlit battles having come through an epic five-setter with Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round of Wimbledon earlier this summer.

Men's fourth seed Novak Djokovic is also in action on Tuesday when he takes on Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia while women's top seed Dinara Safin goes head-to-head with Australian wild card Olivia Rogowska.

sky star 2 · Aug 31, 2009

Serene progress for Willams

The number two seed took just an hour and two minutes to wrap up the 6-4 6-1 victory and awaits the winner of Melinda Czink or Maria Elena Camerin in the next round.

Bidding for her 12th major, Williams came out with real intent and broke her younger compatriot twice as she raced to 5-2 lead leaving all those on Arthur Ashe debating whether the match would exceed the hour mark.

But the reigning Australian and Wimbledon champion came unstuck in game eight when serving for the set as Glatch snatched a break smashing a backhand return down the line.

The 105th ranked player then scooped another game, but the 19-year-old's hopes of a comeback were dashed when Williams took the 32 minute set with a booming ace down the tee.

Glatch managed to starve off a breakpoint in the first game of the second set as Williams looked to gain an early advantage - but the younger American was powerless to halt her superior opponent's charge in game three.

Then onwards it was my comprehensive for Williams - the 27-year-old raced through the set and soon sealed the match with her 18th winner of the day.

Earlier in the afternoon, number 15 seed Samantha Stosur was forced the distance in her first round encounter but prevailed to beat Japan veteran Ai Sugiyama 6-4 4-6 6-4.

The big-serving Australian - who is due to meet Williams in the quarter-finals - next squares off against US youngster Vania King.

Ameilie Mauresmo made light work of German opponent Tatjana Malek as she booked her spot in the next round with a 6-3 6-4 straight sets victory and a clash against Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak the French number 17 seed.