Djokovic could face Murray in US quarters
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NOVAK Djokovic and Andy Murray were put on a quarterfinal collision course for the US Open on Thursday while Roger Federer’s hopes of an 18th grand slam title were buoyed by a kinder draw.
World No. 1 Djokovic, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2011, is the top seed and will be trying to reach the final for a fifth straight year. In 2013, the Serbian star fell to Rafael Nadal, but the Spaniard won’t defend his title because of a right wrist injury.
Djokovic opens his campaign against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. He could come up against 13th-seeded John Isner in the fourth round, but the big-serving American is nursing an ankle injury that forced him out of the tournament in Winston-Salem on Thursday.
Eighth-seeded Murray, the 2012 US Open winner who hasn’t won a title since his emotional 2013 Wimbledon triumph, opens against Robin Haase of the Netherlands and could face a dangerous fourth-round clash with French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Also in the top half of the draw, Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, seeded third, opens against Czech Jiri Vesely and could face big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, seeded fifth, in the quarters.
Federer has a lighter-looking path in the bottom half of the draw, with seventh-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov his scheduled quarterfinal foe.
Second seed Federer, who won five straight US Open titles from 2004-2008, appears poised to expunge the memory of last year’s fourth-round loss to Tommy Robredo. The resurgent Swiss arrives in New York off a hardcourt title at Cincinnati and will open his campaign against Australian Marinko Matosevic.
Dimitrov, dubbed “Baby Fed” for his game’s similarities to that of the Swiss great, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, but he has never made it out of the first round in three US Open appearances. Also in the bottom half, sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer are projected quarter-final opponents.
On the women’s side, two-time defending champion women’s champion Serena Williams could find two familiar rivals in her path as she vies for a first grand slam title of 2014. World No. 1 Williams is projected to face Serbian eighth seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.
Although Williams leads their career head-to-head 7-1, former world No. 1 Ivanovic ousted the American in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. Williams could find herself up against another player who has managed to get the better of her on a major stage in the round of 16 — Australian Samantha Stosur.
In the semifinals, Williams could find herself facing third-seeded Petra Kvitova or seventh-seeded Eugenie Bouchard.
Kvitova and Bouchard were put on course for a quarterfinal clash that would be a re-match of the Wimbledon final in which Czech Republic’s Kvitova routed the rising Canadian star to claim a second Wimbledon title.
Fifth-seeded Russian star Maria Sharapova will open against fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko. Venus Williams, 34 and a seven-time grand slam champion, will feel like a youngster when she opens against 43-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.
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