As the U.S. Open heads into its first weekend, we’ve learned a couple of things so far: The top-seeded men are as good as advertised and the top-seeded women are as shaky as advertised. Also: The weather has been spectacular (not a drop of rain, and though we’ve been a bit chilly during the night sessions at Ashe, we’re not complaining). After the jump, the developing trends in both the men’s and women’s brackets.
On the men’s side, none of the top ten seeds had lost a set as of this morning, let alone a match. Of course, it’s still Roger Federer’s tournament to lose, and there isn’t much left to say about him at this point. Except maybe this: It’s no secret that the first couple of rounds are little more than a warm-up for him, but it’s nice to see his opponents realize this as well. After Federer dispatched former NCAA champion Devin Britton on Monday, the Mississippi alum admitted that at times, he hit the ball to Federer’s forehand knowing it would cost him the point, just so he could see Federer’s shot up close. “It’s so pretty,” he said.
The women’s bracket, unsurprisingly, is a bit more chaotic. At the start of the tournament, Filip Bondy of the Daily News called the women’s draw “razor thin” behind the Williams sisters, and the other top seeds haven’t done much to prove him wrong. Serena hasn’t broken a sweat, and Venus has hobbled her way to two victories so far. But both fourth-ranked Elena Dementieva and fifth-ranked Jelena Jankovic are out, which is good news for dubious No. 1 seed Dinara Safina. Safina has survived two scares so far — she lost the first set in both matches — but Dementieva and Jankovic were both on her side of the draw. She could still potentially face either Maria Sharapova or Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis, but she wouldn’t see either Williams sister until the finals.
