US Open

[Raji]

Anna Chakvetadze -200 vs. Shahar Peer +150

A pair of talented 20-year-olds duke it out in the first match of the day Wednesday to see which one of them can advance to their first semifinal at a grand slam. It will likely take some long rallies and three grueling sets to get there where the winner will have a legitimate shot at making the finals.

Chakvetadze has been working hard on getting more power out of her petite frame and there is a noticeable difference this year compared to last. Still, she’s not the most thundering hitter on tour and she needs to rely more on patience and ball placement to earn her points. So far she’s been doing a great job of just that, advancing to the quarterfinals without dropping a set while racking up an average of nearly 25 winners per match.

Peer hasn’t gotten through quite as cleanly, needing three sets to get past the tough Nicole Vaidisova in the third round. Peer’s biggest weakness is her serve which rarely puts fear into her opponents but if she can improve that she’s going to be among the top guns on the women’s side regularly. She generates a lot of power on her groundstrokes for 5-foot-7 and has both an excellent backhand and forehand.

Peer has played seven matches so far to Chakvetadze’s six (including doubles play) so fatigue could come into play. However, I have a hunch that Peer will handle the big time pressure a little better and weather through this one. Peer also won their only meeting this season at Indian Wells on hard court.

Pick: Peer

Agnes Szavay +230 vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova -330

Kuznetsova has been perhaps the most consistent player on the women’s side this season advancing to three quarterfinals and one fourth round in the four majors this season. She’s also made herself a staple in the late rounds in most of the other tournaments she enters.

She has an excellent return game and ranks third at Flushing Meadows in break points converted right behind Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic. As long as she doesn’t get into too many unforced errors, she should be able to advance here.

The 18-year-old Szavay has impressively managed to get to the quarters without dropping a set but she hasn’t faced anyone with quite the power of Kuznetsova yet. The two players met in the finals at New Haven just before the U.S. Open and Szavay retired in the second set down 0-3 after losing the first set.

Szavay might be just 18, but she also has to be getting tired. She played eight matches at New Haven including qualifying and she’s still alive in doubles play at the U.S. Open with a total of seven matches now played in New York.

Pick: Kuznetsova

Jelena Jankovic +200 vs. Venus Williams -275

There aren’t too many players on the WTA who can say they have a winning record over Venus, but Jankovic is one of them. After dropping their first two meetings, the Serbian and world No. 3 has won the past three matchups with the elder Williams sister – a stretch that began with last year’s Wimbledon.

Jankovic won both meetings this year in three sets and gave Serena a sound beating in the third set at Roland Garros when she took it 6-1. The only catch is that both meetings this year were on clay. Now Jankovic is on Williams’, err, turf on hard court in front of the home American crowd.

Oddsmakers feel this is enough to make Williams the heavy fave and I have to agree. The fact Williams made Ana Ivanovic look like a qualifier in the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory also has something to do with it. Williams' serve is back to top form and leads the U.S. Open in both top serve speed (129 mph) and she is far and away the ace leader with 32.

That’s the Venus with whom most casual tennis followers have become familiar with the past several years and the one that claimed Wimbledon earlier this summer. The key differences between Venus and her sister that might also help her advance is that she is much better at the net – though she approaches just as rarely – and she tends to make fewer unforced errors in key situations.

Jankovic will need to take advantage of Venus’s second serve if she continues to have a first serve percentage in the low-50s and the Serb will have to go after her all her points the way Henin did against Serena Tuesday night. Easier said than done and she certainly has her hands full.

Pick: Williams


Raji