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| | Friday, August 25 Plenty of intriguing matches in opening round | |||||
| By Howie Schwab ESPN.com The final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year has its share of early intrigue. The women's draw is loaded, though there aren't many challenges for the seeds in the opening round. The men's side has Pete Sampras as the fourth seed -- his lowest U.S. Open seeding since 1991 when he was seeded sixth -- not to mention former champion Patrick Rafter and last year's finalist, Todd Martin, both unseeded. The bottom quarter of the men's draw is outstanding: Alex Corretja, Todd Martin, Carlos Moya, Michael Chang, Greg Rusedski, Mark Phillippoussis, Jan-Michael Gambill, Rafter and Gustavo Kuerten. Here's a look at some of the opening round matches to keep an eye on. Men's draw Magnus Norman (3) vs. Paul Goldstein Norman is looking for his first Grand Slam championship, and this opening-round match isn't a cakewalk. The American fans will probably be rooting for the upset. Thomas Enqvist (7) vs. Mariano Puerta The Argentinean left-hander is currently 15th in the champions point race. Enqvist recently won the tournament in Cincinnati, though this is a tough opener. Todd Martin vs. Vince Spadea Spadea scored a first-round upset at Wimbledon, shocking Greg Rusedski. Can he pull off another surprise against his fellow American? Tim Henman (11) vs. Fernando Vicente The 23-year old Spaniard reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. His run included an upset of Andre Agassi, who retired in the third set. Henman was upset in the first round of the U.S. Open last year. Andy Roddick vs. Albert Costa The next great American hope faces the world's 23rd-ranked player. The good news for Roddick is Costa has never won a first-round match at the U.S. Open. Women's draw Lindsay Davenport (2) vs. Gala Leon Garcia Can Davenport salvage her injury-plagued year with a U.S. Open championship? Her first-round foe is ranked 30th in the world and has won her opening-round match at the Open three straight years. Davenport dropped a set in their last meeting ('99 Madrid) before rallying. Mary Pierce (4) vs. Alexandra Stevenson This match will draw a lot of attention, though Stevenson hasn't been very competitive lately. Pierce has made the round of 16 or better at the U.S. Open three straight years. Conchita Martinez (7) vs. Amy Frazier Frazier has a win over Martina Hingis this summer. She also beat Conchita in their most recent match (Filderstadt). Martinez hasn't lost in the first round of the U.S. Open since 1992. Venus Williams (3) vs. Anne-Gaelle Sidot Sidot is 32nd in the world and reached the third round of both the French Open and Wimbledon. These two met in the second round of last year's U.S. Open with Williams having to battle to prevail 6-4, 6-3. Julie Halard-Decugis (16) vs. Miriam Oremans Even though Oremans has seen her ranking slide, she hasn't lost in the first round of a Grand Slam this year. She made the third round of Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Halard-Decugis struggled at the Pilot Pen warm-up event. Jelena Dokic vs. Anna Smashnova Dokic tries to follow up her semifinal showing at Wimbledon. This is a pretty even match up since Smashnova is ranked 41st and Dokic 43rd. | ALSO SEE Williams sisters could meet in U.S. Open final U.S. Open men's draw U.S. Open women's draw | |||||