US OPEN 2008 got underway on 25th august . Being a sports lover I do follow a lot of sports and lawn tennis is one of them. Personally, I like playing football but I have always felt that a high quality tennis game is the best sporting spectacle. So I might write a few posts on US OPEN 2008 in the upcoming weeks.
For those unaware, US OPEN is an annual event and is one of the four Grand Slams, i.e. Australian Open, Rolland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open. Like the other grand slams it mainly consists of five championships Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles.Since 1978, the tournament has been played on acrylic hard court at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the Queen's borough of New York City.The US Open differs from the other three Grand Slam tournaments in that there are final-set tiebreaks. In the other three majors, the fifth set for the men and the third set for the women continue until someone wins by two games. Total prize mone of the tournament is a whopping US $ 19, 600, 000.
In Men's competition the strongest contender is surely the defending Champion Roger Federer, even though his toughest competitor and arch rival Rafael Nadal has succeeded him as rank 1. After winning Roland Gaross, Wimbledon and most recently Olmpic Gold the Spaniard is on a high but the Swiss king would be looking to take is throne back. I really dont see anbody else standing a chance in the Men's competition.
The women's competition, on the other hand is wide open according to me. With Maria Sharapova pulling out, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia seeded 1 and 2 respectively stand a very good chance. The William sisters are always a threat and Elena Dementieva of Russia is also on a high after winning an Olympic Gold. Dinara Safina of Russia, according to me could turn out to be the Dark Horse and can create some major upsets. Also with Sania Mirza pulling out there is nothing much to look forward to from the Indian perspective.
I myself am backing Rafael Nadal and Dinara Safina to win the championship and looking forward to watch their matches.
