Tennis Capsules: Federer, Nadal have never faced off at U.S. Open
NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have played each other 21 times over the years, and all over the world.
Eight matches came at Grand Slam tournaments, and seven of those were in finals: three at Wimbledon, three at the French Open, one at the Australian Open.
The rivals never have faced off at the U.S. Open, though, in any year or in any round. A big reason for that: Nadal has yet to make it past the semifinals in New York. He wants a U.S. Open title, of course. It is, after all, the only Grand Slam trophy he has yet to win.
Still, the No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Nadal insists he is not consumed by thoughts of needing to leave Flushing Meadows with a championship two weeks from now.
"I hope I have another chance to play well here and to have the chance to win — but without obsession, no?" Nadal said. "I am more than happy (with) what I have at home, all the tournaments that I won. More than I dreamt five or six years ago."
Only 24 years old, Nadal already owns eight major titles: five French Opens, two Wimbledons, one Australian Open. But he lost in the semifinals at the U.S. Open each of the past two years and only one other time got as far as the quarterfinals.
"There's not much he's doing wrong," Federer said. "If you can make it to the semis, you can make it to the finals. That's pretty clear."
Federer was one of four past U.S. Open champions scheduled to play in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday, along with Andy Roddick, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters. Another previous winner, Lleyton Hewitt, was slated to be in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Also in action on Day 1 were Melanie Oudin, the teenager from Marietta, Ga., who made a surprising run to the quarterfinals last year; former No. 1s Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic; and this year's French Open finalists, champion Francesca Schiavone and runner-up Sam Stosur.
Nadal was given Monday off, and is expected to be on court Tuesday, facing Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in the first round.
"For sure, for me, personal satisfaction is going to be high if any day I have a chance to win here," Nadal said.
First, however, he'll need to reach the final. Federer has participated in every U.S. Open men's championship match since 2004.
"Roger is always there," Nadal noted.
Nadal lost in the second round in 2003 and '04, in the third round in 2005, in the quarterfinals in 2006, and in the fourth round in '07. Then came his semifinal exits against Andy Murray in 2008 and against eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro last year.
In 2008, Nadal says now, he was mentally worn out when he got to the U.S. Open after a busy summer that included winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Last year, he was physically spent, hampered in particular by an injured abdominal muscle.
There are other explanations cited by Nadal, and others, when discussing why it is that the Spaniard has not joined Federer and the five other men who have completed a career Grand Slam.
The U.S. Open, for one thing, comes toward the end of the season, by which time Nadal's relentless style of play often leaves him relatively beat up. Plus, joints take a particular pounding on the unforgiving hard courts used in Flushing Meadows and at other tournaments on the North American summer circuit.
The tennis balls used at the U.S. Open, Nadal explained, are different from those at the French Open, for example, and don't allow him to slather shots with as much topspin as he likes to use. And 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest arena in Grand Slam tennis, always seems to be quite windy, which Nadal said he finds troublesome.
All of that said, Nadal's contemporaries would not be surprised to see his name etched on the silver U.S. Open trophy one day.
"I'm not going to sit here and say he can't win it. Of course he can win it," said Roddick, the 2003 champion seeded ninth this year. "What's the prevailing thought, except that he hasn't done it yet? He's done everything else. He's won on hard courts. He's won on slow hard courts. He's won on fast courts. He can handle the pressure. Will he? I don't know. But can he? Sure."
Wozniacki says she deserves No. 1 seeding at Open
NEW YORK (AP) — Let others wonder whether Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki merits the No. 1 seeding at the U.S. Open, the first time she's been awarded the top spot at a Grand Slam tournament.
She harbors no doubts.
"Pressure is when you're put on the spot and you don't feel like you belong there, don't think you deserve to be there," Wozniacki said Sunday, a day before play begins at Flushing Meadows. "I think I deserve to be where I am, and I think that I'm feeling comfortable there."
She is currently No. 2 in the WTA rankings, behind Serena Williams, who pulled out of the U.S. Open more than a week ago, citing surgery to repair cuts on her right foot. The U.S. Tennis Association strictly follows the rankings when assigning seedings, so Wozniacki got the top spot.
That made her the first woman since Kim Clijsters in 2003 to be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open without already having won a major championship. The 20-year-old Wozniacki also is the youngest woman to lead the field since Maria Sharapova was 18 in 2005.
"You don't get there by luck or by wild card or anything," Clijsters said. "She definitely deserves to be up there."
Clijsters, of course, went on to win the tournament twice, in 2005 and 2009, while Sharapova wound up taking the title in 2006.
So Wozniacki figures her time will come, too.
"To win a Grand Slam, that's definitely a goal. You know, it's still seven matches away, and it's tough because everyone wants to win," said Wozniacki, whose first-round opponent is wild-card entry Chelsey Gullickson, the NCAA singles champion for the University of Georgia.
Last year in New York, Wozniacki reached her first major final before losing to Clijsters. That run, Wozniacki said, "gave me a lot of confidence and the belief that I could do it."
Recent results also should bolster how she feels about her game.
Wozniacki has won 14 of her last 15 matches and two consecutive tournaments, including a title at a hard-court tuneup event in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday.
Her four titles in 2010 lead the tour, and the 10 she's won since the start of the 2008 season are the most in that span. Her 44-14 record this year gives her the second-most match victories, one fewer than Italy's Flavia Pennetta.
"She's really improved a lot since the first time I played her, quite a few years ago," seven-time major champion Venus Williams said. "Really added some power into her game, moves very well, plays smart, really shows a lot of maturity on the court, both with her (shot) choice and mental capacity, hanging in there to stay tough. Really a nice, all-around player who can make anything happen on the court."
Wozniacki's style is not exactly what would be described as spectacular. She is something of a grinder, willing to engage opponents in lengthy exchanges at the baseline until a point ends when someone errs.
She prides herself on her footwork and fitness.
"For me, it's just about being smart," Wozniacki said. "I mean, there's no sense going for the winners if there is no chance to go for the winner."
If that approach can carry her to seven victories in seven matches at this U.S. Open, she will have a Grand Slam title to her credit and will overtake Williams at No. 1 in the rankings.
"It's about playing well at the right moments, taking your chances, having a bit of luck, everything," Wozniacki said. "Everything just has to come together in these two weeks, and it's not easy. So we will just have to see what's going to happen."
-- Howard Fendrich
