The 2009 US Open Series begins on Monday for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California.
Who is the player to watch during this year’s road trip to the US Open? Tell us in this week’s edition of Open Forum Friday!
There are many stories to follow as the tennis world starts heading to Flushing Meadows. Kim Clijsters is set to make her long-awaited return to professional tennis, Maria Sharapova’s shoulder is back at 100% form, Dinara Safina hopes to regain her confidence and the Williams sisters are bidding to remain the most dominant players in women’s tennis.
Who do you expect to top the headlines—-and snag the trophies—over the next several weeks? What tournaments are you looking forward to watching during the US Open Series? Leave a comment below to join in today’s discussion!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
wta woman (women) to watch for U.S. Open series – Azarenka, Lisicki, Glatch (come on Alexa!), Clijsters (of course)…Besides all the usual suspects (Williamses, Dinara, Dementeiva, Sharapova)
Unfortunately I won’t get to watch any of the US Open Series – or even the US Open itself – due to a lack of televised tennis where I live, but these tournaments will certainly answer some intriguing questions.
Can Vera Zvonarëva and Maria Sharapova regain their fitness in time to meet in the final of the year’s fourth Major?
Can Magdaléna Rybáriková rediscover her Birmingham-winning form and translate it to hard courts?
Can Anna Chakvetadze and Nicole Vaidišová rediscover their confidence on their favourite surface?
Can Jelena Doki? put her recent illness and father-problems behind her to rediscover the magic she showed at the Australian Open?
Can Lucie Šafá?ová put her recent illness, injury and disappointing losses behind her to rediscover the form that took her to match-point against Venus Williams at the French Open?
Last but not least: can Daniela Hantuchová rediscover the form she had before her foot-injury last year?
Oops – I forgot this site can’t handle Unicode characters!
Melanie Oudin, it will be interesting to see what adjustments she’s made after playing well at Wimbledon.
also, Dementieva is worth watching because she has a lot of momentum coming out of Wimbledon. I’m hoping she gets a good draw (meaning neither Williams is on her side of the draw).
Dementieva versus Dinara Safina would, potentially, say alot about whether the top ten rankings closely mirrors players skill level or not. I don’t put much stock in rankings but there has been some recent discussion on this forum of their relevance.
Other than William sisters, watch for Azarenka, Sharapova, Ivanovic & Safina. Also, never count out Elena Dementiava.
players to watch are azarenka, wozniaki,sharapova and of course the williams sisters
After what happened at Wimbledon, watch for Dementieva. Elena and Serena gave the best women’s match of the tournament and the best women’s match in a long time. Elena had lost her form in the spring but now seems to be back on track.
Also, hard-court player Azarenka if she reels in the anger and emotions.
Dina, if she has a good hard-court season to give her confidence. Why is she playing on clay at Portoroz?
And I wish Zvonareva would get healthy again.
Of course there are the usual suspects, Serena, Venus and possibly the Serbs’ form will improve.
I forgot Sharapova if she is in form.
Looking ahead, here’s my list of the players to watch during the US Open Series:
Kim Clijsters: She’ll be back on the BIG stage for the first time in 2 years. It will be interesting to see if the 2005 US Open winner is prepared to go deep during the US Open warm up tournaments, as well as the US Open.
Maria Sharapova: She says she back to 100%. We’ll see if the 2006 US Open winner can get back to her winning form, and gain some valuable ranking points.
Dinara Safina: Yet another chance for Dinara to silence her critics who say she’s doesn’t deserve the title of No. 1 due to her lack of Grand Slam titles. Can she do it? She also has the added pressure of matching her brother’s US Open success after he won the singles title there in 2000.
Jelena Dokic: I’m routing for her simply because she’s had a difficult year off-cour. I hope she’s well enough to play at her best.
I also think that the US Open will be an opportunity for the up-and-comers (Glatch, Oudin, Larcher de Brito, and Pavlyuchenkova) to prove that they have what it takes to play on the big stage.
@Sunny..dude.every post-wimby european tourney isnt on clay..Portoroz is on HARD COURTS..go chek it out…
I feel Lisicki and Melanie Oidin are gonna be big underdogs this season…and I am eagerly awaiting Vera Zvonareva’s return too..Sharapoav though is dangerous contender for US Open..I feel she will peak around US Open..so watch out for her..
and hey how the **** can you forget..SANIA MRZA…?..she has had the best US Open Series in the odd years..(2005,2007) and this year she has hardly been injured..and US hards are her best surface too..and moreover..she just won a $50K Challlenger in Lexington,KY,USA…those cruel ppl @ Stanford did not even bother to give her a WC..despite being a former finalist(2007)…