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Saturday, September 3, 2011

Nick's Picks: 2011 U.S. Open, Day 3

Each day during the 2011 U.S. Open, coach Nick Bollettieri will discuss three of the most intriguing matches on the schedule and offer his predictions.

John Isner [28] vs. Marcos Baghdatis (Louis Armstrong Stadium, fourth match)

This will be the fourth meeting between these two and, incredibly, the third in just the last few weeks. Isner beat Baghdatis in Canada and Winston-Salem, and will now play him again! With those wins under his belt and the crowd behind him, I have to give the edge to Isner. The biggest concern I have is if this match goes deep into a fourth or fifth set, Baghdatis becomes a tougher out. He is great at hanging in there and with a big serve and forehand, he is dangerous. But I look for Isner to advance.

Nick?s Pick: Isner in four sets.

***

Sabine Lisicki [22] vs. Venus Williams (Arthur Ashe Stadium, third match)

Lisicki advanced on Tuesday with a relatively easy win over Alona Bondarenko and comes into this tournament full of confidence. She just won the WTA event in Dallas last week and has had an excellent summer, which included a run to the semis at Wimbledon.

There were questions as to whether or not Venus was going to play in this tournament at all, and she looked a bit shaky in her first-round win. It was good for her to get that out of the way, though, and I saw her practicing and she looked to be in good shape.

When the draw first came out, this was a match that I had my eye on. These two have met twice before and have split those matches. We all know what Venus is capable of when healthy, but she hasn?t played very much tennis in 2011 and for that reason there is a big question mark hanging over her. In her first match, she displayed a good backhand, her movement was excellent, she came forward and seemed comfortable at the net, but her forehand and serve were a little tentative. When her serve is on, it is one of the best in the game, but I don?t know right now where she is at health-wise.

Lisicki played well in her win over Bondarenko. She had a few too many unforced errors and double faults, but that is how she plays. She goes for it all on every shot, and that has been a successful recipe for her thus far in 2011. If Venus tries to slug it out from the baseline, I have to give the edge to Lisicki. Venus must try and come in and force the issue a bit. This is going to be a big test for both girls.

Nick?s Pick: I have to give a slight edge to Lisicki because she is healthier, but this is going to be a great match!

***

Andy Roddick [21] vs. Michael Russell (Arthur Ashe Stadium, first night match)

Roddick is 1-0 against Russell, but that match was back in 2002 on clay and much has changed since then. For years, Roddick had the biggest serve in the game and it was one of the most feared shots in tennis. That is certainly not the case anymore as all the top guys seem to serve big and have the big forehand to go with it. That used to be Roddick?s bread-and-butter and it won him many titles, including the U.S. Open.

Against Russell, Roddick cannot fall 6-8 feet behind the baseline. He needs to step in and take the ball early and win quick points. Russell is a scrapper and will fight Roddick for every point. Roddick should advance in straight sets, but it will be interesting to see how he handles Russell.

Nick?s Pick: Roddick in three sets

Nick Bollettieri of the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy has trained many collegiate and professional players, including 10 who reached the world No. 1 ranking.

Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-features/~3/oDtbJoMtKjk/

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