Ricky Dimon

• U.S. Open preview: Djokovic's quarter

  2008-08-23 17:55:25
  

  Tennistalk’s Ricky Dimon is previewing the four quarters of the U.S. Open draw leading up to the start of the year’s last Grand Slam on Monday. Part 3 covers the third quarter, where Novak Djokovic is the No. 3 seed.
  
  Last year’s U.S. Open runner-up should be nothing less than ecstatic about the draw in his quest to go one step further this time around. Novak Djokovic avoided any of the really hot players on tour in his quarter, and he is not even in the same half as Rafael Nadal. Sure, if Roger Federer gets to the semifinals and plays Djokovic, it won’t be any picnic for the Serb, but at this point you would have to think he’d take his chances with Federer rather than Nadal.
  
  Djokovic’s section of the draw is littered with question marks. Andy Roddick is the second highest seed in that section (No. 8) and he hardly appears imposing as a potential quarterfinal opponent. Janko Tipsarevic stunned him at Wimbledon, Marin Cilic upset him in Toronto, he pulled out of Cincinnati, Juan Martin Del Potro handled him in Los Angeles, and Viktor Troicki shocked him in Washington, D.C.
  
  Roddick has a lot of work to do, too, before he can even start thinking about the quarterfinals. Tricky veteran Fabrice Santoro greets him in round one, and the wildly-talented but erratic Ernests Gulbis looms in the second. Beijing silver medalist Fernando Gonzalez, the essence of a boom-or-bust player, is a potential fourth-round opponent for Roddick (or Gulbis, or Santoro, or Andreas Seppi). The Chilean, however, could have his hands full with Toronto runner-up Nicolas Kiefer in the third.
  
  Arguably Djokovic’s biggest threat prior to the semifinals is the 30th-seeded Cilic, who would square off with Djokovic in round three. The 6’6’’ Croat is just 19 but he is no stranger to the big-time stage, having reached the fourth round of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season. He also enjoyed a quarterfinal showing in Toronto and is currently building up momentum for the U.S. Open by reaching the final in New Haven.
  
  Djokovic’s potential fourth-round opponent will come out of a sixteenth of the draw that is loaded with talent (and question marks) and completely up for grabs among four men: No. 15 seed Tommy Robredo, 19th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marat Safin, and Carlos Moya. All are dangerous, but Robredo has done nothing on hard courts recently, Tsonga has been hurt, Safin has been terrible since reaching the Wimbledon semis, and Moya’s age (turns 32 during the first week of the Open) is finally catching up with him.
  
  It probably sounds foolish, but don’t overlook Djokovic’s first-round opponent, Arnaud Clement. The Frenchman made it all the way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals and in their last head-to-head meeting, he upset Djokovic at Queen’s Club in 2007.
  
  Rick's Picks:
  
  Third round – Gulbis over Seppi, Kiefer over Gonzalez, Moya over Safin, Djokovic over Cilic
  
  Fourth round – Kiefer over Gulbis, Djokovic over Moya
  
  Quarterfinal – Djokovic over Kiefer

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