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  • Nadal main attraction on super Saturday

    8/30/08 6:33 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Rafael Nadal will meet Viktor Troicki on a Saturday in New York that is jam-packed with huge singles showdowns. Ivo Karlovic and David Nalbandian are also in action and have their hands full.

    Sam Querrey vs. (14) Ivo Karlovic

    Querrey was suffering from a leg problem towards the end of his second-round four-set victory over Nicolas Devilder, but this one should be a thriller if he is 100 percent. Breaks of serve will be few and far between when the 6'6'' American takes on 6'10'' Ivo Karlovic. Querrey has been wildly up-and-down in 2008, winning the Las Vegas title and reaching the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo and the semifinals in both Delray Beach and Indianapolis. However, he won just one of his most recent four matches prior to the U.S. Open. Querrey appears to be back on track this week with wins over Tomas Berdych and Devilder. Karlovic is still cruising after routine scalps of Jan Minar and Florent Serra. The No. 14 seed upset Roger Federer en route to a semifinal appearance at the Masters Series Cincinnati to get his hard-court campaign off and running. Querrey will be a tough test for him because this one will most likely just come down to a few points here and there. Whoever serves better in the crucial moments--and probably several tiebreakers--will advance.

    (1) Rafael Nadal vs. Viktor Troicki

    Nadal came into this event as the four-time French Open champion, the current Wimbledon champion, the Olympic gold medalist, and the No. 1 player in the world, but none of it has seemed to faze him so far. Bjorn Phau extended the Spaniard to three tough sets--including two tiebreakers--in the opening round, but Nadal cruised with relative ease past Ryler DeHeart in the second. Troicki crushed Carsten Ball in the first round and then led Philpp Kohlscreiver two sets to one when the 25th-seeded German retired. It's been a 2008 campaign in which Troicki has started to make a name for himself, culminated by a recent runner-up performance in Washington D.C., where he took out Andy Roddick before falling to Juan Martin Del Potro. Trocki owns a solid serve and can bang the ball off both wings from the baseline. Nadal has never made it past the quarterfinals, but it's hard to imagine his run this year ending at the hands of Troicki. Look for the No. 1 seed to advance in three tight sets.

    (32) Gael Monfils vs. (7) David Nalbandian

    In terms of quality and evenly-matched pairings, this one could be the match of the day. Monfils dispatched Pablo Cuevas in round one in just over an hour and a half, then needed four sets to subdue Evgeny Korolev, who had taken out Robin Soderling. Nalbandian has been both injured and just plain slumping since a hot start to the season, but the Argentine is turning it all around this week. He destroyed Marcos Daniel in the first round before easing past Andrey Golubev. Monfils, of course, is a whole different beast and Nalbandian knows it. The Argentine got him in a fourth-set tiebreaker at last year's French Open, but Monfils took revenge two weeks ago with a 6-4, 6-4 third-round triumph at the Olympics. Even though Nalbandian has to be feeling good about his two performances so far in New York, Monfils has more confidence in general and the No. 7 might not be willing to spend all day on the court with his speed-demon opponent. Monfils in four entertaining sets is the pick.

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