US Open Tennis Day-8 Picks

Posted by T. A. Niles Sep 2, 2007

Maybe I should just stick to the women’s game. I went 4-4 with the men and 11-2 in the women’s matches I picked. Lets see if I can do better on Day-8.

Rafael Nadal has won the last four against David Ferrer, and Nadal will win again. Andy Roddick and Tomas Berdych have split the last two, but Roddick has been playing well, so it’s Roddick in four.

James Blake lost his last match against Tommy Haas in 2006 on carpet. Blake has won every time on hard and is playing as well as he ever has. I’m going with Blake to make it not just to the quarters, but to a match-up with Federer in the semis.

Shahar Peer is pure grit and should prevail over Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska won’t get nearly as many gifts from Peer as she did from Sharapova. Peer’s serve isn’t great, but at least it goes in. Agnes Szavay has simply got more game than Julia Vakulenko. Szavay in straights.

No stretch to pick Roger Federer over Feliciano Lopez. Does Lopez have a chance? Well, he’s lefty and he’s from Spain, and Fed has trouble with lefties from Spain; doesn’t he? Nah, Fed in straights.

Here are my “anyway” picks: Anna Chakvetadze should beat unseeded Tamira Paszek based on results this year, but I’m picking Paszek anyway. Hyung-Taik Lee has not yet beaten Nikolay Davydenko, losing in straight sets the only two times they’ve played, but I’m going with Lee anyway. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the women’s fourth seed, but I’m picking the unseeded Victoria Azarenka anyway.

Know the game? Make your picks and see how you do. Game, set, and match…