Late August in New York City: the lingering smell of warm trash, a hint of autumn in the air and tennis players everywhere, hawking their sponsors. The U.S. Open begins on Monday, but the city’s annual love affair with tennis starts in earnest a week earlier, when qualifying begins and pros descend upon Manhattan.
The release of the draw allows us to salivate over possibilities: a third-round meeting between Serena and Venus, a fourth-round clash between Serena/Venus and Simona Halep, a quarterfinal showdown pitting Roger Federer against a resurgent Novak Djokovic. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the opening two days of the tournament offer plenty of intrigue.