Her form coming into the Open has been decent, she made the 3rd round in Montreal and the semis at Cincinnati. Sharapova comes into this match with a 38-9 record for the year which includes a grand slam title at Roland Garros and two fourth round appearances at the other slams. Just recently, Lisicki hit the fastest womenвЂ™s serve ever, a 131 mph bombВ in a match against Ana Ivanovic. This 3rd round encounterВ has the potential to turn into a brutal slog-fest, both players hit the felt off the ball.

Maria Sharapova (5) vs Sabine Lisicki (26)- 2nd match on Arthur Ashe, Night Session S abine Lisicki at the US Open, by Christian Mesiano, CC BY-SA 2.0 ItвЂ™ll probably feature at least one tie-break and as a result, donвЂ™t be surprised if this goes to four sets. ItвЂ™s always interesting to watch Federer play these big servers, the way he takes care of his own serve, often out-acing the big servers and because his anticipation and reactions are so good, he makes many returns which other players canвЂ™tДЇor Federer fans, this is worth a watch, to see whether Federer is playing consistently well and how he deals with such a big server. A huge server, he has the unofficial record for theВ fastest serve in the world ( 163mph) and his matches feature many tie-breaks.ДЇederer has no problems against big servers, he took apart Milos Raonic at Wimbledon this year and famously dominated Roddick, who had one of the most consistently fast serves the game has ever seen. Sam Groth has compiled a 6-9 winning record this year and his singles ranking is 104.

Roger Federer at the Open, by Angela N, CC BY 2.0ДЇederer served impeccably and was eager to get around hisВ backhand to play the big forehand.В Aggressive on return, he chipped and charged to apply pressure to Matosevic and also slammed some big forehand returns right onto the baseline. Federer is playing with great confidence, his backhand pass was on fire and even the tweener made an appearance. Having watched Federer play Matosevic on Monday, I would say that Sam Groth has little to no chance of beating Federer. Roger Federer (2) vs Sam Groth- 1st match on Arthur Ashe, Night Session Perhaps, playing this way, he could cause the upset? Certainly a match not to be missed. Thiem should come into this match in a relaxed manner, with nothing to lose, he can come in and hit-out with no expectations. Gublis is a head-case, on any day he can lose matches he shouldnвЂ™t, but even if this goes to five, I favour Gulbis. Having made the semis at Roland Garros this year, he has proven grand-slam success and is playing the best tennis of his career. Gulbis, one of my dark horses (check out my article for LWOS for my dark horses), is certainly the heavy favourite to win this match.

Since then, heвЂ™s beaten Wawrinka and made a final at KitzbГјhel, which has propelledВ him to a career-high ranking of 45. He started his year by qualifying for the Australian Open and making it to the 2nd round. Boasting a great one-handed backhand and powerful groundstrokes, he has the potential to causes upsets. ThiemвЂ™s one-hander is a real strength, by Kate, CC BY-SA 2.0ДЄt 21, Thiem is the young up-start with nothing to lose. ItвЂ™s already day five of the US Open?! The tournament rattles on but the quality of matches only increases, here are three you should watch.Дominic Thiem vs Ernests Gulbis (11)- 2nd match on Court 11, play starts at 11AM

The serve on grand slam tennis 2