Early Upsets Thin US Open Field
This has been a rough patch for Gilles Simon. After getting bounced from the second round at the Winston-Salem Open, Simon is now a first-round casualty at the US Open, falling in five sets to Donald Young during Tuesday’s action at Flushing Meadows. The 11th-seed joins No. 4 Kei Nishikori and No. 16 Gael Monfils among the early departures. The women’s draw has been even more chaotic, with five of the top 16 seeds failing to reach Day 3. The highest seed to hit the showers was No. 6 Lucie Safarova, who didn’t put up much of a fight in Tuesday’s straight-set loss to Lesya Tsurenko. No. 7 seed and former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was among Monday’s early eliminations, although she managed to extend former top 10 player Dominika Cibulkova to three sets. Serena Williams is threatening to take all the drama out of her Grand Slam quest. The top women’s favorite is playing at a significantly higher level than any other woman, and World’s No. 3 Maria Sharapova (right leg) had already withdrawn from the tournament. Now Serena’s path to the title is even easier. Men’s favorite Novak Djokovic has plenty of work to do by comparison.