US Open, Day 1: five Argentines take to the field in New York on a Monday that could be unforgettable

The US Openthe last Grand Slam of the season, which is played on concrete, will kick off this Monday with an unmissable program: the debut of five Argentines –Facundo Cerundolo, Nadia Podoroska, Thomas Etcheverry, Facundo Bagni Y Pedro Cachin– and an unbeatable program for the day of the legendary Arthur Ashe.

The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center of Flushing Meadows will open its doors at noon in our country and we will not have to wait to see the blue and white rackets in action. He will be one of the first to jump on the pitch Cerúndolo24th seeded, which will face each other in the first round of the stadium Louis Armstrong (from 12) to Scottish Andy Murrayformer world number one and contest champion in 2012.

After two seasons struggling with a couple of injuries that saw him drop out of the top 170, the 49th-place Brit is once again playing at a highly competitive level. And although he is far from his best level, he will not be an easy rival for Buenos Aires. Although Francisco, who will play the main draw of this tournament for the first time, is experiencing the best season of his short career and already a few months ago he demonstrated that he can compete and win on this type of surface, reaching the semifinal in Miami at March.

Also in the first round, but on field 4, he will play Facundo Bagni, one of the two Argentines entered the scene from Qualy. The Santa Fe, 32 years old and 106th in the ATP, will clash with the venue sebastian Korda, 22nd and 52nd, an American with many projections for the future, who arrives from the quarter-finals in Washington and from the eighth in Cincinnati. The Argentine lost three weeks ago in the second round of Los Cabos, the last hard court tournament he played on this tour before qualifying in New York.

On the same field in which Bagnis will perform Nadia Podoroska, debuting what will be his first Grand Slam main draw in a season. Rosario, who is 190th in the WTA rankings, has entered directly into the main draw with a protected ranking, having struggled in the last year with various injuries, and will make her debut against the Slovakian Anna Schmiedlova116th, in the last match of the day on that stage, around 20:00 La Peque will be the only Argentine in the women’s tournament.

Thomas Etcheverry will face, in the second round of court 8 – around 14: 00-, the Spaniards Pablo Andujar. The player from La Plata, 86th in the standings and another of the new generation racquets who is having a good season, will play his first US Open and arrives without a restart on the hard court, having played two challengers on the last two weeks. brick dust (he was a semifinalist in both). And he will face a lower ranked rival (92nd), but with much more experience than him, who will play the tournament for the tenth time.

Pedro Cachinmeanwhile, he will clash with the Slovenian Aljaz Bedène on field 15, around 19:00 in our country (fourth round). The Cordovan starts, 66th in the standings. In July, after winning the Todi Challenger and reaching the final in Verona, in consecutive weeks, he entered the top 100 for the first time. And last week he was crowned in the Santo Domingo Challenger, on clay. His rival has not played since late July (lost in the first round in Umag) and entered the draw in the protected standings (he is 343rd).

The other four Argentines who participated in the competition will have to wait until Tuesday to debut. Diego Schwartzmannseeded 14th, will do it against local Jack Sock; Sebastian Baezagainst the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (3rd); Federico Coria, against the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor; Y Frederic Delbonisthe other emerged from the standings, against John Isner.

Medvedev, Serena and an Australian duel not to be missed

Stadium Arthur Ashe It will be the scene of three unmissable duels, which will steal the spotlight on the first day of competition. In the first match of the day (at 13 in our country) the Russian will make his debut Daniel Medvedev, world number one and reigning champion. The Muscovite should pass the first round with solvency, as he will clash with the American (born in Macedonia) Stefan Kozlov110th in the standings, arriving with a record of just 4-6 this season on the ATP circuit.

Medvedev had a good prep tour for the US Open, with a title in Los Cabos and a semifinal in Cincinnati, last week. He wants to add his second “big” trophy, but he also has a particular motivation: he must reach the final at least in order not to risk losing the number one, which could be stolen by four players, Rafael Nadal (the best position to do it), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud.

The night session on the central court will see two races that promise great emotions. Starting from 20 in Argentina, Serena Williams he will play what could be the last game of his long and extraordinary career (at least in singles, since he will also compete in doubles with his sister Venus). The American, who a few weeks ago announced that she could retire after this tournament, will clash with the Montenegrin Danka Kovinic (80 °).

Almost 41 years old (it will be September 26) and placed in the 608th step of the ranking, the former number one will begin his journey in New York, where he dreams of putting the finishing touches on his career and conquering his 24th Grand Prix Grand Prix , to match the Australian’s record Margherita Corte.

The close of the day, after the Williams game, will be left to Nick Kyrgios Y Thanasi Kokkinakis, who will meet for the first time in a big circuit tournament. Friends off the court and promising young Australian tennis players, who for various reasons did not meet the expectations they generated as a junior, made history this year by winning the Grand Slam doubles title together in their country. And they repeated the celebration a few weeks ago in Atlanta.

Singles have different moments. Kyrgios enjoys a great sporting moment. runner up Wimbledon, title winner in Washington and semifinalist in Stuttgart and Halle so far in the second half of the year, plays at a high level and is ranked 26th, his best position in more than two years. Meanwhile, Kokkinakis, 70th, hasn’t managed to win two consecutive matches on the main draw of an ATP since May, when he lost in the quarter-finals in Geneva. But after several seasons of ups and downs, injuries and a lack of confidence, he recently claimed to be in “the best physical condition of his life”. For this reason and for the alchemy between them, the Australians will create a show worthy of the occasion.

Another game that will be worth programming is the one they will play in Louis Armstrongaround 8 pm, Tsitsipasfourth favorite, and the Colombian Daniel Galanemerged from quality. Recently a finalist in Cincinnati, the Greek is looking for his first Grand Slam in New York and a performance that will allow him to climb to the top of the rankings, with the help of other results.