The last grand slam event of the year is always on North American soil. The US Open is the 'grand slam of the Americas.' Another interesting field of players in various classes will vie for the various amounts of tennis lore on display.
For instance, the men's singles. No Rafa Nadal because he had to withdraw due to injury. Nadal was last year's men's singles champion of the Open, who ended his over the year grand slam championship draught with his win. Juan Martin del Potro, who won men's singles in 2009, also has withdrawn due to injury.
Also the question: will Serena Williams win another singles title at the Open? After all, she is the defending women's singles champion. Also the Bryan brothers, the most dominating siblings in doubles tennis. Could they get another title? So many stories to devour for the next fifteen days.
Here are the notable first round matches of interest (singles):
MEN
(1) Novak Djokovic v Diego Schwartzman
(2) Roger Federer v Marinko Matosevic
(3) Stan Wawrinka v Jiri Vesely
(4) David Ferrer v Damir Dzumhur
(5) Milos Raonic v Taro Daniel
(6) Tomas Berdych v Lleyton Hewitt
(7) Grigor Dimitrov v Ryan Harrison
(8) Andy Murray v Robin Haase
(9) Jo Wilfried Tsonga v Juan Monaco
(10) Kei Nishikori v Wayne Odesnik
(11) Ernests Gulbis v Kenny de Schepper
(12) Richard Gasquet v Denis Istomin
(13) John Isner v Marcos Giron
(14) Marin Cilic v Marcos Baghdatis
(15) Fabio Fognini v Andrey Golubev
(16) Tommy Robredo v Edouard Roger Vasselin
(17) Roberto Bautista Agut v Andreas Haider Maurer
(18) Kevin Anderson v Pablo Cuevas
(19) Feliciano Lopez v Ivan Dodig
(20) Gael Monfils v Jared Donaldson
(21) Mikhail Youzhny v Nick Kyrgios
(22) Philipp Kohlschreiber v Facundo Bagnis
(23) Leonardo Mayer v Albert Montanes
(24) Julien Benneteau v Benoit Paire
(25) Ivo Karlovic v Jarkko Nieminen
(26) Gilles Simon v Radu Albot
(27) Santiago Giraldo v Teymuraz Gabashvili
(29) Lukas Rosol v Borna Coric
(30) Jeremy Chardy v Alejandro Falla
(31) Fernando Verdasco v Blaz Rola
(32) Joao Sousa v Frank Dancevic
Nicolas Mahut v Thomaz Bellucci
Radek Stepanek v Matthias Bachinger
Sam Querrey v Maximo Gonzalez
Donald Young v Blaz Kavcic
Michael Llodra v Daniel Gimeno Traver
Gilles Muller v Paul Henri Mathieu
Bernard Tomic v Dustin Brown
Jurgen Melzer v Marcel Granollers
Benjamin Becker v Peter Gojowczyk
Jack Sock v Pablo Andujar
Sergiy Stakhovsky v Andreas Seppi
Vasek Pospisil v Simone Bolelli
Steve Darcis v Martin Klizan
Jerzy Janowicz v Dusan Lajovic
Steve Johnson v Tatsuma Ito
Andrey Kuznetsov v Bradley Klahn
Lukas Lacko v Dominic Thiem
Dmitry Tursonov v Alejandro Gonzalez
Adrian Mannarino v Pere Riba
Dudi Sela v Carlos Berlocq
David Goffin v Niels Desein
WOMEN
(1) Serena Williams v Taylor Townsend
(2) Simona Halep v Danielle Rose Collins
(3) Petra Kvitova v Kristina Mladenovic
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska v Sharon Fichman
(5) Maria Sharapova v Maria Kirilenko
(6) Angelique Kerber v Ksenia Pervak
(7) Eugenie Bouchard v Olga Govortsova
(8) Ana Ivanovic v Alison Riske
(9) Jelena Jankovic v Bojana Jovanovski
(10) Caroline Wozniacki v Magdalena Rybarikova
(11) Flavia Pennetta v Julia Goerges
(12) Dominika Cibulkova v Catherine Bellis
(13) Sara Errani v Kirsten Flipkens
(14) Lucie Safarova v Timea Babos
(15) Carla Suarez Navarro v Ajla Tomljanovic
(16) Victoria Azarenka v Misaki Doi
(17) Ekaterina Makarova v Grace Min
(18) Andrea Petkovic v Ons Jabeur
(19) Venus Williams v Kimiko Date Krumm
(20) Svetlana Kuznetsova v Marina Erakovic
(21) Sloane Stephens v Annika Beck
(22) Alize Cornet v Amandine Hesse
(23) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Teliana Pereira
(24) Sam Stosur v Lauren Davis
(25) Garbine Muguruza v Mirjana Lucic Baroni
(26) Sabine Lisicki v Francoise Abanda
(27) Madison Keys v Jarmila Gajdosova
(28) Roberta Vinci v Paula Ormaechea
(29) Casey Dellacqua v Patricia Mayr Achleitner
(30) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova v Ashleigh Barty
(32) Shuai Zhang v Mona Barthel
Francesca Schiavone v Vania King
Daniela Hantuchova v Romina Oprandi
Karin Knapp v Tsvetana Pironkova
Sorana Cirstea v Heather Watson
Shuai Peng v Jie Zheng
Anastasia Rodionova v Camila Giorgi
Yanina Wickmayer v Belinda Bencic
Kaia Kanepi v Pauline Parmentier
Virginie Razzano v Johanna Larsson
Varvara Lepchenko v Alison van Uytvanck
Christina McHale v Chanelle Scheepers
Coco Vandeweghe v Donna Vekic
Elena Vesnina v Yung Jan Chan
Monica Puig v Tereza Smitkova
Yaroslava Shvedova v Monica Niculescu
Elina Svitolina v Polona Hercog
Lesia Tsurenko v Zarina Diyas
Irina Camelia Begu v Silvia Soler Espinosa
Kiki Bertens v Timea Bacsinszky
Karolina Pliskova v Yvonne Meusberger
First round is Monday and this odyssey rolls until Monday afternoon, the 8th of September. Here in the states, just go there and enjoy, or watch some, if not all (try it!) of the more than 130 hours of live coverage across five networks: ESPN, ESPN2, Tennis Channel, CBS and CBS Sports Network. For CBS Sports, it is their 47th and final year at the Open because of the new deal for the ESPN/ABC family beginning next year. Longer than NBC's relationship with the All England Lawn and Tennis Club! No TV, go on USOpen.org! Radio and live video from around the ground! It is the last grand slam of the year. Enjoy it, because the Aussie Open is in January!
