US Open 2012: Definitive Guide for Entire Tennis Tournament
The final major of tennis' four Grand Slam tournaments in 2012 is just around the corner.
The U.S. Open will start this coming Monday, August 27 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, NY, and the world's elite players will be present for their shot at a piece of history.
There are a lot of burning questions and storylines ahead of the start of the year's final major:
Roger Federer's amazing run to reach the pinnacle of the tennis world yet again and his quest for an 18th Grand Slam title.
Last year it was all about Novak Djokovic. The year he's had, compared to his achievements last year, could be considered disappointing. But that is because of how high he set the bar last season.
A win on September 9 will erase any sour memories he might have from this year.
Andy Murray seems to finally have had a breakthrough while dominating Roger Federer for the first time in a final at the Olympics. Will this be the tournament that finally gives him that elusive first Grand Slam title?
Can anyone stop Serena Williams? All signs point to Williams as the only one capable of achieving such a feat.
Maria SharePoint, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and even Samantha Stosur, who conquered her last year, look helpless in preventing Williams from winning her fourth U.S. Open crown.
Those are just some of the interesting questions and storylines surrounding this year's edition.
Let's take a look at some comprehensive information that will serve as your definitive guide for entire 2012 U.S. Open tennis tournament.
Schedule of Play
1 of 4The U.S. Open will start on Monday, August 27 and will run through Sunday, September 9.
During those two weeks, two sessions will be held daily with the 'Day' session starting at 11:00 ET and the 'Night' session starting at 7:00 ET.
The only exception to this will be on the second Friday (September 7) when there will only be a 'Day' session played.
You want to keep track of which rounds are being played every day, so here is the complete schedule of play for both weeks at the U.S. Open.
Session | Day | Date |
| Time (ET) | Scheduled Matches |
1 | Monday | 8/27 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men’s & Women’s 1st Round |
2 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men’s & Women’s 1st Round |
3 | Tuesday | 8/28 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men’s & Women’s 1st Round |
4 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men’s & Women’s 1st Round |
5 | Wednesday | 8/29 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's 1st Round/Women's 2nd Round |
6 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's & Women's 2nd Round |
7 | Thursday | 8/30 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's & Women's 2nd Round |
8 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's & Women's 2nd Round |
9 | Friday | 8/31 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's 2nd Round/Women's 3rd Round |
10 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's 2nd Round/Women's 3rd Round |
11 | Saturday | 9/1 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's & Women's 3rd Round |
12 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's & Women's 3rd Round |
13 | Sunday | 9/2 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's 3rd Round/Women’s Round of 16 |
14 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's 3rd Round/Women’s Round of 16 |
15 | Monday | 9/3 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's & Women’s Round of 16 |
16 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's & Women’s Round of 16 |
17 | Tuesday | 9/4 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's Round of 16/Women's Quarterfinals |
18 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's Round of 16/Women's Quarterfinals |
19 | Wednesday | 9/5 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's and/or Women's Quarterfinals |
20 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's and/or Women's Quarterfinals |
21 | Thursday | 9/6 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's Quarterfinals/Mixed Doubles Final |
22 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Men's Quarterfinals |
23 | Friday | 9/7 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men’s Doubles Final/Women’s Semifinals |
24 | Saturday | 9/8 | Day | 11:00 a.m. | Men's Semifinals |
25 |
|
| Night | 7:00 p.m. | Women’s Final/Pre-Match Ceremony |
26 | Sunday | 9/9 | Day | 12:00 p.m. | Women’s Doubles Final/Men’s Final |
All schedule information via usopen.org.
Coverage Information
2 of 4Do not worry about missing your favorite players at the U.S. Open.You will be able to see live and delayed action on TV as well as online at the official U.S. Open website.
CBS/CBS Sports Network, ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel will carry both live and delayed coverage on TV.
Below you will find the complete coverage information for this year's tournament.
ONLINE COVERAGE LINKS
LIVE TV COVERAGE SCHEDULE
DATE | TIME (ET) | MATCHES/PROGRAMMING | NETWORK |
8/27 | 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | 1st Round* 1st Round Primetime at the US Open: 1st Round | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
8/28 | 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | 1st Round* 1st Round Primetime at the US Open: 1st Round | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
8/29 | 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Men's First Round/Women's 2nd Round* Men's First Round/Women's 2nd Round Primetime at the US Open: 2nd Round | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
8/30 | 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | 2nd Round* 2nd Round Primetime at the US Open: 2nd Round | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
8/31 | 11:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Men's Second Round/Women's 3rd Round* Men's Second Round/Women's 3rd Round Primetime at the US Open: Men's 2nd/ /Women's 3rd Round | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
9/1 | 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. 12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | 3rd Round 3rd Round
3rd Round | CBS Sports Network CBS/CBS Sports Network Tennis Channel |
9/2 | 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Men's Third Round/Women's Round of 16
Men's Third Round/Women's Round of 16 | CBS/CBS Sports Network Tennis Channel |
9/3 | 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Round of 16
Primetime at the US Open: Round of 16 | CBS/CBS Sports Network ESPN2 |
9/4 | 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Men's Round of 16/Women's Quarterfinals Men's Round of 16/Various Doubles Matches** Primetime at the US Open: Men's Round of 16/Women's Quarterfinal | ESPN2 Tennis Channel ESPN2 |
9/5 | 11:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. Noon - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. -11:00 p.m. | Doubles/Juniors** Quarterfinals Primetime at the US Open: Quarterfinals | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
9/6 | 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Noon - 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. | Doubles/Juniors** Men's Quarterfinal/Mixed Doubles Final Primetime at the US Open: Special Doubles Exhibition/Men's Quarterfinal | Tennis Channel ESPN2 ESPN2 |
9/7 | 12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Men's Doubles Final/Women's Singles Semifinals | CBS |
9/8 | Noon - 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m. | Men's Singles Semifinals Women's Singles Final | CBS CBS |
9/9 | 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Women's Doubles Final Men's Singles Final | ESPN2 CBS |
* From 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Tennis Channel coverage will emanate from Grandstand, Court 17, Court 11 and/or Court 13 only
** From 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Tennis Channel coverage will emanate from outside of Arthur Ashe Stadium and will not include matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium
All coverage information via usopen.org.
Women's Draw
3 of 4Samantha Stosur became the first Australian woman in 31 years to win a Grand Slam title when she defeated American Serena Williams in straight sets to take the women's singles title last year.
Stosur made an unfathomable number of forehand winners (203) and set two other records along the way. She played the longest match (3 hours 18 minutes in her victory over Nadia Petrova) and the longest tiebreaker (32 minutes in the second set against Maria Kirilenko).
She will simply have to make another remarkable run to be able to win again.
The favorite has to be seed No. 4 Serena Williams and more so after the favorable section of the draw she is in. The highest seed in her draw is No. 8 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who has only one win against Williams in six tries.
She could end up facing former World No. 1 and No. 12 seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals, who is winless in three tries against Williams.
Contrary to Williams, top seed Victoria Azarenka can't be very happy about the opponents on her section of the draw. Big-serving Sabine Lisicki could meet her in the fourth round and could face Stosur in the quarterfinals.
That is, if Stosur survives against either No. 9 seed Li Na, who is red hot coming to the tournament or No. 23 seed Kim Clijsters, who has been unbeaten at the Open since 2004—she won the 2005, 2009 and 2010 editions while missing the other years with injuries.
Seed No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska also has a tough section of the draw. Former No. 1 and No. 30 seed Jelena Jankovic could face her in the round of 32. Radwanska is 2-2 against Jankovic in her lifetime, and her two wins have been in three tough sets.
If Radwanska is able to get past that match, she will have to face in the quarterfinals either No. 6 seed Angelique Kerber or possibly Venus Williams, who are in the top part of her section.
The prize for any of them will be a semifinal clash against Serena Williams.
Seed No. 3 Maria Sharapova won the silver medal at the Olympics and then had to withdraw from the Rogers Cup due to a stomach virus.
She will probably be able to make it to her quarterfinal match against No. 5 seed Petra Kvitova, who defeated Sharapova in the 2011 Wimbledon finals. But Sharapova has dominated Kvitova in the last three matches that they have played.
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Men's Draw
4 of 4Novak Djokovic capped his incredible season last year with a win over then-defending champion Rafael Nadal in an epic final to win his first U.S. Open title and third Grand Slam title of 2011.
Djokovic's bid for a second consecutive championship in New York and fifth major title in two years could end happy, as he will have a very favorable draw most probably thanks to Nadal withdrawing due to tendinitis on his left knee.
In the top of his section, No. 10 seed Juan Monaco or 2003 champ and No. 20 seed Andy Roddick should be the players to challenge No. 7 seed Juan Martin Del Potro. Whoever comes out the winner should be in the quarterfinals against Djokovic.
Djokovic's draw doesn't feature a semifinal match against five-time champion Roger Federer. They had played in the semis at the Open every year since 2008. Now, their potential meeting in the final would be their first in a Slam since the 2007 U.S. Open.
Federer is back to being the No. 1 player in the world after his win at Wimbledon and just showd his best game while winning in Cincinnati over Djokovic in the finals.
He won't have an easy draw to make it to the finals. Even if he makes it, will he have enough gas left in the tank to win his 18th Grand Slam championship?
No. 25 seed and two-time quarterfinalist Fernando Verdasco will likely wait for him in the third round, while former top-10 player Mardy Fish could be his match in the fourth round and then, the ever-dangerous No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych would follow in the quarterfinals.
Should he make it to the semifinals, he will likely need to go through his Olympic finals conqueror, No. 3 seed Andy Murray. This is a match that everyone will be looking forward to, after their Wimbledon-Olympics finals doubleheader.
Murray will also be spent if he reaches the semifinals. No. 30 seed Feliciano Lopez could face him on the third round and big-hitting No. 15 seed Milos Raonic, who has a win in their only officially played match, should be waiting for him in the fourth round.
In the quarterfinals he will most certainly be facing either No. 5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 12 seed Marin Cilic or No. 17 seed Kei Nishikori. While he has winning records against all three, neither matchup will be a cakewalk.
David Ferrer should thank fellow Nadal for his No. 4 seed and getting the easiest quarter in the men's draw. But his reward will be a potential semifinal against Djokovic.
His quarter is filled with players that he has dominated with one exception: his possible round of 32 opponent, No. 28 seed Mikhail Youzhny.
Ferrer has three wins in seven matches against Youzhny, two of them on clay. Youzhny has won their only outdoor hard-court match and three-of-four on indoor hard courts.
If Ferrer goes through, he has winning records against his two likely opponents in the quarterfinals.
On the top side, Tipsarevic will possibly face Viktor Troicki in a battle of Serbians in the round of 32.
Ferrer has two wins in three matches against No. 8 seed Janko Tipsarevic and three wins in four matches against big-serving No. 9 seed John Isner.
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