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US Open ATP Day 3: Dimitrov, Gulbis Shine; Hewitt Falters

Aug 27th 2014

Day 3 of the US Open is always the quietest day on the men's side, due to the lower number of matches played. We had a total of 18 matches today–16 first-round matches and 2 second-round matches. And even more unfortunate was that three of today's men's singles matches ended in retirements. Still, there was plenty of exciting tennis and lots to learn moving forward.

Grigor Dimitrov

Honor Roll:
 
Grigor Dimitrov (defeated Harrison 62 76 62)- Ryan Harrison played the best match he played in over a year. Harrison was solid from the baseline and fought tooth and nail for every point. But Dimitrov was too strong for even Harrison's best and beat Ryan with ease. Dimitrov looks ready to compete to go deep here, and he has a draw conducive to doing that.
 
Ernests Gulbis (defeated De Schepper 61 64 62)- Gulbis was the master of efficiency throughout this match, a rarity for him. When Gulbis pays attention to his matches, he is a force to beat. And while he can fluctuate from match to match, if this match is any indication he is locked in for this tournament.
 
David Goffin (defeated Desein 61 63 63)- This match wasn't televised, but Goffin still impressed if the stats are anything to go by. Niels Dessein is not a top player, but Goffin dominated him. He has been playing lights-out tennis for the past few weeks now and the first-round scoreline indicated that nothing has changed.
 
Dominic Thiem (defeated Lacko 63 63 62)- This was another untelevised match, and Lacko is prone to poor play sometimes, but this is a strong result from Thiem. He is now in the top 50 but has not had many opportunities for good results at big events. A match against Gulbis in the next round will be a tremendous chance for that.

Lleyton Hewitt

Room for Improvement:
 
Lleyton Hewitt (lost to Berdych 36 46 36)- I feel bad putting Hewitt in this category. But he did not play well today. He was too defensive against an uncharacteristically timid Berdych and hit far too many poor errors. He lost in straight sets to a top-10 player, which is nothing to sneeze at, but it is a match that Hewitt could have won had he played even close to his best form from this year. It was not a disappointing result; it was a disappointing match.
 
Kevin Anderson (defeated Cuevas 63 67 46 62 76)- Cuevas is not a bad player,but he should not be able to break Anderson's serve three times in a match. Anderson needs to keep his serve huge and rip the forehands. He hit way too many errors in the match and couldn't stay in rhythm on his own serve. It was not a strong showing from the South African, but he advanced to fight another day.
 
Match of the Day:
 
Tucked away on Court 5, Frank Dancevic and Joao Sousa played an absolute classic. The match was back-and-forth from start to finish, with neither player ever able to grab a real advantage throughout the match. Also, it was quite cool (and confusing) that both players were decked out in the same garb- black shoes, black shorts, red shirt, and backwards white baseball cap.

The match itself was also intense. Both players' level fluctuated throughout the match, although Sousa had more periods of better play. In the end, though, nothing really separated the two. The match went to a fifth-set tiebreak. After the pair traded a pair of minibreaks early, Sousa ran away with it for the 7-2 tiebreak win. He ended the tense match with an absolute roar of delight and will get his next match against the on-fire David Goffin.