Svetlana Kuznetsova versus Caroline Wozniacki

It is never easy to come back from injury.  It takes hard work to once again become both physically and mentally match tough.  Then there are the pitfalls that come when that ranking takes a tumble and the more difficult draws that come as a result.  Those are challenges that Caroline Wozniacki has become all too familiar with of late, and they are also the reason why she finds herself with the unenviable task of facing ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.

Kuznetsova is a veteran opponent who has shown herself capable of defeating anyone on any given day.  She has a great all-around game that helped her rise to a career-high Number 2 in singles and Number 3 in doubles.  A player with a reputation for being erratic, she has enjoyed a resurgence of good form throughout this season that has seen her capture the title in Sydney as well as defeat Serena Williams on her way to the final in Miami.  She is a two-time major singles champion, including a former winner here at the US Open in 2004, and she would dearly love to add to that tally.

Of course, Wozniacki has enjoyed an impressive career as well.  Although she has yet to win a slam, she has been to the finals of the US Open on two occasions and climbed all the way to the apex of the rankings.  She also has twenty-three career singles titles to her name, including at the prestigious events in Montreal and Indian Wells.  Recent injuries have caused her ranking to slide down to world no. 74, but no doubt in her mind, there is no time like the present to begin turning things around.

The Dane will have her work cut out for her, however, if she is to cause the upset.  Kuznetsova is capable of matching her in terms of their court coverage and movement, and arguably is currently better in that department with that aspect of Wozniacki's game not yet up to par.  Wozniacki is also lacking the same level of consistency that helped take her to the top, though if the Russian is having one of her more erratic days, her present level may be enough.  That said, Kuznetsova is naturally the more offensive of the two and gets more pop from both the ground and the serve.  She owns the superior transitional game as well, which should be rewarded on these fast hard courts.  In essence, she ought to be the one dictating play the majority of the time.

Kuznetsova should enjoy the mental edge when this pair takes to the court, too, although it might not look it at first glance.  Their rivalry is all even at six victories each, and their previous encounters have included many enthralling three-set battles.  They have also met four times at the majors and split those meetings at two apiece, though both of the Dane's victories did come at Flushing Meadows.  But outside of her semifinal run in Auckland at the start of this season, Wozniacki has struggled to string together wins, and there is no substitute for match play and the confidence it produces.  Kuznetsova by contrast has enjoyed more success this season than in recent years, and she comes in knowing she defeated Wozniacki in the opening round of Wimbledon earlier this summer.  There is no denying it is the Russian who is in the better place mentally to more successfully execute her game plan.

Just because a player is in pole position does not mean that she always takes advantage of it, however, that has historically been an issue for Kuznetsova.  She can be an enigma, and if she is having a bad day at the office, Wozniacki might find a way to benefit at her expense.  But Kuznetsova should rise to the occasion much like she did at Wimbledon.  She has the superior game, has enjoyed the better season, and as long as she plays within herself and keeps that unforced error count down, she is getting through to the third round.

Angelique Kerber versus Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Plenty of storylines have already emerged at this year's edition of the US Open, but one of the hottest topics remains the race for Number 1 on the women's side.  Angelique Kerber has been piecing together the greatest season of her career to put herself in a position to overtake Serena Williams for that coveted spot.  In fact, she fell just one victory shy of doing exactly that in Cincinnati.  She will have another bite at the carrot here in New York, and to help her chances, she will need to get by the dangerous Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Kerber will definitely be the heavy favorite in this contest, and it is thanks in no small part to the stellar season she has enjoyed thus far.  She has been quite consistent throughout the majority of the year, but the pinnacle came at the start of the season when she stunned the tennis world to claim her maiden major singles title over Williams at the Australian Open.  She has backed that up nicely since then, reaching the finals of Wimbledon and the Olympics.  She has ascended to Number 2 in the rankings and with a good run here might just go one notch higher.

Lucic-Baroni is presently ranked fifty-five places below her German opponent, but she is hardly a stranger to success.  She was a top junior and holds the record for being the youngest player to ever defend a singles title.  She climbed to Number 32 in the rankings and made the Top 20 in doubles before personal and tragic problems off court led to extended absences from the tour, derailing her career.  She found a way to comeback, though, and in 2014, she found herself the Cinderella story of the US Open with her run to the Round of 16, which included a victory over Simona Halep along the way.  She has seen and achieved enough in her life that she should have no qualms about playing spoiler in this match.

The Croat likely has the weaponry to garner the upset, too.  She is an overly aggressive baseliner with explosive shot-making ability from both wings and on her serve.  Her groundstrokes tend to be flat and penetrating, which is often a winning combination on the courts of the US Open, so if she is in the zone, it could be a long day for Kerber.  The German will test Lucic-Baroni's consistency, however, as she is one of the greatest retrievers on tour.  She is arguably the best returner in the game right now as well, so she is unlikely to give away too many free points.  But if there is one area where Kerber needs to be careful it is that she does not want to fall into the habit of becoming passive.  She has made great strides in 2016 to be more offensive instead of heavily relying on her defensive skills, and she should make sure she does so in this contest.

In addition to striking the right balance between offense and defense, Kerber needs to stay within the moment and ride out any storms that the Croat may throw her way.  Between all of her match victories this year and her flawless 3-0 record against Lucic-Baroni, she should have more confidence on the pivotal points.  But fans have seen what Lucic-Baroni can do when she is free to swing away.  And there is also no telling what the pressure of trying to claim the Number 1 ranking might do to the German's nerves.  If Lucic-Baroni can keep some scoreboard pressure on Kerber, then things could get trickier for the second seed.

Only time will tell whether or not this becomes a complicated endeavor for Kerber.  There is potentially more danger for the possible upset in this match than at first meets the eye, but that does not mean that it is likely.  Kerber is the heavy favorite, and if she handles the moment, she is advancing to the third round.