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After qualifying for the last two Grand Slams, including this year’s US Open, John-Patrick Smith will be looking for his first main draw win against Mikhail Youzhny in the opening round. Join The Roar for live score of the match from 1am AEST.
Like fellow Queenslander John Millman, who played yesterday, John-Patrick Smith has risen up the rankings in 2015.
With a Challenger win and final in Drummondville and Vancouver respectively, along with a semi-final at the ATP event in Newport, if results go his way in other matches, and Smith wins, Millman could crack the top 100 in two weeks’ time.
Regardless of whether that happens, with the win he should make it by the end of the year. Smith defends just 60 points for the rest of 2015 and has plenty of events to cover and improve on that.
He is also gaining results at ATP and Grand Slam level, as shown by his performance at Wimbledon and here in New York over the last week.
At the All England club, he fell short of a win in Round 1, with a five-set loss to Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
That loss would have provided him with plenty of experience and lessons that will come to the fore today. He plays Mikhail Youzhny who qualified for the event with three straight-set wins.
Youzhny, who has drifted outside of the top 100 in 2015 but is back in now, is playing his 13th US Open. It has been his best Grand Slam event, with two semi-finals in 2006 and 2010.
However the Russian has struggled this year, as age looks to have caught up with the former world number 8.
Before finding form in Montreal and Cincinnati, the 33-year-old lost six straight matches, including contests in Wimbledon and the French Open. He hasn’t won a Grand Slam match in his last four events and will be looking to break that against Smith.
These two faced each other in Montreal three weeks ago, with Youzhny winning 6-1 7-6, as Smith struggled with his serve.
His first serve must be at around 60 per cent and he must win plenty of free points from it.
Prediction
Youzhny’s experience will be the difference. He will capitalise on the big points, and defeat the Australian.
Youzhny 3-2.
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