Three Things To Watch: Day 5
Dustin Brown, a 6-foot-5 native of Jamaica with a serve in the high 130s, goes up against Andy Murray on Friday. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
SI.com’s daily menu of must-see happenings at the U.S. Open (all times Eastern).
• Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. Ryan Harrison (Grandstand, 11 a.m.): The 18-year-old Harrison, preordained as the next Next Big Thing in American men's tennis, lived up to advance billing with Wednesday's stirring upset of 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic. Stakhovsky, fresh off bagging his second title of the season at last week's New Haven event, is up to No. 36 in the rankings and should prove a stern test for the youngest player in the ATP Top 250. With a booming serve in the 130s, the Shreveport, La., native is one or two victories away from an Oudin-style breakthrough.
• Virginie Razzano vs. Ana Ivanovic (Louis Armstrong Stadium, third match): You're forgiven if you've yet to buy in on the resurgence of Ivanovic, the former World No. 1 who's been powerless to stop her downslide in the rankings over the past two years. The 22-year-old Serb looked capable in a first-round victory over Ekaterina Makarova and downright impressive in a dismantling of No. 21 seed Zheng Jie on Wednesday. Razzano is coming off an impressive second-round showing of her own -- an upset of 13th-seeded Marion Bartoli -- and is just two matches away from matching her career-best quarterfinal appearance here in 2008.
• No. 4 Andy Murray vs. Dustin Brown (Arthur Ashe Staduium, third match): Of the 128 players in the main draw, just one hails from Great Britain. One-and-a-half, sort of, if you count Brown. A 25-year-old native of Jamaica, Brown announced in June his thoughts of splitting from the Jamaician Tennis Association due to lack of funding and support. At 6-foot-5, his booming serve should challenge the fourth-ranked Murray. But it's hard to imagine Brown's chip-and-charge style getting the better of the 23-year-old Scot, who's possibly the best returner in the world.
Others to watch:
