U.S. Open Tourney: Day 5 Odds and Picks
By Charles Bricker
Nicolas Lapentti (-140) vs. Denis Istomin (+129)
Two players who aren't going to make the second week of the Open. They’re evenly matched, but at opposite ends of their careers.
Nico is 33 years old, his Uzbekstani opponent is 23 and still trying to find his way in pro tennis. Lapentti is in his 12th U.S. Open and his first-round win was his first in New York since 2003. It was also his first Grand Slam win over five straight losses, so he's feeling good.
It was almost exactly 10 years ago that Lapentti reached a career-high of No. 6. This match pits experience against much fresher legs, but it's early enough in the tournament that experience is going to win. Lapentti is ranked No. 163 with a 9-13 record and Istomin is No. 108 with 12 wins, 12 losses.
Pick: Lapentti
(18) Na Li (-208) vs. Maria Kirilenko (+190)
The photographers will be out in force to snap the very appealing Kirilenko, and they won't care that she'll get her tail whupped by one of the most underrated players on the women's tour.
I'll take Li, but my fingers are crossed that her gamy right knee doesn't act up again. It's been a problem much of this season. Still, there's enough talent there to help you understand why she's got a 28-13 record and a ranking of No. 19.
Kirilenko is 16-19 and ranked No. 59 and you wonder about her total commitment after reaching No. 18 a little over a year ago. She's won only three of seven Grand Slam matches since.
Pick: Li
Robby Ginepri (-116) vs. Nicolas Almagro (+107)
A couple of physically strong players who like to muscle the ball from the baseline. This is a closer match than the rankings would suggest -- Almagro at No. 33 and Ginepri at No. 75. Still, the Spaniard rates a marginal edge.
This isn't going to be pretty with two up-and-down players. Ginepri is still catching up from the early-year weeks off tour recovering from an attack of appendicitis and I've never been able to figure out Almagro. He's a strong hard court player, despite his Spanish pedigree, yet he went after three clay tournaments following Wimbledon and, as a result, has had only three hard court matches coming to the Open.
He needed a fourth-set tiebreak to take down Steve Darcis of Belgium in the first round while Neps removed 35-year-old Andrei Pavel.
Up and down? That's Ginepri's trademark. He virtually disappeared after reaching the Open semis in 2005. This year, he won Indianapolis, then dropped three matches in a row.
Pick: Almagro
Taylor Dent (-163) vs. Ivan Navarro (+150)
That was a fine win Navarro had in the first round over Ivo Karlovic, but this time he's facing a big server who also has a ground game.
There will be a lot of sentiment on the court and Dent will try to galvanize his support into an edge. Once ranked No. 21, he was off the tour for nearly three years with a very serious back surgery, but has come back and is slowly, slowly putting the pieces together.
He crunched a 144 mph serve in beating Feliciano Lopez and had 18 aces, but he'll have to jack up his 67 percent efficiency at the net because that's an integral part of his game. I like Dent, and for more than just sentimental reasons.
Pick: Dent