Opening Round Action at the U.S. Open

Sorry I've been away so long (I even had a few ideas for summer posts that I didn't get to!). Well, this is a tennis player's last shot at major glory before the sport goes back into quiet time before the year-end tournaments, and you know players should be giving everything they have to make this shot count. With that in mind, here are a few thoughts on what we've seen so far:
• Scary incident: Tennis shouldn't be feeling too good today, one day after one of the top women's contenders, Victoria Azarenka, went down with a head injury - literally. She collapsed on court, trailing 1-5 to Gisela Dulko. More on that later, though.
• The American men: Andy Roddick is gone, but the U.S. men still have plenty to talk about as Round 2 gets underway. Sam Querrey, John Isner, Mardy Fish, James Blake, Taylor Dent and young Ryan Harrison are still in, and I fully expect at least two of those guys to be alive for weekend action.
• Ho hum: That's what much of the women's tournament has been like. On the opening Monday, all 16 seeded women advanced to the second round! On Day 2, we did get a few upsets, the biggest probably being Li Na, who fell to Katerina Bondarenko, but 28 of the 32 seeded women were still in the tournament as of the end of the first round. As of this writing, six unseeded players have reached the third round, but three of them (Patty Schnyder, Ana Ivanovic and Virginie Razzano) are hardly what you'd call surprises. to be honest, there isn't that much to be excited about in the women's draw this year. Clijsters vs. Kvitova is probably the most exciting third-round match (potentially), or Stosur vs. Kleybanova (upset potential there). Jankovic vs. Kanepi also has the potential to be good - if it happens. Wozniacki vs. Sharapova is still the Round of 16 match to watch for. Beyond that, I'm hoping for a Clijsters vs. Williams semifinal, but that might be the de facto final. The women just seem a couple stars short . . . oh wait. They are. Here's to hoping Serena Williams and Justine Henin get back into fighting shape sooner, rather than later.
• A little better: The men have been a little more topsy-turvy. The biggest guns - Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray are in and looking to be at different points right now. There's the American crowd, of course, and there's been a few upsets as well.
Marcos Baghdatis and Tomas Berdych have been sent packing, along with Ernests Gulbis, Radek Stepanek, Juan Monaco, Fernando Gonzalez, Ivan Ljubicic and former champions Lleyton Hewitt and Roddick. As of right now, only 23 of the 32 seeds are still in, but you still get the feeling there are some exciting matches to come. Advantage men, this tournament.
• Fearful predictions - women: I think we see Clijsters/Williams in the semis. Venus had a tough time with Rebecca Marino yesterday, but if her knee's okay, I'm not too worried about her draw, especially now that Azarenka is out. The other side is much less predictable, but Maria Sharapova has shown signs of life this summer. Caroline Wozniacki is the hottest player coming in, but I don't know if she's ready to win a Slam yet. Jelena Jankovic has been quiet, but Vera Zvonareva did some nice things this summer. I'll pick Sharapova to reach the finals.
• Fearful predictions - men: I don't think Rafael Nadal reaches the finals. His draw is pretty good, but he'll likely have Andy Murray waiting for him in the semis, and I think Murray's got his number on this surface. For the bottom half, it's hard to imagine anyone getting through Roger Federer, but I thought the same thing at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and look how that turned out! It's hard to pick someone other than Federer, but if I have to make a second pick, it would probably be Robin Soderling. Djokovic's draw doesn't look so bad, but there are obstacles there. I'll pick him third.
Back with more later.