2011 US Open: Upsets, Dark Horses, And Final Predictions

Arthur Ashe Stadium @ The US Open

Earlier this week the coveted 2011 US Open began. So far so good.

No big upsets on the mens side, but a very disappointing upset for the 6 seed Li Na, the French Open Champion. There were a couple unlikely pullouts from highly ranked players like Robin Soderling and Venus Williams.

Venus withdraws due to a diagnosis of an autoimmune syndrome which can cause joint pain.

Now i know many people think of tennis as a boring unexciting sport in which doesn't take much skill to master. Well it's not exactly like that. Tennis players incorporate a lot of cardio, strength and conditioning and practice just like every other major sport.

I'd consider tennis one of the mar key sports in the U.S. The four big tournaments throughout the year not only boost players recognition throughout the world, it helps the USTA expand its TV watchers and its television ratings.

Now getting back to the US Open, I have Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova as my champions.

Djokovic

This year has been known as the year of "the joker". Djokovic has only lost 2 matches the ENTIRE year throughout every tournament. The only better record than Novak's right now is the year John MacEnroe went 82-3. Djokovic has just been dominant and right now i think he's unbeatable. The way he plays, with his aggressive style, it allows him to attack not only when he's serving but when returning.

I've noticed that many players are hesitant when returning because they have to start further back so they're able to return the powerful serves. Djokovic just has a way of him that enables him to attack when not serving.

I picked Maria Sharapova as my womens champion. How do you not remember a few years ago? She was at the top but a shoulder injury put her almost at the bottom. She's worked her way back to a 3 seed and i believe has the experience here to win it all.

My dark horse for the mens is Andy Murray. He hasn't yet been to the top. Being in the back of the bus behind stars like Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer, I think Murray has the same type of talent as the big three but just has gotten caught up facing them early on in tournaments and has gotten bad draws with other unknown phonemes.

My dark horse pick for the Womens side has to be Serena Williams unquestionably. Since her recent blood clot sidelined her for an undefined amount of time, she has came back so quickly and just like Sharapova, she's making her way back to the top. But right now shes ranked at 28 and would be considered to me a dark horse since she's played so little this season.

I believe anythings possible at the US Open. Stay tuned to more blogs in the near future as the US Open continues throughout the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more!!!!

Im Zack Smolev reporting for Got Sports Blog see you next time viewers. Stay classy.