US OPEN Update: Draw Released

In the first round of the 2006 US Open Andy, as the number nine seed, will face France’s Florent Serra. At the draw ceremony, which was held at the UN in NYC, Andy’s name was pulled out of the 2006 US Open trophy and he was placed in the bottom half of the draw. But while this means he will avoid Roger Federer until the final, no draw is easy and there are plenty of banana skins surrounding Andy.

US Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe attended the draw ceremony which was held at 11pm on Wednesday and was concerned at Andy’s draw. He conceded, “This is the toughest quarter.” The second round could see Andy face either Alberto Martin or a qualifier and in the third round he is seeded to meet Fernando Verdasco. Also in Andy’s quarter of the draw are Marcos Baghdatis, Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet and Ivan Ljubicic.

Speaking at the draw McEnroe commented on how well Andy has been playing under the guidance of Jimmy Connors. With his Cincy victory Andy won the US Open series for the second year in a row and McEnroe praised the effect Connors has had on Andy’s game: “He has made huge strides in Andy’s game… Andy’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play, coming into the net, being aggressive, stepping in to receive passes and make shots, serving huge, and his positive mindset is a huge aspect… It said a lot about Andy that Jimmy was very interested in working with Andy after he got in touch with Jim.”

The main draw action gets underway on Monday, August 28 at Flushing Meadows. Andy will now have a few days to complete his final preparations and get ready for his first round encounter against Serra. Go Andy!!