The best and worst fashions at the 2010 U.S. Open

The first round of the U.S. Open is complete, which means it's time for Busted Racquet's quarterly review of the best and worst Grand Slam fashions. Check out our photo galleries and be sure to read the captions to the right of the images:

The worst

Nick Laham/Getty Images

The best

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Federer ready to roll the dice again at US Open

 

Roger Federer already has it all. The Swiss master has nothing left to prove and hardly anything to lose. In casino parlance, he is now playing with the house's money.  It has been that way for more than a year after he won the French Open for the first time last season then broke Pete Sampras's record of grand slam men's singles titles. Inevitable questions about his motivation arose when he lost last year's US Open final to Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro but he answered those in emphatic fashion when he won this year's Australian Open. By his own standards, the rest of this year has been a flop, he has failed to add to his tally of 16 grand slam titles and lost his grip on the number one ranking.

He was beaten in the quarter-finals of the French Open, ending his sequence of 23 consecutive grand slam semi-final appearances. Then, the unthinkable happened, he lost in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, marking the first time he had failed to reach the final at the All- England club since 2002. Until last weekend, the Australian Open was his last title success this year, prompting fresh speculation about whether his 29-year-old body was as willing as his mind. Throughout it all, Federer has remained unfazed, hiding his emotions behind the same calm poker face of someone with a fistful of aces before revealing their hand.

Two weeks ago, he made the final of the Toronto Masters, losing to Andy Murray. Last week, he went one better and won the Cincinnati Masters. All of a sudden, talk of his supposed decline has disappeared and he is looming as the form player heading into the US Open brimful of confidence. "It moves very quickly," he explained. "I know the rules and how it all works." Federer has good reason to feel confident about his prospects of winning the last grand slam of the year on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts he has transformed into his private playground.

He won the men's singles title five times in a row between 2004 and 2008. The only time he has been beaten in the past six years was in last year's final against Del Potro, which went five sets. The towering Argentine was expected to lead the charge of the new generation this year but has been plagued by injuries and will not defend his title in New York, leaving the old guard of Rafa Nadal, Murray and Novak Djokovic as Federer's most likely threats. "I guess the top four have the best shot again," Federer said.

Life has gone full circle for Federer since he first came to the United States as just another professional hoping to make it in the Big Apple. These days he travels with his wife Mirka and their 13-month-old twin daughters, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva, but the demands of fatherhood have not curtailed his boyish enthusiasm for play. He recently appeared in an online video performing a " William Tell" trick on the set of an advertising shoot. In the video, Federer delivers two powerful pin-point serves that knock a can off the head of a man at distance. The video became an instant hit and sparked an internet debate about whether the footage was real or had been altered to which Federer offered the same sort of teasing answer he gives his opponents on the court. "You know how it is with magicians," he said. "They don't tell how their tricks work."

Foot injury rules Serena Williams out of US Open

World number one Serena Williams will miss this year's US Open after failing to recover from a foot injury.Williams, 28, has already missed three tournaments since cutting her right foot on broken glass in Munich in July."It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open. My doctors have advised against my playing," the American said.Williams said missing the tournament at Flushing Meadows was "one of the most devastating moments of my career". 

Williams suffered the injury shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title on 3 July.It was before playing in an exhibition against Kim Clijsters in Belgium on 8 July, an event which drew a world record crowd for a tennis match of 35,681.She underwent surgery in Los Angeles on 15 July but will now miss her first Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2006.She has played just six tournaments this year, including the other three Grand Slams. 

Her wins in Australia and at Wimbledon took her career record to 13 Grand Slam titles.Last year, she lost in the semi-finals off the US Open after a furious outburst at a line judge over a foot-fault call in her defeat by eventual champion Clijsters."Serena will be missed, but the tournament is about the competition and the players on the court," said a statement from the tournament organisers."This year's US Open will be a memorable event, as it has been every year."

US Open failure has been fitness issue, says Nadal

The US Open is the only Grand Slam that world number one Rafa Nadal has yet to win and the Spaniard admits he has found it tough physically to raise himself at the end of the season. The Open is held at the end of August, when Nadal, a clay court specialist, has often been feeling the strain of the season. "There are a lot matches for me, a lot of tension in those three months, it's a very important part of season for me and I put everything in there. And after that, it's normal (to) go down," he said.

"In 2002 and 2007 I had problems with my knees...in 2008 I arrived perfect physically but destroyed mentally winning in Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Toronto, the Olympics. So it was crazy for me, a very hard season. "And last year was another. I broke my abdominal in Montreal, so I played here in Cincinnati with a little bit broken abdominal and with every game, the tear, the abdominal got bigger.

"I finished The US Open destroyed, so for me it was amazing result getting to the semifinal last year," he said. Nadal is targeting success at this year's event at Flushing Meadows but says he has no clue as to whether his current good form will lead him to finally claim the US Open. "Every year is different. You can be playing very well here and you can arrive there and lose. You can be playing bad here and arrive there and start the tournament slow but get better and better every day and you can finish playing your best tennis and win.

"This year I started Roland Garros playing terribly and finally I played very well in the semifinals and final and win. "You can do everything perfect but that is not why you are going to win or going to be playing well in that moment," he said. This year though he expects to be in peak physical condition when he gets to New York, a fact he finds somewhat amusing. "Physically I'm perfect. Give me two weeks to break everything," he said with a laugh.

Somdev enters, exits Toronto Masters

Mahesh Bhupathi is the lone Indian survivor at the ATP Rogers Cup as Somdev Devvarman, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the Masters Series event following defeats in their respective draws. Somdev entered the singles event as a lucky loser after Fernando Gonzalez pulled out but lost his first round to world number 18 Gael Monfils 6-7 (7) 3-6 after a gallant fight.

Third seeded Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, who had got a bye in the first round, lost 1-6 6-7 (6) to French pair of Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra. Bopanna and his American partner Eric Butorac lost their first round 6-3 3-6 5-10 to Frantisek Cermak of Czech republic and Michal Mertinak of Slovakia.Bhupathi and his Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi, seeded fourth, are into the second round after getting a bye. 

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/sports/somdev-enters-exits-toronto-masters-44017?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/sports/somdev-enters-exits-toronto-masters-44017?cp