New York: Andy Murray, fresh from his win at the Cincinnati Masters, will finally make his first appearance at the US Open on Wednesday.
The Briton has been cooling his heels in New York after the city was shut down because of Hurricane Irene over the weekend and he has had to wait until Day Three to get started at the year`s last grand slam.
His first-round opponent at Arthur Ashe Stadium will be India`s Somdev Devverman, a player he has never faced before.
"I have seen him play a few matches and he`s solid," Murray said.
"He kind of does everything pretty well. He has a very good attitude, very positive, so he`s gonna be solid. He`s not going to give me anything, so I need to play well."
Juan Martin Del Potro will be making his belated return to the tournament since his surprise win two years ago. The towering Argentine did not defend his title last year because of injury but is back this time and playing Italian Filippo Volandri at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
On the women`s side, last year`s runner-up, Russian Vera Zvonareva, faces Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the second round while former champion Venus Williams, unseeded for the first time in over a decade, meets Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova, both former champions at Flushing Meadows, are scheduled to play in the featured night matches.
Organizers may need to keep the floodlights on Louis Armstrong turned on longer than normal with John Isner and Marcos Baghdatis scheduled to clash after 1700 local time (10:00 p.m. BST).
Isner at Wimbledon last year won the longest match every played, lasting more than 11 hours, while Baghdatis was involved in a late-night match at the Australian Open in 2008 that did not finish until 4:34 am the next day.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, August 31, 2011, 09:24