US Open: The Australian Contenders and their Cartoon character

16:9. US Open Tennis

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN AT THE US OPEN

Player name: Sam Stosur


Ranking: 25th

Animation character she most resembles: Princess Fiona

Reason being: Has two completely different faces. Her pretty face showed up at the 2011 US Open, her ugly side pops up at Wimbledon almost every year.

Worst moment: A few horrors. The choke to Zheng Jie at the Australian Open in 2013 the most notable of late.

Best moment: Downing Serena Williams in her own backyard. In the final of the US Open. On September 11, no less.

Year in a nutshell: Has slipped out of the top 20 after a promising start to the year saw her reach the Australian Open third round. Decent clay-court season saw her felled only by Maria Sharapova (twice) and Li Na in the WTA Premier events in Madrid and Rome, and the French Open. Has done very little since, but has been unfortunate to run into Serena Williams twice in the North American swing.

US Open first-round opponent: American Lauren Davis.

Pass mark at US Open: Could go deep, however she has – yet again – drawn Serena's section of the draw. If she makes the fourth round and tests Serena, that would be a fair effort. 

Player name: Jarmila Gajdosova

Ranking: 102nd

Animation character she most resembles: Meg Griffin

Reason being: Emotionally unstable, but has smarts and beauty [NB. Meg voiced by Mila Kunis].

Worst moment: An expletive-laden exchange with now ex-husband Sam Groth at the Brisbane International in January 2011.

Best moment: Reaching the last 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2010. Was a wildcard in Paris, and was felled by Venus Williams at SW19 in a tight two-setter having not dropped a set in her first three rounds.

Year in a nutshell: Ranking has dipped as low as 334th, but an ITF tournament win in Nottingham in June as a qualifier, before another triumph on the lower tier in Vancouver in July catapulted her back to the brink of the top 100.

US Open first-round opponent: American 27th seed Madison Keys

Pass mark at US Open: Wins. She simply has to validate her wildcard entry. Otherwise it may be her last.

Player name: Casey Dellacqua

Ranking: 30th

Animation character she most resembles: a mix of Bubbles and Buttercup, of Powerpuff Girls fame.

Reason being: Sweet and innocent on the outside [Bubbles], tough and uncompromising on the inside [Buttercup].

Worst moment: Hard to pot her, but might go as far to say as her trouncing at the hands of Angelique Kerber in the Fed Cup World Group semi-final. Only won one game. Germany took a 2-0 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish.

Best moments: Her runs at the Australian Open in '08 and '14, when she reached the last 16.

Year in a nutshell: Has reached her career-high singles ranking of 30th after a series of consistent results. A run to the fourth round in Melbourne was followed by a quarter-final appearance at Indian Wells. She reached the semis in Birmingham on grass, but ran into Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon and Petra Kvitova in Montreal.

US Open first-round opponent: Austria's Patricia Mayr-Achleitner.

Pass mark at US Open: Set a PB - she has never surpassed the second round at the tournament. Has an ideal opportunity to do so with the 29th seeding, as she is drawn to play a qualifier in the second round.

AUSTRALIAN MEN AT THE US OPEN

Player name: Bernard Tomic

Ranking: 67th

Animation character he most resembles: Bart Simpson

Reason being: Lovable bad boy. Bernard and Bart have the knack of finding trouble when you least suspect, but deep down, they are lovable larrikins. They also have poor role models for fathers.

Worst moments: Take your pick - losing his licence speeding in his Ferrari, getting public lap dances in a Gold Coast nightclub or tanking a match inside half an hour.

Best moment: Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011 at age 18. Cue hype.

Year in a nutshell: Hopes were raised when Tomic reached the Sydney final in January, but his public image was dashed days later when he retired injured against Rafa Nadal. He was perhaps unfairly tarnished for looking after his health, and his next outing saw Jarkko Nieminen blitz him in 29 minutes. He has found his best form of late, though, winning the Bogota title as a wildcard to propel himself back into the top 100.

US Open first-round opponent: Germany’s Dustin Brown.

Pass mark at US Open: Not being disgraced. As much as the public demand perfection out of the 21-year-old, a run into the third round - draw depending - or a spirited showing against a top-20 player would suffice given where he is at the moment.

Player name: Marinko Matosevic

Ranking: 77th

Animation character he most resembles: Poochie

Reason being: Well, he's a mad dog. Why else?

Worst moment: His long-standing grand slam match drought. Was 0-12 in majors earlier this year.

Best moments: His celebration after ending aforementioned drought, and kicking over Rafa Nadal's water bottles mid-match at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2013.

Year in a nutshell: Matosevic has reached five tour-level quarter-finals, winning none of them. However, he has progressed at grand slam level, with two match wins crucial for his confidence.

US Open first-round opponent: 17-time major winner Roger Federer.

Pass mark at US Open: Maintaining that winning feeling. After going so long without a match win at a major, Matosevic has now strung together back-to-back second-round appearances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Needs to keep that going, however handed a horror draw against the in-form Swiss.

Player name: Lleyton Hewitt

Ranking: 41st

Animation character he most resembles: the Energizer bunny.

Reason being: He just won't quit. Has an everlasting desire to compete.

Worst moment: Hasn't had one for a while, but allegedly implying a line judge had racial prejudices in a US Open match with James Blake in 2001 right up there.

Best moments: Major wins, Davis Cup heroics… the list goes on. Top of the pile would have to be coming from two sets, and match point, down to beat Roger Federer on Rod Laver Arena. Stirring stuff.

Year in a nutshell: Similarly to Tomic, Hewitt's year began with a bang - as he beat Roger Federer in the Brisbane final. Since, losses to the likes of Michael Russell and Sam Querrey were blips, before yet another prosperous grass season saw him push Jerzy Janowicz all the way at Wimbledon before winning the Newport title.

US Open first-round opponent: Sixth seed Tomas Berdych.

Pass mark at US Open: Knocking out Berdych. Hewitt takes great pleasure in beating those who are in their prime, while he is in his supposed twilight. Expect him to attack that challenge yet again with aplomb.

Player name: Nick Kyrgios

Ranking: 59th

Animation character he most resembles: the Hulk

Reason being: Quiet man off the court turns monster on it. Also not opposed to appearing in public sans shirt.

Worst moment: Managing to emulate the efforts of Tomic in his first Wimbledon - reaching the quarters - and causing some of us to fear he is on the same career path. Let's hope not.

Best moment: Beating world number one Rafael Nadal. Say no more.

Year in a nutshell: Lost in Kyrgios' Wimbledon heroics was his start to the season, which saw him reach the Australian Open second round - where he led Benoit Paire by two sets before being overhauled. Preceding his SW19 run was a Challenger title at Nottingham, which he won as a qualifier. His win over Nadal was his 12th in succession, before Milos Raonic beat him in four sets in the quarter-finals.

US Open first-round opponent: Russian 21st seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Pass mark at US Open: Winning a match. Given the hype generated from his Wimbledon run, it will be a tough task – moreso now he has drawn Youzhny.

Player name: Matt Ebden

Ranking: 95th

Animation character he most resembles: Gil Gunderson

Reason being: Ebden is on the tour - he is a top-100 player after all - just as much as Gil is employed. But the simple fact of the matter is they get walked over all too easily.

Worst moment: Losing to a clearly injured Vasek Pospisil at the Australian Open this year.

Best moment: Won four Challenger Tour titles in 2013, including three in the latter part of the year for some valuable rankings points.

Year in a nutshell: Tour-level record of 4-19. Suffice to say it's been slim pickings for the Durban-born Ebden.

US Open first-round opponent: Germany’s Tobias Kamke.

Pass mark at US Open: Winning, but also generating some respect. He has lost 11 of his past 12 at tour level, and will be desperate to get some points to avoid a large-scale drop in the latter months of 2014.

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