Gold medalist Nicolas Massu slogs through U.S. Open qualifying
(PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Athens 2004 gold medalist Nicolas Massu may have been ousted in straight sets from the Beijing Games in the second round last week by Argentina’s David Nalbandian, but he moved on today against breezier competition in men’s qualifying for next week’s U.S. Open.
The ninth-seeded Chilean beat Brazil’s Andre Miele 6-2, 6-3 to reach the final 64 of the men’s best-of-three-sets tournament before the major tournament. Massu, 28, faces Portugal’s Rui Machado next.
While Chile’s gold medalist slogs through Open qualifying, Spain’s 2008 medalist, Rafael Nadal, 22, enters the year’s final Grand Slam as the top seed for the first time in his career. The four-time French Open and first-time Wimbledon champion will almost surely be matched against a qualifier (possibly Massu) when the draw is released out at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Of course, we will be there when the first-round matchups are revealed.
— Max
