Not even Hurricane Irene can stop finest tennis players in the world from embarking to New York City for the final tennis Major of 2011 - the U.S. Open. Both the men's and women's draw gets underway later Monday with some of the sports' biggest names in action on Day 1.
Starting with the men, 3rd-seed Roger Federer will take on Santiago Giraldo of Chile. Federer has won 16 Grand Slam titles - including 5 U.S. Opens - more than any other player in history, but is nearing 2 years without a Grand Slam win. Having just turned 30, Federer is in his golden years in a sport dominated by the young.
The top-American in the field, Mardy Fish(8th-seed) will also take to the court on Monday against Tobias Kamke of Germany.
For the women, 3rd-seeded Maria Sharapova will take Center Court against Heather Watson of Great Britain. Venus Williams is also on the court on Monday bight taking on Vesna Dolonts of Russia. Williams was a semi-finalist in 2010 and hasn't won the U.S. Open since 2001.
The 2010 U.S. Open Men's Title was won by Rafael Nadal while Kim Clijsters won on the women's side.
You can check out the coverage on SBNation as well.