The year’s final Grand Slam tournament is just around the corner and with the withdrawal of defending champion Rafael Nadal due to injury, this year’s men’s tournament could be the most open in recent history.
It was announced earlier this week that the Spaniard, who has two titles at Flushing Meadows, had withdrawn from the tournament due to a wrist injury.
This injury had also seen him concede the defence of a pair of Masters titles in Toronto and Cincinnati, which were both won by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer this year.
Nadal’s absence means that Federer will be seeded second behind world number one Novak Djokovic for the US Open in New York, which starts on Tuesday morning (AEST).
Let’s now take a look at some of the contenders for this year’s men’s title.
Novak Djokovic
Current world ranking: 1
Grand Slam results this year to date:
Australian Open: Quarter-finals
French Open: Runner-up
Wimbledon: Won
Titles won this year to date: Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Wimbledon
US Open history
Best result: Won (2011)
Last year’s result: Runner-up
Since winning Wimbledon in a five-set classic over Roger Federer last month and reclaiming the world number one ranking from Rafael Nadal and getting married to long-time love Jelena Ristic, Novak Djokovic has endured some poor form.
He failed to reach the quarter-finals at any of the two aforementioned Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati.
In Canada, he was easily thrashed by the eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round, while in Ohio, he was edged out by Tommy Robredo, whose victory over Djokovic was his first against a reigning world number one since he toppled Lleyton Hewitt at the French Open in 2003, also in the third round.
This leaves Djokovic lacking some real match practice heading into the US Open, where he has only won only once from the five finals where he has qualified, and that was in his record-breaking year of 2011.
The big stage of New York should provide the perfect stage for Djokovic to bounce back to top form. Having added to his previously-stalled Grand Slam tally at the All England Club last month, there would be no better way for Djokovic than to salute for a second time at Flushing Meadows.
But his recent poor form means that he certainly won’t be the favourite to win this year’s title.
Prediction: Finalist
Roger Federer
Current world ranking: 3
Grand Slam results this year to date:
Australian Open: Semi-finals
French Open: Fourth round
Wimbledon: Runner-up
Titles won this year to date: Dubai, Halle, Cincinnati
US Open history
Best result: Won (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Last year’s result: Fourth round
Anyone who believed that Roger Federer is well past his best after slipping to eighth in the world earlier this year have been horribly mistaken.
The Swiss will enter the US Open on the back of his best stretch of form not seen in two years, and this has been accredited to his decision to hire Stefan Edberg as his coach prior to the start of this year.
The holder of a record 17 Grand Slam titles has saluted three times this year, winning record sixth titles in Dubai (over Tomas Berdych) and Cincinnati (David Ferrer), as well as a record seventh at Halle (Alejandro Falla).
He also finished runner-up twice to Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells and Wimbledon, as well as against Lleyton Hewitt in Brisbane, Stanislas Wawrinka at Monte Carlo, and very recently Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rogers Cup.
To the eyes of many, his impressive form in the lead-up to Flushing Meadows should see him in serious contention to add to his haul of five US Open titles, the most recent of which came in 2008.
I tend to agree as well. Federer would love nothing more than to add to his 17 Grand Slam titles and potentially target 20 before he retires.
Prediction: Champion
Stanislas Wawrinka
Current world ranking: 4
Grand Slam results this year to date:
Australian Open: Won
French Open: First round
Wimbledon: Quarter-finals
Titles won this year to date: Chennai, Australian Open, Monte-Carlo
US Open history
Best result: Semi-finals (2013)
Last year’s result: Semi-finals
Whether it’s the pressure of being a Grand Slam champion, or his inconsistency overall, world number four Stanislas Wawrinka has appeared to crumble at most major tournaments since breaking through at the Australian Open in January.
Only four times since upsetting Rafael Nadal to win his first Grand Slam title seven months ago has Wawrinka reached the quarter-finals or better of any tournament, however one of those included winning his first Masters 1000 title at the expense of his countryman Roger Federer at Monte Carlo in April.
He had also reached the semi-finals at Queen’s, losing to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov, while he also overcame his history of Wimbledon woe by reaching the last eight for the first time, losing to Federer.
His US Open build-up has been surprisingly poor, bombing out in the third round in Toronto to Kevin Anderson and while able to reach the last eight at Cincinnati, was upset by French journeyman Julien Benneteau in three sets.
It now remains to be seen whether Wawrinka can again live up to the form which saw him reign Down Under in January, or whether his current form woes will continue into New York.
Prediction: Quarter-finals
Other contenders
Wimbledon semi-finalists Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic will be primed to do well in New York, while former Grand Slam finalists David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych should also fare well and go deep into the tournament.
Former champion Andy Murray, who has slipped to ninth in the world, hasn’t won a title let alone reached a final in over twelve months, and now coached by dual Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo, will be another star attraction as he seeks to regain the form which saw him reign here two years ago, as well as at Wimbledon last year.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will also loom as a dark horse, having arrested his rankings slump by defeating Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer to win his second Masters 1000 trophy in Toronto recently.
As far as the Australians are concerned, there will be no seeded Australian players in the draw, which means Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios will be exposed to early showdowns against several top-ranked players, while Bernard Tomic, a wildcard entry, could also draw a seed early on.
Apart from Rafael Nadal, fellow former champion Juan Martin del Potro, as well as Alexandr Dolgopolov, Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Haas are among the names missing due to injury.
Can Novak Djokovic arrest his current form slump and add a second US Open title to his career resume? Can Roger Federer continue his good form? Can Stanislas Wawrinka and Andy Murray rediscover the form that saw them win this year’s Australian Open, and Wimbledon last year, respectively?
All this will make for what should be an interesting men’s tournament at the US Open, which starts on August 25 and ends on September 8.
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