MY ACCOUNT
The US Open, which is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, gets underway in New York on Monday and defending champion Daniil Medvedev will be hoping to capitalise on Novak Djokovic’s absence.
However, no player has successfully defended the US Open men’s singles title since Roger Federer in 2008 so victory is far from a foregone conclusion, especially with 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal also in the star-studded line-up.
In the women’s event, all eyes will again be on world number one Iga Swiatek, who is bidding to return to winning ways and follow up her success at the French Open.
But the Polish star has yet to go beyond the fourth round at Flushing Meadows and there will be plenty of players in the field that feel they can spring a surprise, just as British teenage sensation Emma Raducanu did 12 months ago.
Don’t write off Nadal
Medvedev has been dealt a tough hand in the draw of his title defence and a fourth-round clash with refocused Australian Nick Kyrgios, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon, is on the cards.
Even so, the Russian does not arrive in New York in the same form as he was last year and could be a vulnerable favourite, making Nadal the man to beat.
The Spaniard was a first-round casualty on his last start in Cincinnati but a three-set defeat to Borna Coric does not look so bad now knowing that the Croatian went on to claim the title.
And it is extremely likely that Nadal only wanted to blow away the cobwebs in Cincinnati with his main focus on securing a 23rd Grand Slam title in America.
The 36-year-old has been written off in the build up to every Grand Slam event this season but was crowned champion in Australia and France before being forced to retire ahead of his semi-final showdown with Kyrgios at Wimbledon.
Nadal has the will to win and has dropped in an extremely soft section of the draw, making a quarter-final spot his for the taking.
The mighty Mallorcan has repeatedly shown he can be trusted to get ready for the headline events and again may take some stopping.
Fritz fits the bill in New York
If there is to be an upset in the men’s event in New York then Wimbledon quarter-finalist Taylor Fritz looks the most likely to cause it.
The 24-year-old has come on leaps and bounds over the last few seasons and he claimed the biggest win of his career earlier this year when winning an ATP Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells.
Fritz, who enjoyed a decent spin in Cincinnati last time out with wins over Kyrgios and Andrey Rublev before losing to Medvedev in the quarter-final, also finds himself in the weakest of the four quarters.
On these speedier courts, the big-serving American would be expected to have the measure of the fellow seeds in his bit of the draw.
Casper Ruud is much happier on clay, Stefanos Tsistipas has yet to go beyond the third round of the US Open and Matteo Berrettini arrives here in poor form and has missed the last two Grand Slam events.
Pliskova remains a threat to all
On the back of a long and gruelling season, surprises at the US Open are nothing new and that showed last season as British heroine Emma Raducanu, who came through qualifying, beat fellow teenage talent Leylah Fernandez in the final.
It could, therefore, pay to think outside the box and Karolina Pliskova may finally get the Grand Slam title she has been craving.
The former world number one is now the 22nd seed at Flushing Meadows but she has dropped in a decent part of the draw.
Paula Badosa, Belinda Bencic and Victoria Azarenka are the fellow seeds in her section so a quarter-final spot is well up for grabs.
Pliskova is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up – once here in 2016 – and she has reached the last eight of this event in four of the last six years.
The Czech is also holding her form well, highlighted by her semi-final run in Toronto earlier this month.
Another interesting contender is Caroline Garcia, who has returned to her best form this season with three title triumphs, including last time out in Cincinnati.
The 17th seed, who has lost only four of her last 30 matches, defeated the likes of Maria Sakkari, Elise Mertens, Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova in claiming silverware in Cincinnati and with confidence flowing must be a leading contender to clinch a maiden Grand Slam success.
