New York: An injury-ravaged US Open men’s draw offers the best opportunity yet for a young pretender to claim a maiden Grand Slam crown but in this most retro of seasons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will look to turn back time at the Flushing Meadows here.
With the physical demands of modern-day tennis taking its toll the tournament will start without four of the top 11 in ATP rankings including defending champion Stan Wawrinka who ended his season early with a knee injury.
Twice champion Novak Djokovic (elbow), 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori (wrist) and Milos Raonic (wrist) are also absent while 2012 champion Andy Murray and 2014 winner Marin Cilic have been sidelined since Wimbledon by injuries. Even though they have been included in the draw, there is no confirmation still about their participation.
All the more reason that Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Nick Kyrgios – to name but three – will be relishing seizing a golden opportunity in the Big Apple.
Of those Germany’s 20-year-old Zverev looks the best bet to shake it up after rising to sixth in the world after beating Federer in Montreal – the biggest title so far for the six-foot-six-inch powerhouse.
“Is Zverev ready to step up best of five?” four-time Flushing Meadows champion John McEnroe, said. “If he is he’s got a great chance to step forward and get to the final, at least the semis.”
Unpredictable Australian Kyrgios has shown signs of delivering on his potential this year, most recently when beating Nadal in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati before losing to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, another US Open title candidate, in the final.
“You can say he’s slowly hopefully but surely going in the right direction,” McEnroe said of the 22-year-old Kyrgios.
The 36-year-old Federer, seeded third, will be most people’s title pick having produced a stunning year since returning from a six-month lay-off in January – and since then compiling a 35-3 record.
“At the moment we are assuming that Roger is going to pull the rabbit out of the hat again,” McEnroe said. “If Roger wins this, this will be one of the great stories in the last 50 years or ever in tennis,” the former World No.1 added.
However, if fans were hoping for a Federer-Nadal finale, those hopes were dashed after Friday’s draw set them on a semifinal collision course.
And even before a ball is hit in anger, the countdown to that possible showdown has set pulses racing.
Tough opponent
New York: Maria Sharapova’s return to Grand Slam action will begin with a high-profile clash against Romanian second seed Simona Halep. For Sharapova, it will mark her first match since pulling out of the Stanford Classic three weeks ago with an arm injury. Sharapova has been given a wildcard for the tournament, but to stay in it, she will have to play out of her skin against Halep.
reuters
