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The final Grand Slam of the tennis season will get underway at Flushing Meadows on Monday 29th August and there won’t be many out there that will look to back against yet another Novak Djokovic versus Andy Murray Final in a little under two weeks time.
Of course there are some doubts about Djokovic having had a personal issue at Wimbledon and admittedly struggling with a wrist issue this summer, while an early loss at the Olympic Games might just have the rest of the field believing the World Number 1 is not at his best. He still goes into the US Open as the short favourite, but I imagine many fans and journalists actually might have Andy Murray as the favourite having won the Olympic Gold Medal and following that with a run to the Final in Cincinnati.
Like many of the top names in Flushing Meadows, the shoulder issue might be a slight concern for Murray backers, but it is hard to look beyond the top two names in the market and expect neither to win the title here.
In saying that, injuries at this time of the season does mean that the US Open can provide surprising winners much like the Australian Open can provide surprise Finalists early in the new Tour year. This has been an era dominated by the ‘big four’ of men’s tennis, but the US Open has seen Juan Martin Del Potro and Marin Cilic win the title here, although the Final of 2014 is unlikely to be repeated as Cilic and Kei Nishikori reached the Final as dark horses.
Serena Williams is another big name coming in as favourite but with big question marks around her form having played little tennis since winning Wimbledon and losing at the Olympic Games to Elina Svitolina. The pressure will have eased from twelve months ago when she was looking to match Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam Singles titles as well as winning the calendar Grand Slam coming into the US Open, but fitness is a concern and Williams will be tested immediately as she faces Ekaterina Makarova in the standout First Round match.
Her World Number 1 Ranking is also under threat in New York with the likes of Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza, the two other Grand Slam winners in 2016, looking to add the US Open to their collection as well as top spot in the Rankings. You would be a fool to rule out Serena Williams, but she does look a vulnerable favourite and I am going to be interested to see how she handles Makarova in the First Round.
The likes of Sam Stosur (2011) and Flavia Pennetta (2015) have won titles at Flushing Meadows and wouldn’t have had a lot of backers when they did. The three years in between have been dominated by Serena Williams but this is a tournament that can see a surprise winner and the big prices that perhaps appeal the most are Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova who have had solid summers.
I don’t think either player can be massively trusted, but if they can build some steam up in the tournament and Serena Williams is shocked in the First Round and you never know. Pliskova has a terrible Grand Slam record, but I have a feeling she is the kind of player who will suddenly put seven wins together and her tournament success in Cincinnati has to be respected.
All I hope is that it is a fun two weeks for us to watch and I can finish up with a healthy winning record after the last two weeks have been poor for the picks made on the Tour.
Day 1 begins on Monday and I will be looking for a strong start to the US Open which has usually been my strongest Grand Slam of the four over recent years.
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