US Open Men’s Preview

Written by: Staff on 27th August 2010

US Open Men's Preview

Rafael Nadal in action during his first round 2009 US Open match against Richard Gasquet in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Tennis Center in Flushing, New York on September 2, 2009. Nadal defeats Gasquet in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. |

The US Open is now less than a week away and it is right about now that those with the foolish arrogance to start making predictions start putting fingers to laptops. Apparently that includes me and although I stand ready to be proven utterly and humiliatingly wrong on the finals weekend of 11 – 12th September, I feel like I owe it to 10sBalls.com to give it a whirl. First up the men, with my women’s picks to follow – once you have all thrown enough rotten tomatoes at this one.

The big favourite: Roger Federer

It’s a measure of how keenly contested the very top of men’s game has been in the last half a decade that opting for the best player of all time as your pick for an upcoming grand slam tournament could be considered rather contentious choice. I am opting for Federer in the full understanding that he has been dropping points at grand slams of late like a mal-coordinated juggler and did not get past the quarter-finals in the defence of either his French Open or Wimbledon titles. I am also well aware, as is Federer, that he turned 29 last week and is therefore getting on a bit and that he lost to a man six years younger than himself in last year’s US Open final. I know all of that and yet I still pick him. There are sixteen reasons why he is my choice, they sit in his trophy cabinet at home and five of them were won at Flushing Meadows. That’s plenty good enough for me.

The not quite-as-big favourite: Rafael Nadal

Rafa fans (and let’s face it, there are plenty of you) will be up in arms about this because Manacor’s Man of Steel was in such irresistible form at Roland Garros at Wimbledon that he must be a shoe-in for what would be his first US Open title. Er, no. The knees might be okay for now, and he played well enough in Toronto before running into a ferocious Andy Murray but I am still not convinced that he will be the best player at the US Open, where there will simply be more people that can beat him than in Paris or London. Nadal has reached the semi-finals the last two years’ running and a lot of the doubts that once existed about his body’s ability to take the punishment by Deco Turf have gone, but to my mind he is still vulnerable at Flushing Meadows, at least for now.

Coming up on the rails: Andy Murray

I will hold my hands up right now and tell you that I am British, so feel free to spew forth both your reminders that it has been 74 years since a man from our shores won a grand slam title and your allegations of misplaced patriotism. I will not argue either point but Murray’s form in Toronto was such that I would feel forced to mention the Scot if I was from Timbuktu or Kalamazoo. He demolished the in-form and always troublesome David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals, then dispatched Nadal and Federer on the last two days. He did it playing the sort of thoughtful-yet-menacing tennis he produced to reach the Australian Open final in January and, more pertinently seems to be finding the right balance between aggression and counter-punching. Murray parted company with coach Miles Maclagan earlier this month and is clearly enjoying the bounce in form that players often experience when they change their team around. He could bounce all the way to the US Open title.

The outsider: David Nalbandian

According to the ATP, Nalbandian’s middle-name is Pablo, though I like to think it’s actually “Five-sets”. After missing six successive grand slam tournaments during an 11-month injury break with hip and hamstring injuries, the old (well, 28-year-old) warhorse is back and still driving opponents mad with his crafty use of angles and legendary stamina. He won the Washington title (beating Cilic, Wawrinka and Baghdatis along the way) and although he was outhit and outthought by Murray in the Cincinnati quarterfinals, the signs are there that Nalbandian is ready to do some damage. He may feel he has unfinished business at Flushing Meadows dating back to the semi-finals in 2003, when he had a match-point against Andy Roddick and got possibly the worse line-call in history. If he does go on a tear then expect a long but interesting ride.

Best placed American: Mardy Fish

I know. Contraversial huh? I realise that Andy Roddick has an impressive record at the US Open and I know was 2003 US Open champion and has repeatedly come close to winning grand slams since then, but he is still showing after-effects of the virus which has dogged him recently. John Isner is facing a race to be fit and James Blake has the look of ready for the pipe and slippers. The good news for American tennis is that Mardy Fish has emerged from the shadows of those two compatriots and seems to be in the form of his life, as witnessed in his narrow loss to Federer in the Cincinnati final over the weekend. He has dropped enough weight to make himself a Jenny Craig poster boy and won back-to-back titles on different surfaces last month in Newport and Atlanta. He gets close competition in this category from Sam Querrey, who has already picked up titles at Queen’s Club and Los Angeles (beating Murray in the final) this summer but I have to go Fish.

Even I would not be either foolish or arrogant enough to suggest that this the definite list. Why not give us your thoughts via Twitter @10sBalls_Com and let’s get a totally pointless argument happening. Of course if I’m right in any of my predictions, I’ll be right back here in a few weeks’ time…crowing.

Next time – my pick for the women’s title.

Topics: Andy Murray, Arrogance, Best Player, French Open, Grand Slam Tournament, Grand Slams, Juggler, Knees, Man Of Steel, Open Men, Quarter Finals, Rafa, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Rotten Tomatoes, Sixteen Reasons, Trophy Cabinet, Wimbledon, Wimbledon Titles

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