Lack of stars
The first Grand Slam after the coronavirus pandemic, as expected, a number of stars will be missing. Many leaders of the WTA and ATP ratings began to refuse to come to New York long before it began. So, the first racket of the world, Ashley Barty, announced in July that she would miss an event so significant for tennis. Both last year's winners Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu also starred, so the US Open will now have new champions.
Of the 32 first ATP ranked players who could count on seeding, six have refused to participate in the US Open. In addition to Nadal, the tournament will sorely miss Roger Federer, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori, Nick Kiryos, Stan Wawrinka and many others. By the way, Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert will also miss the tournament, but this has nothing to do with coronavirus and injuries - he is preparing to become a father.
In women, the losses were even greater. Suffice it to say that the seeding was able to get the 46th racket of the world, Rebecca Peterson, which was previously impossible to imagine. Only Karolina Plishkova, Sophia Kenin, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka remained from the top ten of the WTA rating. Those girls who miss the US Open have won eight different Grand Slam tournaments in their careers, so their absence will be a tangible loss.
A small compensation for the absence of a number of stars will be the participation of Kim Clijsters. The 37-year-old Belgian decided to resume her career for the second time this year, and the organizers of the US Open provided her with a wild card. She has already won in New York three times, and twice since her previous return to tennis in 2009. Although Kleisters has not yet won official matches, she managed to prove herself at exhibition tournaments during the pandemic.
A chance of a lifetime for Serena
Perhaps no one benefits from a lack of rivals like Serena Williams. For many years now she has been trying to catch up with Margaret Court in the number of titles in Grand Slam tournaments. However, each time reaching the final, the American could not take the last step and win her 24th tournament. Now that the level of competition has dropped noticeably, it should be easier for her to win the main trophy.
True, Williams' form now raises big questions. She failed to prove herself at the already past WTA tournaments. In Lexington, after defeating her sister Venus, she lost to the 116th racket of the world Shelby Rogers, and at the Western & Southern Open she defeated only the winner of the qualification Arancha Rus. Williams really needs playing practice, because it was her absence in the past years that was one of the reasons for the defeats at the Majors.
However, so far, after the birth of her daughter, Williams has not yet left the US Open before the final. It will be possible to repeat this result not only due to the absence of a number of competitors, but also due to this increased sowing. The American tennis player will be the third racket of the tournament and will avoid meetings with Osaka and Plishkova until the championship match, and will start her campaign for the title with a match with Kristi Ahn, who is 97th in the WTA rankings.
Invincible Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is also in pursuit of titles. The absence of Federer and Nadal gives him a great chance to close the gap in overall victories at the Grand Slam tournaments. In case of winning his 18th trophy, Djokovic will be one step away from the Spaniard and two from the Swiss.
Unlike Williams, the Serbian tennis player is the top favorite in his category. This season, he has not yet suffered a single official defeat. Djokovic continued his winning streak after the season resumed and reached the final of Masters, who moved from Cincinnati to New York, where he will play with Milos Raonic.
In the first round of the US Open, Djokovic will play with Bosnian Damir Jumhur, who has not yet given more than two games per set. The Serbian tennis player should not be threatened by anyone until the quarterfinals, when his meeting with David Goffin is possible.
Hope for Medvedev
A year ago, Daniil Medvedev managed to quickly climb to the top of tennis and play an incredible final match with Nadal. Russian fans will expect that now he will improve this result, but you still need to be careful with predictions.
It must be remembered that this success at the US Open was preceded by a long winning streak in North American tournaments. Medvedev was at his peak and knew perfectly well how to beat any opponent. In the same year, he does not demonstrate that prohibitive stability, and the coronavirus pandemic only worsened his condition. After the season resumed, the Russian managed to win two matches at the Masters, after which he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.
Medvedev will have to get in shape right during the US Open, and the third seed can help with this. According to Forbes, one of the richest tennis players in the world will begin his tournament path with a meeting with Federico Delbonis. Dominic Tim should become Medvedev's main rival on the way to the final.
Return of Kuznetsov
In one half of the grid with Medvedev were the next two Russians. Andrei Rublev received the tenth seed, and Karen Khachanov will be the 11th racket of the tournament.
Both of them also resumed the season not very convincingly. Rublev was eliminated in the first round of the Western & Southern Open, losing to Daniel Evans. The winner of two ATP tournaments this season and one of the best tennis players of the pandemic period was capable of more, but he did not play well. At the US Open, Rublev will first meet with the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, to whom he already lost in the first round two years ago.
Khachanov performed slightly better at the Masters, but he also did not live up to all expectations. He reached the third round, where he lost to the same Bautista Agut for the fifth time in his career. In the first round of the US Open, Khachanov will face the best young tennis player of last season, Yannick Sinner.
And already in the second round, a Russian confrontation, rare for Grand Slam tournaments, is possible. For the first time in three years, the official match will be played by Andrey Kuznetsov, who was considered the main hope of national tennis before Rublev, Medvedev and Khachanov. Due to injuries, the winner of the Junior Wimbledon almost ended his career and has already switched to coaching, becoming a consultant to Evgeny Donskoy, but this season, thanks to a protected rating, he got into the main draw of the US Open. Before meeting with Khachanov, Kuznetsov will have to beat Sam Querrey.
Unsuccessful lot of Alexandrova
The wave of refusals to participate in the US Open swept the whole world of Russian women's tennis. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Potapova did not go to New York. It was from the first two that one should have expected at least an exit in the second week, and now hitting at least the second round will be considered a success. Indeed, at the previous WTA tournaments, none of the athletes performing under the tricolor even reached the quarterfinals.
At the same time, the representation of Russian women will still be large enough. 12 tennis players got into the main draw. The main hopes will be connected with Ekaterina Aleksandrova, seeded number 21, but she was the one who was the most unlucky with the draw. She went to her rival Kim Clijsters, and if the Belgian recovered from the injury, due to which she missed the Western & Southern Open, then she will be the favorite.
The 29th racket of the tournament will be Veronika Kudermetova. Her tournament path will begin with a match with Iga Schwöntek. Anna Kalinskaya got into the same section with a native of Kazan, but they will not meet until the fourth round, if Arina Sobolenko and Joanna Konta pass.
Daria Kasatkina also fell to a difficult lot. And if junior Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine does not cause problems, they will definitely start in the second round, where it is possible to meet either with the 31st racket of the tournament Anastasia Sevastova from Latvia, or with the matured Corey Gauff, who already knows how to reach the third round of the US Open.