It has been 20 days since I absolutely decided to praise Luka Doncic. Was I wrong for this praise? Absolutely not. Luka has been an animal in this playoff series with the Clippers and I hope he can find a way to win this series. But this isn't a blog about our favorite Slovenian Star, this is the preview to my favorite sporting event of the year, the United States Open.
It was on June 17th that I let out my feelings about the US Open. That was the day that the USTA officially decided to have no fans for the US Open. That day marked the end of a lifelong streak of going to the US Open each year. I have been to the US Open each year of my life. Back in 2004, when I was 6 months old, up until last August when I was 15. And now, the 15 year streak is over.
The US Open has always been my favorite sporting event. As a matter of fact, it is consistently one of if not the most attended sporting event each year. Without fans this year, I can definitely expect some major changes. Naturally, one could assume players who feed off the energy of the crowd such as Denis Shapovalov or Francis Tiafoe may struggle a bit more than usual. I also think players who are not used to playing in big tournaments will feel more comfortable and thus have a better chance to go far compared to if the stands were loaded with fans. That being said I still believe the best players in the world will go far in this tournament but all it takes is for one player to get hot, and they can just make the run of their lives.
With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori, and Nick Kygrios (just to name a few) all out of this year's US Open, Novak Djokovic enters the field as the huge favorite. He is the largest favorite for a major tournament (not the French) for as long as I can remember. He is -125 to win the tournament making him a favorite over the field. If Novak doesn't manage to win this tournament, it is nearly a guarantee that we will see a new major champion lifting up the US Open Trophy. To clarify, the only three players in the field who have won a major singles title are Novak, Andy Murray, and Marin Cilic. The last time a man not named Nadal, Federer, or Djokovic won a major title was in 2016 when Andy Murray won the Wimbledon title. The last time we saw a new major winner was Marin Cilic in 2014 when he won the US Open. Since that US Open, we have sadly not seen a new player breakout and make a run. The big three have consistently dominated with Wawrinka and Murray winning a few here and there. If there was ever a chance for a new major winner, it would be now.
Enough with the talk. Its time for some of my predictions. I will give my logical predictions for what the tournament will look like starting at my predictions for the quarterfinals...
Quarterfinal Match #1: Novak Djokovic vs Reily Opelka
I expect Opelka to make a run in this tournament based on how good he looked this past week in Cincinnati. Djokovic has had an easy run up until this point and I expect Djokovic to utilize his return in this match to be able to take down Opelka and advance to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Match #2: Stefano Tsitsipas vs Alexander Zverev
The classic 4 against the 5 in this semifinal match up. This is truly a tossup and could go either way but I expect Tsitsipas to outlast Zverev in this one to advance to the semis to face off against Djokovic.
Quarterfinal Match #3: Andrey Rublev vs Daniil Medvedev
Neither of these guys has had an easy run to this point. Medvedev is simply the better play in this match up and I expect him to win relatively easily.
Quarterfinal Match#4: Alex De Minaur vs Andy Murray
Most of my match ups so far have been expected. However, this one is completely different. These two players with very similar games have won many tough match ups up until this point. I expect Alex De Minaur to out defend Murray in this match and come through in a long fought war.
Semifinal Match #1: Novak Djokovic vs Stefano Tsitsipas
Novak Djokovic is the huge favorite in this tournament and that is not a mistake. He has had a much easier run up until this point so he will have much more left in his tank than Tsitsipas. I expect Djokovic to win in 3 or 4 sets and advance to the finals.
Semifinal Match #2: Daniil Medvedev vs Alex De Minaur
These are two players who physically are completely different yet have somewhat similar games. They are naturally both counter punchers and both move very well, however I expect Daniil's serve to be the deciding factor in this one so I expect Daniil to advance to the finals for the second year in a row.
US Open Finals: Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev
This is the match that many US Open fans were expecting going into the 2 week long tournament. The best player in the world faces a rising star who has made his name recognizable in the tennis world during the past few years. Djokovic has now played matches for three weeks in a row dating back to the start of the Cincinnati Open. Daniil has won 2 of the last 3 matches against Djokovic and I expect Daniil to win this match to become a new grand slam champion. This will be the start of a long and dominant career for Daniil who has a game style that appears to be effortless. This will be the first time we see a new grand slam winner since Marin Cilic in 2014 as I mentioned earlier. Congrats Daniil Medvedev!
So those were my logical and expected predictions. However, when do we see a US Open without a few upsets. Some notable players I would like to follow throughout this tournament who won't have a seed next to their name include...
Brandon Nakashima- Brandon is a rising 19 year old American star. He played tennis at the University of Virginia earning himself the title of ACC player of the year as a freshman. He decided to not return to college so he could turn pro. He is only 19 but this kid has big things in his future.
JJ Wolf- JJ is just like Brandon. He is 21 years old and had a successful college career at Ohio State. This is his first US Open so it will be certainly fun to watch this young kid play.
Reilly Opelka- Reilly is coming off a great week at the Cincinnati Open. For anyone that doesn't know Reilly is the tallest player in the field standing at 6 feet 11 inches. His serve is the key part of his game and that serve could take him very far on these hard courts.
Kevin Anderson- After battling injuries in the past few years, Kevin Anderson has dropped out of his top ranking. He faces off against Alexander Zverev in the first round. While he is still the huge underdog, I expect the former US Open finalist to come out swinging against the up and coming Zverev.
Andy Murray- And how could we mention unseeded players without talking about one of the greatest of our generation, Andy Murray. Just like Kevin Anderson, Murray has battled injuries these past few years including hip injuries that have required major surgeries. However, Murray says he feels good so it will be fun to monitor him during this tourney.
Those are some of the unseeded players I am looking forward to watching these next two weeks.
I hope you enjoyed my US Open Preview and Predictions. You can expect 1-2 blogs each day covering the US Open. I will also be giving out my picks and keeping track of my record. Expect a blog later today as a preview for Day 1 of the US Open.
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