US Open Preview

The US Open tennis tournament, the final major of the year, begins in just a couple of hours here in Queens, NY. And, as usual, the two number one seeds and prohibitive favorites are Novak Djokovic on the men’s side and Serena Williams on the ladies’. But both players come into the tournament with some serious questions about their health and their play.

Djokovic had a poor loss at Wimbledon against Sam Querrey and then lost a classic match against Juan Martin Del Potro in the early rounds of the Olympics. There have been rumors of some sort of injury but it certainly seems that Novak has kind of lost his mojo ever since winning the French Open. That victory at the French gave him his career Grand Slam and also made him the first player since Rod Laver to hold all four major titles at once. He seemed on his way to a possible calendar Slam but that all ended at Wimbledon. According to Mats Wilander, Djokovic really lost his motivation after winning the French and he will need to some time to find that incredible drive again. So I don’t expect Novak to make it all the way this year. And if he stumbles, the field is wide open. del Potro looks to be back in form after a number of injury-plagued years but he may not have the stamina yet to endure the full two weeks. Rafa Nadal looked like he also had recovered from a severe wrist injury with his play at the Olympics but it is questionable whether he can also hold up for two weeks. Kei Nishikori has made a couple of deep runs here at the Open but it remains to be seen whether he can be as consistent as he needs to be to win it. And Andy Murray has been playing some solid tennis all summer long as has Marin Cilic. If Djokovic does not return to the dominant form he has shown over the last two years, this could be a wonderful, wild ride on the men’s side of the draw.

The question for Serena Williams is not motivation, but health. After a disastrous Olympics, it was revealed that Serena had a some kind of shoulder injury which was clearly effecting her play and, more importantly, her serve. Serena’s serve is such a weapon and, without it, she can be vulnerable. On the other hand, Williams has incredible motivation this year. This is by far the tournament she most loves to win and a victory here would give her 23 major singles victories, surpassing Steffi Graf and add another record to her resume as the greatest women’s singles player ever. But if she should lose early, it will open up the draw to a whole host of players. The number two seed, Angelique Kerber, has a chance to dethrone Serena as number one in the rankings, giving her motivation but also some added pressure. In addition, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova have had solid summer tournaments and are both in form. But I don’t think it will matter. I really believe this is the one Serena really wants to win so I expect her to be lifting the trophy in another two weeks.