US Open 2022

Former US champion Dominic Thiem awarded as wildcard.
Venus Williams also awarded a wildcard.

Sascha Zverev has withdrawn from the US Open. Sports can be cruel at times. The savage injury in Paris. For me Sascha would’ve been a big player at Wimbledon as well.

A rather staggering stat no male player has successfully defended the title in New York since 2008(the last of Federer’s 5 in a row).

2009: Del Potro
2010: Nadal
2011: Djokovic
2012: Murray
2013: Nadal
2014: Cilic
2015: Djokovic
2016: Wawrinka
2017: Nadal
2018: Djokovic
2019: Nadal
2020: Thiem
2021: Medvedev

With Zverev’s withdrawal, it ensures that Medvedev and Nadal can only meet in the final.

My money is on Nadal to win the title to win a 5th US open will be big motivation.

For me, the USO is the least-predictable Slam. Since the start of the Big Three domination (2003) New York has thrown up more different winners than the other three GS.

So, for me, there's a chance that we'll have a new winner this year. Clearly Nadal and Medvedev are the main favourites. Tsitsipas could go deep as could Alcaraz, but like Sinner he may be tired after a long season.

What about Kyrgios? If he keep his cool, he must be considered a possibility.

It would be nice if Emma R could defend some of her points but I can't see her going far. The women's has been remarkably difficult to predict for a good many GS and a good case could be made out for numerous players.

A few weeks ago you might have thought Swiatek would win, but the Pole has gone off the boil. GS winners will proliferate across the draw, yet even so there could still be a new Slam champ.

I fancy Norrie to go deep in the tournament, seems to be playing good tennis at the moment.

When the points drop off on Monday, Nadal will unofficially be world #1. Should Nadal and Medvedev reach the final. The winner will be #1

Oakdene wrote:I fancy Norrie to go deep in the tournament, seems to be playing good tennis at the moment.

Cam's GS record is modest. Wimbledon this year was the first time he'd made the second week. His admirable traits - fitness and determination - are no match against the top players. But if someone was to have an off-day against him.....?

4th round or QF would be a decent run for Norrie - as sirfred notes, once he gets against the elite players he just doesn't have enough about his game to really challenge then, but he's usually too good for those outside the top 15-20 where just being consistent and running a lot of balls down will prove sufficient. Given his seeding, he's got a chance of making reasonable progress

Looking at the list of past winners, surprising that Djokovic never retained a USO - always considered principally a hard court player, but it shows the difference between the slower AO and faster USO court that someone (and a few different players over the years) have found ways to beat him in NY (plus him beating himself on occasion with DQs and self-inflicted absences). The difference between being able to move to a ball and play a positive shot, as happens with the AO courts, or a defensive one as happens at Flushing Meadow, at least one enough points to make a difference as to Novak's effectiveness.

Novak Djokovic has officially withdrawn from US Open.

Such a sweet draw for Nadal. highest seed in his quarter is Norrie, you cant ask for a nicer draw than that really. No disrespect to Norrie but he doesnt for me have the firepower to really take out the very top players in slams over 5 sets. I admire his work ethic though.

Its such a shame Djokovic is not playing, whether you like him or loathe him you want the best players playing in the grand slams. Also with the race for the most grand slam titles so close it would have been amazing to see a showdown between Djokovic and Nadal. They only ever seem to meet at the French open these days! Chances are that Djokovic will next play a slam at the French open 2023. His vaccination status has most likely cost him the chance to be top of the pile with slam wins. I still think he would have won the Australian open this year but we will never know of course. He has won 9 out of 9 finals in Melbourne and he is unlikely to be able to play there until about 2025, he will probably be retired by then and even if not he wont be winning slams by that stage.

I am not really that bothered about the US open draw now, even the projected quarter finals dont look all that exciting. I wouldnt mind seeing someone like Sinner win it.

With Djokovic not allowed entry into the US, Canada (?) and Australia because he is considered a significant health threat to the American, Canadian and Australian populations, it also throws a spanner in the "GOAT" debates. Apparently there are some unvaccinated American tennis players in the draw (qualifying and main) for the US Open but as they are American citizens they are allowed into America.

Yes apparently there are unvaccinated american players in the draw at the US open. It makes it even more of a joke then that Djokovic cannot play. As if somehow somebody unvaccinated flying in to play will make a difference to an unvaccinated American playing. Really does take from the tournament not having the best player there.

You can't refuse entry to your own citizens, it's that simple. No one to blame but Djokovic and the tournament is far better without his whining.

SR the voice of reason as always. Interesting how all the other players are even saying he should be playing, the very ones he would probably beat. They know that its a farce at this stage. Clearly the tournament is far poorer without him, he is box office and puts bums on seats. He is arguably the greatest player of all time but dont let that get in the way of you saying the tournament is better without him. lol

slashermcguirk wrote:SR the voice of reason as always. Interesting how all the other players are even saying he should be playing, the very ones he would probably beat. They know that its a farce at this stage. Clearly the tournament is far poorer without him, he is box office and puts bums on seats. He is arguably the greatest player of all time but dont let that get in the way of you saying the tournament is better without him. lol

Who cares what the other players are saying. He's been refused entry into the US not the US open, it is therefore absolutely nothing to do with the players and yes the tournament is better without Novax, just like Wimbledon should have been. Being a very good tennis player does not make you a good person.

I’m not gonna comment on the vaccination thing, but I think it’s somewhat sad Djokovic isn’t there.
Whether you like x, y or z, the golden generation is reaching the end and we might not get too many more opportunities to see them on the big stages.
IMO the event is slightly devalued.

I think there's a chance someone really rogue/random could take the men's title. Someone who has never been thought of as a potential slam winner. Of course there are still a few favourites but I could see any of them crashing out before the latter stages.

Has Roger Federer all but retired? He seems to have been out of tennis for a long time. Thiem seems to be way past his best and it seems he is finished in terms of competing for slams. Rafael Nadal hasn't played much tennis but hopefully is fit enough to compete. Zverev is still out injured - he mightily impressed me in the French Open and it was such a terrible shame that he suffered an ankle turnover and injury. Coric did well on his return from long term injury but doubt he will challenge for the US Open. I suppose we have Meddy, Tsitsipas, Kyrgios, Hurkacz, Sinner, Nadal, Alcaraz, Coric as individuals of interest in the mens singles. Will be interesting to see how Draper, Norrie, and Evans do. Murray getting to the third round I think will be good given his condition. Last year in the women's tournament it was the Fernandez and Raducanu show. Doubt there will be a repeat of that but hopefully they both make at least the 4R.

Federer is playing the Laver Cup. No idea what his plans after that are.

theslosty wrote:I think there's a chance someone really rogue/random could take the men's title. Someone who has never been thought of as a potential slam winner. Of course there are still a few favourites but I could see any of them crashing out before the latter stages.

Can’t see a rank outsider winning it tbh
Medvedev
Nadal
Tsitsipas
Kyrgios
Sinner
Alcaraz

At least one will reach the latter stages.

Jeff Navarro wrote:

theslosty wrote:I think there's a chance someone really rogue/random could take the men's title. Someone who has never been thought of as a potential slam winner. Of course there are still a few favourites but I could see any of them crashing out before the latter stages.

Can’t see a rank outsider winning it tbh
Medvedev
Nadal
Tsitsipas
Kyrgios
Sinner
Alcaraz

At least one will reach the latter stages.

All Medvedev has won in the last 12 months is a solitary ATP250 title. Nadal has only played one match since his injury at Wimbledon and he lost it. Kyrgios has only threatened at one GS in his entire career and it was on grass. Alcaraz has not been in title winning form since pre-RG. Sinner and Tsitsipas are good players but it would hardly be a shock for either of them to be upset.

Looking at the betting Sinner and Auger-Aliassime look like good shouts although I haven't studied the draw. I can still see all of the above failing and an outsider just finding themselves in the right place at the right time, maybe somebody like Coric, Norrie, Hurkacz or Ruud etc. We've certainly seen it enough in the women's game anyway

It’s best of 5 sets mate. You rarely see a fluke winner in the men’s game.
My moneys on Nadal but Medvedev won’t be far behind him.

I think we could get a new men's GS winner in New York. And the women's side is so open you could get a new Slam champ there, too.

I'm not going to even begin to speculate about the women's winner. But while Nadal and Medvedev are favourites for the men's title, the other contenders include Tsitsipas, Alcaraz, Kyrgios and Sinner.

With Kyrgios it all depends on his volatility. He's certainly playing well enough. Alcaraz and Sinner might find a gruelling Slam too much of a trial on a young body. FAA could be worth a punt but I can't really see him going all the way.

According to the ATP official site, no fewer than FIVE players have a chance to be number one at the end of the USO.

They are Nadal, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz and Ruud. I think you can forget about Ruud but the others are real possibilities.

Given he has no points to defend, Rafa must be favourite while Medvedev will probably have to win the whole thing to prevent someone else taking over at the top.

Won't have to wait for Andy Murray's match as he's first on (4pm UK time). Medvedev kicks things off on the main court (5pm). A quirk of the draw pits Kyrgios against doubles partner Kokkinakis. They battle it out in the second night match on Ashe Court.

First night match on Ashe is what could be Serena's last hurrah. To think she first won the USO before a lot of the draw were born.

Murray takes the first set 7-5 against Cerundolo. There were five breaks in that set, with Andy failing to serve it out at 5-3.

LATER: Murray 4-0 up in the second set

Daniil Medvedev beats Stefan Kozlov 6-2 6-4 6-0. Pretty straightforward but 1st serve % still not great for the champ.

Murray eventually thru in straight sets and a very good win by Harriet Dart over 10th seed Kasatkina.

Jack Draper's recent good form continued with a straight sets win over Ruusuvuori although the Briton now has to face FAA.

The big shock in the men's was the defeat in four of Tsitsipas by qualifier Galan. The Greek lost the first 11 games of the match before getting the third set.

But although the qualifier needed NINE MPs he eventually triumphed 7-5 in the fourth.

Another shock was Halep's exit to an unknown. I had Halep down as a possible winner, although she hadn't had a good record in NY recently.

Serena will get at least one more match after winning in straight sets.

Nick Kyrgios beat his BFF Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 6-4 7-6

Taylor Fritz out in R1 after being taken out by fellow American Brandon Holt. Holt winning 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-4. I had Fritz as a potential banana skin for the big boys.

Former champions Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem both out as well.

As for Tsitsipas, he’s a hype job.

I am not sure if Tsitsipas is a hype job as he is ranked at No. 5 in the world. However it is important to look at his tournament record closely because in some tournaments he is consistently poor. So I had Tsitsipas as an individual of interest for this tournament but I hadn't checked his US Open Record - which I now do:

Year Round Knocked out in
2018.... 2R
2019.... 1R
2020.... 3R
2021.... 3R
I suppose looking at that record one might think it was on a cusp - could he get to the 4R or QF this year or was it going to be more of the same. Getting knocked out in the 1R suggests more of the same. As usual the US Open is played in windy conditions. Tsitsipas record at Wimbledon is similar - but he has a reasonably good record at the Australian Open (three semi-finals reached) and the French Open (one final and one semi-final).

Jeff Navarro wrote:A rather staggering stat no male player has successfully defended the title in New York since 2008(the last of Federer’s 5 in a row).
...
2020: Thiem
2021: Medvedev

I thought Thiem had been on the decline for longer - maybe because of all the hullaballoo about his French Open performances - reaching the semis in 2016 and 2017, and then the finals in 2018 and 2019.  In 2020 he was knocked out in the QF - however he had a good year overall in 2020.  So his injuries began early in 2021.  He seems to have been in the wilderness for about 20 months but he is still quite young - 29 in a few days time - so has time to get back to the top level as long as he is able to physically recover fully.

I saw latter stages of the Thiem match yesterday and thought his timing looked off, especially on serve. Carreno Busta is a tough opponent for 1st round. Will see how Thiem gets on in the tournaments rest of the year before writing him off for 2023 though.

On Tsitsipas, I find his poor US Open record surprising given how well he has performed at Montreal and Cincinnati. Maybe the windy conditions at Flushing Meadows are an issue, but I do get the sense he could do with a change of coach to toughen him up mentally.

Elsewhere was good to see Berrettini back in winning action. Along with Shapovalov a name to look out for to go deep. This tournament is looking v open - not convinced Medvedev will defend his title.

I don't think Tsitsipas being top 5 really means anything tbh. He's won the Tour Finals and 2 ATP 1000s. Not really an outstanding CV.
Player vacuum has helped Tsitsipas.

Cameron Norrie dished out a beating on the mercurial Benoit Paire. Norrie winning 6-0 7-6 6-0

Evans followed Norrie with a good win.

Ominously for the other women, Swiatek was back to dishing out bagels again today. The Pole has been fairly ordinary since her astonishing 37-match run but could be back on the winning path again.

I see Gasquet is still going strong - coming thru in four. MrI - you'll have to forgive me for failing to share your enthusiasm for Berrettini who, once again, looks to have a kindly draw.

I might show some support for the Italian he ever managed to beat a top 10 player. It's many months now since he did.

Emma Raducanu’s US Open defence is over in round 1. Alize Cornet recovered from a break down in both sets to win 6-3 6-3.
Raducanu’s game is just a bit all over the place these days.

Nadal recovered from dropping the opening set against Australia’s Hijikata to win in 4 sets. 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3

The Spaniard will face Italian enigma Fabio Fognini in round 2. Fognini came from two sets down to beat Karatsev. 1-6 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-4

Emma R's defeat was expected. She's had a, predictably, tough time on tour this year and Cornet has been doing well of late.

Emma will probably be relieved. Yes, she'll drop down to around 60 in the world but she's no longer the centre of attention and can gradually work her way up, gaining more experience as she goes.

Fognini will be a tricky opponent for Nadal but I'm not expecting him to beat Rafa.

Today Murray plays Nava, a WC, while Draper has a much sterner task against FAA. After Evans win yesterday Dan will play Duckworth tomorrow, while Norrie takes on Joao Sousa. There's a real chance that at least three Britons will make the third round.

Two time former champion Naomi Osaka is also out, being seen off by Danielle Collins. The American winning 7-6 6-3.

Osaka has a peculiar record at the slams. Played 22. Losing in R1-R4 18 times.
But if she’s makes it past R4, she’s gone on the win the title 4 from 4.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Emma Raducanu’s US Open defence is over in round 1. Alize Cornet recovered from a break down in both sets to win 6-3 6-3.
Raducanu’s game is just a bit all over the place these days.

I expected her to do better than this. The British media will be very disappointed.

No name Bertie wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Emma Raducanu’s US Open defence is over in round 1. Alize Cornet recovered from a break down in both sets to win 6-3 6-3.
Raducanu’s game is just a bit all over the place these days.

I expected her to do better than this.  The British media will be very disappointed.  

I'd be surprised if she ever made the quarter final of a slam again and can envisage an early retirement. She just doesn't have the weapons to beat the top players.

That's a bit drastic isn't it , Soul ? She's still a teenager who is not only having to cope with increased expectations after her stunning success last year , but has been plagued by various injury issues - and a round-robin of coaching changes which can't have done her much good in terms of stability.

This is a good time for her to pause and reassess , I think. Whether she comes back and , as Sir Fred suggests , works her way back gradually ; or falls by the wayside, is up to her. But I think it is way to soon to be writing her off !

I think Raducanu needs a coach that will toughen her up a bit tbh. She’s obviously got some talent. But her fitness is still poor.
Someone like Toni Nadal would be interesting

alfie wrote:That's a bit drastic isn't it , Soul ?  She's still a teenager who is not only having to cope with increased expectations after her stunning success last year , but has been plagued by various injury issues - and a round-robin of coaching changes which can't have done her much good in terms of stability.

This is a good time for her to pause and reassess , I think.  Whether she comes back and , as Sir Fred suggests , works her way back gradually ; or falls by the wayside, is up to her. But I think it is way to soon to be writing her off !

Womens tennis is young persons game, very rarely do players excel into their 30's (Serena being an exception) so she doesn't have the same time that a male player might to improve. The various injuries and constant coaching changes factored into my thinking, it doesn't signal a long career to me.

Listening to a tennis coach assessing Emma Raducanu's chances against Cornet, they thought Emma Raducanu's natural ranking was around #50 from what he had seen of her so far and wouldn't be surprised if Cornet won.   Not sure how this accounts for last year but people have said the draw was kind, she got momentum, she only encountered two seeded players (11 & 17), inconsistency in womens tennis and that more or less no-one had encountered her before on the WTA tour so didn't know her game.

Emma Radacunu British No 1
Current ranking: #11
points before 2022 USOpen: 2756
points dropped: 2040 (includes qualifying points)
points gained: 10 (R1 exit)

Points after 2022 USOpen: 726
Expected ranking post 2022 USOpen: #84

Harriet Dart British No 2
Current ranking: #88
points before 2022 USOpen: 685
points dropped: 50 (R1 + qualifier points)
points gained: 70 at least

Points after 2022 USOpen: 705 at least
Expected ranking post 2022 USOpen: #87 or higher

If Harriet Dart wins her second round match she will become the new British No. 1

Andy Murray beat Emilio Nava 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-0. Murray faces Berrettini in round 3.

Jack Draper beat FAA 6-4 6-4 6-4 and will face Khachanov in round 3.

Daniil Medvedev beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-2 7-5 6-3 and faces Wu in round 3.

Murray thru after a fine start by his opponent who couldn't keep it up and was well beaten in the end. Murray now faces Berrettini who had a tough four-setter.

An excellent win for Jack Draper who beat FAA in straight sets without losing serve. Draper has come on in leaps and bounds this season and has an exciting future if this form is anything to go by.

Of course, the big talking point is Serena's continuing presence in the tournament after she beat two-seeded Kontaveit in three sets.

Kyrgios is also still around after a hard-fought four-setter over Bonzi. Nick could well play Medvedev in round four.

Qualifier Galan, who ousted Tsitsipas, was at it again, coming from behind to beat Thompson in five in a near-four hour match.

Good to see that Andy's fighting spirit remains intact. An impressive fightback considering doubts about his fitness after a marathon first set which he lost. Berrettini has the weapons to take Andy out but if Murray can be aggressive he'll stand a good chance. Jack Draper continues to impress and shoot up the rankings and he now has a decent chance to reach the QF's in the US Open.