2017 U.S. Open Tennis Central.

2017 US Open men's preview.



World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and five-time champion Roger Federer are the title favorites to claim the final Grand Slam of the year, but there is no shortage of other contenders and storylines to follow in New York.
Here's a look at how our past champions could fare and which top players have the potential for a deep run in the second week. There's also a recap of which rising stars you should keep an eye on over the next two weeks, as well as a primer for some of the American men who can cheer on in New York at thier home major.

PAST CHAMPIONS

Marin Cilic – The withdrawal of Andy Murray means 2014 winner Cilic will now face American Tennys Sandgren instead of France’s Gilles Simon, who has won five of their six meetings. Cilic’s road to the final is a lot less complicated with Murray out of the draw, and we would not face any of the top seven seeds until the semifinals at the earliest. The same abductor injury that hampered Cilic at Wimbledon kept him out of the US Open tune-up events, including Cincinnatim where he was the defending champion. The last year the 28-year-old didn’t win a hard-court title was in 2012, but he’s running out of chances to pick up silverware in 2017.

Juan Martin del Potro – The 2009 champion has struggled for form this year and he has just one Top 10 win under his belt (over Kei Nishikori in Rome in May). The Argentine has shown flashes of his former self in wins over John Isner in Montreal and Tomas Berdych in Cincinnati, but his inconsistent summer also saw straight-sets losses to Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov. The draw isn’t terrible for del Potro, and if he can navigate past potential third-round opponent No. 11 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, a prime-time match with sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem could be on the cards.

Roger Federer – Five-time US Open champ Federer faces a talented young American in Frances Tiafoe to headline the night session inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 2, but expectations will be on a deep run to the second week in New York. No. 31 Feliciano Lopez is unlikely to present Federer too many issues in Round 3 considering their 12-0 head-to-head record, but a round-of-16 encounter against Nick Kyrgios could be entertaining considering how close their semifinal was in Miami earlier this year. Everyone is eyeing a Federer-Nadal semifinal, but Thiem may have something to say about that in the quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal – The top seed in Flushing Meadows faces Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in the first round and may meet No. 26 seed Richard Gasquet and No. 15 Tomas Berdych on his road to the quarterfinals. Nadal’s clay-court season saw him capture four titles and climb back up the rankings, but he was shocked by Denis Shapovalov at the Rogers Cup and fell to Nick Kyrgios in Cincinnati. Nadal won his first title here in 2010, but he’s advanced past the fourth round just once in the past five years, when he captured his second championship in 2013. With five of the top 11 players in the world out of the tournament with injury, there may never be a better chance for Nadal to win his 16th major title.

TITLE CONTENDERS

Grigor Dimitrov – Dimitrov enters New York full of confidence after claiming his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last week without dropping a set. He’s yet to prove he can consistently contend in the second week of majors, but a run to the semifinals in Melbourne shows he’s getting close. In a wide-open men’s draw, Dimitrov is unlucky to be in Rafael Nadal’s quarter, but a fourth-round win over No. 9 seed David Goffin would mark his best performance in New York.

Dominic Thiem – The 23-year-old had his breakout performance at the French Open, when he toppled second-seeded Novak Djokovic in three sets, but he has not really capitalized on that momentum. Only one of his six losses since Paris has been against a Top 30 player, so he’ll have to avoid underperforming against the likes of potential third-round opponent Adrian Mannarino if he has ambitions of a quarterfinal showdown with Federer.

Alex Zverev – The world No. 6 has a great draw in Flushing and could reach the final without playing a Top 4 seed. He benefits from Andy Murray’s withdrawal and may now face No. 10 seed John Isner in the quarterfinals instead of 2014 winner Cilic. He won Montreal with a straight-sets win over Federer in the final, and few people would be surprised to see this 20-year-old competing for an even championship two weeks from now.

RISING STARS

Borna Coric – The 20-year-old has struggled to string wins together outside of clay courts this year, dropping to No. 62 in the rankings after looking like he could contend for a seed here earlier this spring. He remains a tantalizing talent, however, though a first-round matchup against big-serving lefty Jiri Vesely is no easy proposition.

Hyeon Chung – Chung has recorded impressive wins over Alexander Zverev (Barcelona), Gael Monfils (Munich) and David Goffin (Montreal) already this year as he broke into the Top 50 for the first time. His first big test in New York will likely be if he can hang around long enough against John Isner in Round 2 to get a shot of attacking the American’s serve.

Jared Donaldson – The 20-year-old is playing some of his best tennis at just the right time following runs to the third round in Washington, D.C., and Montreal and the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. If he can get past Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round, he’ll likely face No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille in the round of 64.

Karen Khachanov – The world No. 29 is the 25th seed in New York and may be one of the best players you have never heard of. The 21-year-old Russian is having his best summer yet, and he has slowly climbed the rankings after a fourth-round appearance at the French Open, a semifinal run in Hale, Germany, and a trip to the third round at Wimbledon. He’s firmly entrenched in the world’s Top 50 now and could face Sam Querrey in the third round.

Frances Tiafoe – The second-youngest player in the Top 100, behind Denis Shapovalov, world No. 71 Tiafoe is among the next wave of top American teens coming through the ranks. The 19-year-old will have the eyes of the tennis world on him on Tuesday night when he faces five-time champion Federer in Round 1.

HOMETOWN HEROES

Ryan Harrison – Harrison captured his first ATP World Tour title in February when he won the Memphis Open without dropping a set, just one week after winning a Challenger title in Dallas. He reached the final of the BB&T Atlanta Open last month, but he’ll have his hands full against No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych in Round 1.

John Isner – Isner reached the quarterfinals in New York in 2011 and that has held up as his best Grand Slam result to date. He’s been a mainstay in the second, third and fourth rounds of majors for the past seven or eight years, but he has a chance for a deeper run this time around. The No. 10 seed could face fellow American Sam Querrey in the fourth round and Alexander Zverev in the quarters.

Steve Johnson – After a tough start to the summer, Johnson reached the quarterfinals of the Winston-Salem Open to generate some momentum heading into his first-round match against world No. 92 Nicolas Almagro on Monday. The American has a stronger game than his ranking (46) suggests, and people shouldn’t be too surprised if he takes out the No. 32 seed Robin Haase in Round 2. Fans will likely be rooting for Johnson, who will be playing his first Grand Slam on home soil since losing his father in May.

Sam Querrey – When the draw was adjusted to reflect Murray’s withdrawal, Querrey was arguably the biggest beneficiary. He no longer has to play a Top 16 seed in the third round, so instead of potentially playing 14th seed Nick Kyrgios, Querrey would now play No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov. Querrey, who made a surprise run to the Wimbledon semifinals, would also avoid meeting Roger Federer in the fourth round.

Jack Sock – Sock will be looking to improve on his fourth-round showing a year ago, but that my mean having to go through No. 4 seed Zverev. Sock reached the quarterfinals or better in four consecutive Masters 1000s events (Shanghai, Paris, Indian Wells and Miami) over the past year, and when his forehand is on, he can end a lot of points very quickly.

Donald Young – Young will again be a fan favorite in New York next week, which should play into his strengths as a player who performs best on American hard courts. All his best results have been stateside in 2017, including semifinal runs in Memphis and Delray Beach and fourth-round appearances in Indian Wells and Miami. A first-round match against qualifier Maximilian Marterer of Germany should be a nice way to ease into the tournament.

Maria is back.

2017 US Open women's preview.



The 2017 women's singles field is one of the most wide open in years, with six-time champion Serena Williams out on maternity leave and several veteran players and rising young stars with the potential to take home this year's trophy.
Let's take a closer look at past US Open champions, title contenders, rising stars and home-country favorites to see how they could fare at the year's final Grand Slam.

PAST CHAMPIONS

Angelique Kerber – The defending women’s singles champion became the No. 1 player in the world after winning the US Open title last year and held on to the top spot for 34 weeks before falling to Garbiñe Muguruza in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Now ranked No. 6 in the world, the 29-year-old lefty comes into the Open without having won a title in 2017. In fact, she has reached just one final this year, in Monterrey in April, and has yet to beat a Top 20 player this season. Kerber will be competing in New York for the 10th time in 2017. In addition to winning the title in 2016, she also reached the semifinals at the Open in 2011 and the fourth round twice, in 2012 and 2013.

Svetlana Kuznetsova – The 32-year-old has won 17 titles since turning pro in 2000, with arguably her biggest win coming at the 2004 US Open, where she defeated fellow Russian Elena Dementieva for the first of her two Grand Slam singles titles (2009 French Open). Currently ranked No. 8, Kuznetsova also reached the final in 2007 but has not advanced past the fourth round here since 2009. She has had a solid 2017 season, reaching the final at Indian Wells, the semifinals at Madrid, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the round of 16 at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

Maria Sharapova – Sharapova, 30, will make her first Grand Slam appearance in more than 18 months after receiving a wild card into the main draw of this year’s Open. The 2006 champion returned to competitive play at Stuttgart in April after serving a 15-month drug suspension and has only played in four tournaments since her return, suffering an arm injury in Stanford that forced her to withdraw from US Open Series events in Toronto and Cincinnati. The Russian will be unseeded for just the second time in New York and is currently ranked 147th in the WTA rankings. She’ll have a tough test ahead of her, as she meets No. 2 seed Simona Halep in the first round.

Venus Williams – The 37-year-old American star is having her best season in years, with results that include reaching two major finals, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well as the semifinals in Miami and the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Venus, seeded ninth, reached her first US Open final 20 years ago in 1997, the first year she played in New York. Eighteen US Opens later, she has won two titles (2000, 2001), reached another final (2002) and advanced to four semifinals (1998, 1999, 2007, 2010).

TITLE CONTENDERS

Simona Halep – Halep has been on the verge of claiming the No. 1 world ranking four times this season – first at the French Open and then at Eastbourne, Wimbledon and Cincinnati – and a strong showing at the US Open could finally put her over the hump. The 25-year-old Romanian has had a solid hard-court season since her run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and has improved her results with each tournament she's played, reaching the quarterfinals in Washington, D.C., the semifinals in Toronto and the final in Cincinnati.

Garbiñe Muguruza – The 23-year-old from Spain is one of the hottest players on tour coming into the US Open, but the No. 3 seed has not advanced past the second round in New York in her four appearances here. Since winning her second major title at Wimbledon in July, Muguruza has compiled an impressive 12-3 record at US Open Series tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals in both Stanford and Toronto and winning the title last week in Cincinnati. She heads into the Open as one of the clear favorites for the title.

Karolina Pliskova – Pliskova shocked the world at the 2016 US Open, when the then-No. 11-ranked Czech stunned six-time women’s champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams, 6-2, 7-6, to reach her first Grand Slam final. This year, the 25-year-old comes into the tournament as the No. 1-ranked player in the world and the women's top seed. She has won three of her nine singles titles in 2017 and has posted excellent results on hard courts throughout the year, winning the Brisbane and Doha titles, advancing to the Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati semifinals and reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Elina Svitolina – The 22-year-old Ukrainian is currently at a career-high ranking of No. 4 after winning a WTA-best five titles in 2017 (Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome and Toronto). Her most recent championship in Toronto was the most impressive, as she beat Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the title. The fourth-seeded Svitolina reached her second major quarterfinal at the 2017 French Open – she also reached the round of 8 at Roland Garros in 2015 – and is looking to move past the third round in Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career.

Caroline Wozniacki – The No. 5 seed and two-time US Open finalist (2009, 2014) has been one of the hottest players on tour this year, reaching six WTA finals, propelling the popular Dane into the Top 5 of the rankings for the first time in two years. Wozniacki comes into New York with outstanding hard-court results in 2017, reaching finals in Doha, Dubai and Miami and the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Most recently, she advanced to the Toronto final and the Cincinnati quarterfinals.

RISING STARS

CiCi Bellis – The 18-year-old rising American first made a name for herself at the Open in 2014, when in her Grand Slam debut she upset world No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. The California native has made steady progress ever since, cracking the Top 100 for the first time last year, advancing to two WTA semifinals this summer, in Mallorca and Stanford, and reaching a career-high ranking of No. 35 in mid-August. Bellis will be playing her third US Open main draw this year and will try to improve upon her career-best result from last year, when she qualified into the tournament and reached the third round.

Daria Kasatkina – The 20-year-old Russian, who picked up her first career WTA title in Charleston in April, will be playing her third US Open main draw in 2017. She reached the third round in her New York debut, as a qualifier, in 2015, defeating Daria Gavrilova and Ana Konjuh before falling to Kristina Mladenovic.

Ana Konjuh – No. 92-ranked Konjuh reached her first major quarterfinal at last year's US Open, upsetting No. 20 seed Kiki Bertens in the first round and shocking No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16 before falling to No. 10 Pliskova. This year, the 19-year-old from Croatia comes into the year's final Grand Slam as the No. 21 seed. Since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, her best result has been a quarterfinal finish at Stanford.

Jelena Ostapenko – Ostapenko, 20, has had quite the year in 2017, stunning the tennis world by winning her first WTA title at the French Open. The Latvian star also reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and she comes into the Open with a career-high ranking of No. 12 and her highest seeding ever at a Slam (also No. 12).

HOMETOWN HEROES

Lauren Davis – The American received her first-ever seeding at a major at the 2017 Open. Seeded No. 32 in the draw, the 23-year-old Ohio native has posted solid hard-court results this year, winning her first WTA title in Auckland, reaching quarterfinals at Doha, as a qualifier, and Dubai and advancing to the round of 16 at Indian Wells. She will try to advance past the second round of the US Open for the first time in five tries.

Madison Keys – While wrist surgery sidelined the 22-year-old during the early part of the season, Keys appears to be returning to top form this summer after winning the singles title in Stanford and reaching the third round in Cincinnati (where she lost in a third-set tiebreak to eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza). Keys, seeded No. 15, looks to improve upon her previous best performances in New York – fourth-round appearances the last two years.

Alison Riske – Riske reached a career-high ranking of No. 36 in May, and her top results this year include reaching the final at Shenzhen and the third round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Her best Grand Slam performance came in New York in 2013, when she reached the fourth round. She drew fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe in the opening round.

Sloane Stephens – The 24-year-old, who was ranked as high as No. 11 in 2013, had been sidelined for almost a year with a severe foot injury, returned at Wimbledon and has played just four tournaments since. Since coming back on tour, Stephens reached semifinals at both Toronto and Cincinnati, and her ranking has skyrocketed from No. 336 to No. 84.

CoCo Vandeweghe – California native Vandeweghe, 25, has posted the best Grand Slam results of her career in 2017, reaching her first major semifinal at the Australian Open and advancing to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The No. 20 seed, who will be playing in her ninth US Open this year, hopes to move past the second round in New York for the first time. Coming into the tournament, she reached the final at Stanford, falling to Madison Keys in the all-American final.

Construction updates for the 2017 US Open.



The US Open is approaching the final year of a multi-year renovation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. A temporary Louis Armstrong Stadium will be used for the 2017 tournament as construction continues on a new stadium, which stands in the footprint of the old Grandstand/Louis Armstrong Stadium (demolished at the end of the 2016 US Open).

USOpen.org spoke with National Tennis Center Chief Operating Officer Danny Zausner about what fans can expect.

USOpen.org: It’s been one year since most tennis fans were here. What has happened since the end of the 2016 US Open?
Danny Zausner: The most significant project is the beginning of the construction of the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. Right after last year’s Open, we began the demolition of the old Grandstand and Louis Armstrong. Shortly after the demolition was finished we began the underground work, driving 600-plus piles to get ready for the new stadium. Then, after we finished with the pile driving, we began erecting the steel. By the time fans come out, they’ll see the shell of the entire new stadium. It’s all the steel that would create the border of the stadium, so both vertically and horizontally you’ll be able to get a pretty good feel for the shape and dimension of the stadium. It’s pretty spectacular.
And because we didn’t have the new Louis Armstrong up and running for business this year, we built the temporary Louis Armstrong Stadium in Parking Lot B, just to the east of the construction site. It’ll be ready when fans show up to watch tennis.

USOpen.org: Is the new stadium you’re building taking up the exact same footprint as the old one?
Zausner: The old stadium was two very compact stadiums right on top of each other, and they shared a lot of the common services that a single stadium would have. So we’re not using the entire footprint that was Louis Armstrong and Grandstand going east and west, but north to south we are the same depth. We’re about 75 to 80 percent of the width of what was Louis Armstrong and Grandstand.
I think fans will be surprised by the height of it because it’s right there when you enter the site and it will be even taller once we put the roof on it. You’re seeing the height of the seating bowl, but you’re not seeing what it will be once it gets its hat on top. It’s significantly taller from the old stadium, probably 40 feet tall.

USOpen.org: How many seats will the new Louis Armstrong Stadium hold? And what is the capacity of the temporary stadium?
Zausner: The new stadium will hold 14,000 fans – 7,000 in the upper bowl and 7,000 in the lower bowl. There’s around 8,500 seats in the temporary stadium. The lower bowl has around 1,800 ticketed seats and the rest are general admission on a first-come, first-served basis.
There will be one main entrance like for Arthur Ashe Stadium. There are bathrooms throughout the stadium and we’ll have the East Gate Grill concession stand and three food trucks, including Korilla food truck and Neopolitan Pizza.

USOpen.org: And you were able to build the temporary stadium without removing any of the trees that are on the site?
Zausner: [The trees around the stadium] are a very unique feature, and everyone who has seen it so far has appreciated it. Some of the players have said it was very cool to have that perspective in it. There are three old growth trees around the surrounding of the park, so we built the stadia around them. The court itself is in the parking lot, so we elevated it off the lot so it’s the level surface it needs to be.

USOpen.org: With the construction, what changes can fans expect for concessions and merchandising?
Zausner: There have been a lot of people that had been housed in Armstrong since 1978 when the site opened, so we had to find temporary accommodations for many, many partners. So what we’ve done with Polo Ralph Lauren, they have moved across the way for one year and they’ll have the glass front of the Indoor Training Center. When people come through the East Gate, Polo will be on the left side instead of the right side.
Wilson, who had been in a similar location inside Armstrong, moved to one of the entranceways to Arthur Ashe Stadium, just past Mojito but before the South Plaza. And our US Open Collection which had been in Armstrong between Wilson and Polo Ralph Lauren is now in a temporary space within the construction footprint of the new stadium.

USOpen.org: And will fans also notice a change in the South Plaza?
Zausner: What had traditionally been the Nike store in the South Plaza was torn down after last year’s Open and [we’ve built] a two-story Mercedes activation center so they’ll have a showroom on the first floor. On the second floor there’ll be a café – Wine Bar Food – which had been in the South Plaza the past couple years, so now it will have a beautifully shaded space, a nice canopied area to take in everything around the site.

USOpen.org: And after the tournament this year, what will happen between then and the 2018 US Open?
Zausner: The second the Open is over and fans and players have left the site, we’ll get right back into the construction for Louis Armstrong. At the same time, we’ll have to remove the temporary Louis Armstrong because it’s part of the construction path for the site. We’ll continue with steel and the pre-cast seating and the things that make up the bowl like the steps that people walk on to get to their seat. They’ll start arriving immediately after the Open, so within weeks a fair amount of the bowl area will look like the seating bowl for the stadium. That work will be ongoing through the end of next July and August.
The roof mechanism is up already, that was in phase one, and that is under a shroud right now. But the steel work for the roof will begin soon as the completion of the structure to hold up that roof is completed.

US Open Day 1 preview: Into the great wide open.

As the 2017 US Open begins, 128 men and 128 women stand ready to play – and nearly as many storylines stand ready to play out. The first three acts of this Grand Slam season have featured a series of surprises, with elder statesmen Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal staving off the coming youth movement in the men’s game to add to their already awesome resumes, while on the women’s side, 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko and 23-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza have taken advantage of Aussie Open champ Serena Williams’ maternity leave to prove the potential of millennials on the game’s major stages.
Through three Slams, we’ve had five different champs. And with the exception of Williams in Australia and Nadal on the red clay that’s become part of his DNA, each has been something of a surprise. So as the curtain goes up on the final act of the Slam season, there’s little reason to expect that the Flushing fortnight won’t feature its own large share of dramatic twists and turns. With the absence of Williams on the women’s side and the fact that five of the top six men’s seeds from last year’s US Open are sidelined this year with a variety of injuries, both the women’s and men’s draws feature more contenders for the crown than you’ll find in an average season of “Game of Thrones.” Welcome to the 2017 US “Wide-Open.”
The bottom halves of both the men’s and women’s draws top the bill on Day 1, with former US Open champs Marin Cilic, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova all seeing action on opening day. The late withdrawal of 2012 champ Andy Murray resulted in a bit of last-minute shuffling on the men’s side, but the Day 1 marquee still boasts a torrent of talent, including men’s fourth seed Alexander Zverev, No. 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Americans Sam Querrey, John Isner, Jack Sock and Steve Johnson, women’s second seed Simona Halep, two-time Flushing finalist Caroline Wozniacki, Wimbledon champ Muguruza and No. 7 seed Johanna Konta.
Since his impressive run to the Wimbledon final in July, Cilic has endured a summer of discontent, a thigh injury keeping him on the sidelines since that second-place finish. The 28-year-old Croat took the title here in 2014, and this year, he has won one title and reached two other finals, including back-to-back runner-up finishes at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon. Despite his lack of match play coming in, the Croat always figures as a favorite on the hard floors of Flushing; his career 27-7 record here represents his best mark at any of the Slams. Today, Cilic looks to better that mark as he takes on American Tennys Sandgren, a 26-year-old Tennessean who earlier this year broke into the Top 100 for the first time. Now at No. 104, Sandgren’s best results have come on the Challenger circuit, but with just one prior Grand Slam main-draw appearance on his resume, this matchup figures to be more of a challenge than he can handle. Even with a testy thigh, Cilic figures to have a leg up on the American. In a tight three, the former champ moves on to round two.
With so many former champs on the sidelines this year, at least some of the focus of this Flushing fortnight figures to fall on a guy who many see as a future Slam champ – Germany’s Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old Zverev has been one of the sport’s hottest players in 2017, piling up five titles and a 46-14 match record, notching wins over Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, and Roger Federer – the latter coming in the final of this summer’s US Open Series event in Montreal. Though he’s yet to experience much success in the Slams – this year’s fourth-round finish at Wimbledon is his best career Slam showing – the 6-foot-6 Zverev is a growing threat to the game’s upper echelon. Today, he’ll look to continue his impressive ascent against qualifier Darian King of Barbados. King, ranked No. 168, is playing in the main draw of a Slam for the first time in his career. Playing your way through qualifying only to draw one of the game’s top young talents is the very definition of “good news, bad news.” Here, King figures to be overwhelmed by both opponent and occasion. In three, Zverev advances.
In a season that has seen Federer and Nadal continually turn back the clock, women’s No. 9 seed Williams has done a pretty fair Benjamin Button impression herself. The former No. 1 and two-time US Open champion has this year – at the age of 37 – reached the final of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, her first Slam finals since 2009. At an age when most players are contemplating retirement, Williams comes to New York contemplating the very real possibility of winning her 8th career major crown. She’ll start that quest today against qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova, a 19-year-old Slovakian who’s playing in her first Slam main draw. Kuzmova, ranked No. 135, played her way through qualifying without dropping a set, but it wouldn’t seem that she’s qualified to give the former champ much of a test. It’s Williams in two.
Sharapova, the 2006 US Open champ, is back in a Slam for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open. The 30-year-old Russian was granted a wild card into this year’s Open after serving a well-documented 15-month suspension, only to have the draw deal her a particularly tough hand—a first-round encounter with two-time French Open finalist Simona Halep, the No. 2 seed. The 25-year-old Romanian’s run to the final at Roland Garros this year was the third of three consecutive clay-court finals in which she appeared. She won the title in Madrid in early May – her 15th career singles crown. A quarterfinalist here last year, Halep has been as far as the semis at this event just once – in 2015. Conversely, Sharapova, owner of a career Grand Slam, has a 32-9 career mark in Flushing and has reached the semis here three times. What’s more, Sharapova has never lost to Halep in six career meetings, including four wins on hard courts. All that said, it’s been a long time since the former No. 1 has played a meaningful match on a major stage, and she’s going to need to dig deep if she’s going to plant the second seed. After such a prolonged absence, that seems a particularly tough task. Still, this should be a good one, a Day 1 encounter you’d figure to find in Week 2. In a tight two, Halep moves on.

Garby.

Is this, finally, the year for Rafa-Roger at the US Open?



Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are two of the great tennis players of all time, certainly the two best men’s players of this century and, improbably, the top two stars of 2017. Between them they have won an incomparable 34 Grand Slam singles titles and have faced off repeatedly on the game’s biggest stages – four times at the Australian Open, five times at the French Open, three times at Wimbledon and on 20 occasions in Masters 1000 events.
Yet they have never, not once, gone head to head on the biggest stage in all of tennis: Arthur Ashe Stadium, the showpiece arena for the US Open. It is the one void in their rivalry and a persistent lament for US Open fans.
But here they are, 13-plus years after their first career meeting, a win for Nadal at the Miami Open in 2004, as the leading contenders for the 2017 US Open men’s title and the 2017 year-end No. 1 ranking, Federer having prevailed at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, Indian Wells and Miami, and Nadal having conquered Rome, Monte Carlo and Roland Garros.
Nadal won the French Open without dropping a set, surrendering a meager 35 games in seven matches. Federer matched that feat at the All England Club, joining Bjorn Borg in 1976 as the only men in the Open era to hoist the Wimbledon trophy without having a lost a set during the fortnight.
Heading into the US Open, Nadal has accumulated 7,365 ranking points on the year, Federer 7,145. For comparison, third-place Alex Zverev has 4,175.
Nadal and Federer are, by any and all measure, the two best in the world. All of which begs the question: Is this finally the year we see Roger vs. Rafa at the US Open?
“The US Open deserves a battle between these two champions,” said tennis historian and journalist Steve Flink, a 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee who has covered the tournament since the 1970s, “because it would be the logical way for the Grand Slam season to end and essentially a meeting to decide who is the best player in the world for the year.
“If Nadal beats Federer, he would thus split the four majors in 2017 with his rival and that might be enough to give him the nod for the season as the preeminent player. If Federer beats Nadal in the final, he would unequivocally be regarded as the best in the world for the year, a status he has not enjoyed since ending 2009 at the top. There would be so much riding on the outcome of this showdown.”
These two great champions are well aware of the stakes. They openly acknowledge how important the other has been to his career, and their nine Grand Slam finals have propelled the sport to a higher level, with this year’s final in Melbourne serving as further testament.
Federer said that “Rafa definitely has been very particular in my career. I think he made me a better player. … It remains for me the ultimate challenge to play against him. So it’s definitely very special.”
Nadal, for his part, said the rivalry the two men share is “amazing for me, and I think for tennis, too,” adding, “I feel that this rivalry go not only in the tennis world. People from outside of our world talk about this, and that’s good for our sport.”
The fact that these two champions have yet to square off in New York is a product of some bad luck, dumb luck, close calls and untimely upsets. In fact, on five occasions they have been just a single round from facing one another, only for one to win and the other to succumb. In fact, for four consecutive years, from 2008 to 2011, both men reached the semifinals, with Federer advancing and Nadal falling in 2008 and 2009, and Nadal moving on and Federer losing in 2010 and 2011.
Perhaps the most surprising near miss came in 2013, when the two were in line for a quarterfinal clash. That year, Nadal advanced in four sets over Philipp Kohlschreiber in the round of 16, but later that day Federer dropped a stunner to Tommy Robredo, a man he had beaten in all 10 of their previous meetings, with just three sets lost.
All of which brings us to 2017. Already this year, the two have played three times, with Federer, long on the short end of their head-to-head ledger, registering victories over his rival in Miami, Indian Wells and in that brilliant five-set Australian Open final. Still, Nadal maintains a 23-14 head-to-head advantage in one of the most-played men’s rivalries of the Open era, trailing the 50 meetings Nadal has staged with the third member of their Slam-gobbling triumvirate, 12-time major winner Novak Djokovic, and the 45 times Federer and Djokovic have met.
Djokovic, however, will be absent from this year’s Open, resting a balky right elbow. Defending champion Stan Wawrinka’s withdrawal with a knee injury and Andy Murray pulling out with a sore hip further cleared the field of title contenders. That assured Federer and Nadal of Top 3 seeds, with the draw setting them on course for a semifinal clash.
There are many positives in that, primarily that they should be favored in all encounters until they face each other. Of course, that also means more chances where one could fall short of the Open’s long-awaited dream match – pure pessimism, according to longtime tennis analyst Mary Carillo, who has been broadcasting the US Open since 1986.
“Their Australian Open final was a marvel, and Roger’s second major win of the year at Wimbledon without the loss of a set was nearly as impressive as Rafa’s 10th win in Paris without the loss of a set,” said Carillo. “That they’ve never met at the Open is no fault of Roger’s. It’s Rafa that has lost steam toward the end of many seasons. Not so this year. Rafa will come to town eager, fit and confident.”
The US Open, over the years, has routinely staged the greatest rivalries in tennis – Chris vs. Martina, Graf vs. Seles, Serena vs. Venus, Borg vs. McEnroe, McEnroe vs. Connors, Sampras vs. Agassi, and so on and so on. On this ground, Federer and Djokovic have played an astounding six times, and Nadal and Djokovic have contested two riveting finals.
So is this the year the two titans of the men’s game meet at last? We’ll know in two weeks’ time, hopefully answered in the affirmative. Then, perhaps, finally, we’ll get the US Open matchup tennis fans have long sought – with the grandest prize in tennis just one more victory away.
“It would be,” said Carillo, “nothing short of spectacular.”

Great stuff as usual.

Did not know shit about the new stadium. Fuckers must be loaded.

G/B.......as always, appreciate the thread.........looking forward to a great open........indy

on the kid Shapovalov today. Monies is flowing on him, now -145 at thegreek.Medvedev is not a mug. Not in form losing first round at Montreal, Cinci, and Winston

My local PPH

Halep-Sharapova headline Day 1 schedule of play.



The blockbuster first-round tilt between No. 2 seed Simona Halep and 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova will lead the night session on Day 1 of the 2017 US Open, followed by the Opening Night debut of 20-year-old German wunderkind Alexander Zverev, who will face off with Darian King of Barbados to close out the Day 1 play.
Those two matches will follow the Opening Night Ceremony, which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Arthur Ashe Stadium and feature a special performance by Grammy-winning artist Shania Twain.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza will open day session play in Arthur Ashe Stadium against American Varvara Lepchenko. They will be followed by 2014 champion Marin Cilic against Tennys Sandgren and Venus Williams, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her first US Open, taking on Viktoria Kuzmova.
In other matches around the grounds, Petra Kvitova will take on 2008 US Open finalist Jelena Jankovic in Louis Armstrong Stadium, followed by Americans John Isner, Sloane Stephens and Jack Sock. Among those slated to appear in the Grandstand include Steve Johnson, Johanna Konta, Sam Querrey and Caroline Wozniacki.
On Tuesday, women’s No. 1 seed and 2016 finalist Karolina Pliskova will open Arthur Ashe Stadium play during the day session, followed by defending champion Angelique Kerber and two-time men’s winner Rafael Nadal.
The Tuesday evening session will feature American hopeful Madison Keys and the highly anticipated matchup between five-time US Open champion Roger Federer and rising star Frances Tiafoe.

US Open.org Day 1 picks.

WOMEN

(2) Simona Halep vs. Maria Sharapova
Were she in full form, Sharapova would be the favorite here. She is 6-0 all-time against Halep, and traditionally the Romanian has struggled against big hitters, as evidenced by her 6-1, 6-0 loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in the Cincinnati final. But Sharapova has played precious few matches over the last two years. The 2006 US Open champion returned from her 15-month ITF suspension in April by reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart, but she has struggled with injuries ever since. She retired during her second-round match in Rome, withdrew prior to her second-round encounter in Stanford and pulled out of Toronto and Cincinnati. That means she has played just one match since May, hardly a recipe for success against one of the sport’s most dogged competitors. On talent alone, Sharapova takes a set, but the fitter Halep will prevail in three.

(9) Venus Williams vs. Viktoria Kuzmova
It was 20 years ago that Venus Williams made her first appearance at the US Open and stormed to the final, becoming the first unseeded player to do so in the Open era. In 2017, she reprises her now familiar role of elder statesman, again facing a player who was not yet born when she made her debut. The 19-year-old Kuzmova is a talented up-and-comer who won three matches in qualifying to earn her spot in the main draw. She has enjoyed success this year on the ITF Pro Circuit but has never played on a stage like Arthur Ashe Stadium, much less in front of a partisan crowd. Expect her to settle in and make a match of it, but Venus prevails in two.

Sloane Stephens vs. Roberta Vinci
This figures to be one of the most entertaining matchups of the day, a showdown between two talented shot-makers, matching Stephens’ wheels against Vinci’s guile. The Italian is just two years removed from her run to the final here, but her results have been uneven in 2017. Stephens, meantime, was sidelined for nine months with a foot injury, just returning this summer. She came back strong, however, advancing to the semifinals at both Toronto and Cincinnati. That many matches after a long layoff could catch up with Stephens in the long run, but she is the player in finer form heading into this match and will prevail in straight sets.

MEN

Denis Shapovalov vs. Daniil Medvedev
This battle of rising stars has everything you could ask for in a first-round match: fierce hitting, lively personalities and emphatic shot-making. Shapovalov drew large crowds all throughout the qualifying tournament, and he will likely fill Court 7 on Day 1. Medvedev has the edge on paper when it comes to rankings – he is No. 53 compared with Shapovalov, who jumped 76 spots to No. 67 two weeks ago – but few players are riding hotter streaks right now that the Canadian, who upset Rafael Nadal on the way to the Rogers Cup semifinals. Shapovalov in four.

Darian King vs. (4) Alexander Zverev
King will make history Monday night when he becomes the first Barbadian-born player to play a US Open match inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. King dropped just one set to advance through qualifying this week, but his stay in Flushing is expected to be short-lived. The 25-year-old plays No. 4 Alexander Zverev, who is a legitimate title contender in a men’s draw that’s missing five of the top 11 players due to injury. There aren’t too many obstacles standing in the German’s way of the second week, and he should roll past King in three comfortable sets.

(13) Jack Sock vs. Jordan Thompson
Sock will round out the first day of play inside Louis Armstrong Stadium, the third of three Americans in action in the temporary structure. Sock plays to the New York crowd as well as any American, and his crunching forehand is one of tennis’ best weapons. Thompson will be playing in New York for just the second time in his career and for the 10th time at a major. He’s 2-7 in his previous nine Grand Slam appearances, but he did win his only previous matchup against the No. 13 seed, when the U.S. played Australia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals earlier this year. Expect Sock to exact a measure of revenge on Day 1 in straight sets.

Ten can't-miss players for the 2017 US Open.



Ordinarily, this pre-tournament roundup would be a cast of lesser-known colorful characters and stylish players, whose unique games are fun to catch on an outer court the first week – but not necessarily contenders for the US Open title. However, this year’s Open is even more wide open than usual.
On the women’s side, of course, there’s no Serena in the draw (she is due with her first child this fall), and Angelique Kerber has fallen from her lofty 2016 perch. On the men’s side, the upper ranks resemble a battlefield hospital. Andy Murray remains questionable (lingering hip injury); Novak Djokovic, champion here in 2011 and 2015, is out the rest of the year (elbow injury); last year’s winner Stan Wawrinka is absent (left knee surgery); and Kei Nishikori, the 2014 finalist, is also done for the year (right wrist). Roger Federer pulled out of Cincinnati with a back injury, leaving his frontrunner status in doubt.
While the following players are a few to watch for their intriguing games, outsize talents and personalities, this year we might just find a champion or finalist to emerge from this list.

MEN

Alexander Zverev
Want to see a 20-year-old kid slicing up the draw with the Zen-like confidence of a multi-Slam winning tour elder? After a red-hot summer, the 6-foot-6 German known as Sascha is suddenly a chic pick to win the Open. The broad-shouldered but willowy youngster combines the relaxed, easy power of Marat Safin with the pinpoint baseline accuracy of Andre Agassi. Zverev shares the American legend’s methodical backcourt point construction, and also his distaste for the net – despite the fact that his older brother Mischa is one of the few remaining serve-and-volleyers on tour. The younger Zverev’s game is built on controlled aggression and precision, anchored by a textbook two-fisted backhand. Up to No. 6 in the rankings, with five titles this year (including the Montreal ATP 1000 final and the Citi Open in DC), Zverev has quickly leapfrogged the rest of Generation Next. When Nadal calls you an “unbelievable player,” it’s probably time to believe.

Nick Kyrgios
There is little ordinary about Nick Kyrgios. His highlight reel of audacious trick shots, gratuitous tweeners and on-court cheekiness may grab fans’ attention, but it’s the Aussie’s more traditional arsenal – a loose-limbed rolling forehand he can smack for a winner at will; an elastic serve he can crunch to any spot in the box; delicate hands around the net – that makes him truly dangerous. When he is on, and committed to a match, his all-court skills are astonishing. With such a prodigious quiver of weapons at his disposal, Kyrgios sometimes can’t resist attempting the improbable and occasionally ridiculous: Virtually any match of Nick’s contains at least some Harlem Globetrotters elements. Fans are likely to see shots that even Federer can’t pull off – and certainly wouldn’t dare. Ever since shocking Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014, Kyrgios has been touted to win a Slam – if not many. The 22-year-old Australian professes to love the crowds and chaos in New York, so will this year’s Open be the one?

Dominic Thiem
Thiem violently hurls himself into every ball. If the elite games of a very select few players seem effortless, the strapping Austrian’s game might be called “effort-full.” His baroque backswings and follow-throughs are a marvel of shoulder turn and torque on both his extreme topspin forehand and whip-like one-handed backhand. Even the 23-year-old’s backhand slice is an exaggerated, physical stroke. At the Rome Masters event in May, Thiem pounded backhand winners past Nadal; the sheer physicality of the Austrian’s game pushed the Spaniard off court for a brutal straight-sets defeat (and the only blemish on Nadal’s otherwise perfect clay season). The downside is that the world No. 8 needs time to set up and tee off on his elaborate ground strokes. Will the quick hard courts in Flushing Meadow allow him to be as offensive-minded as he would like? If he can get into a groove in Flushing, Thiem’s bravado could translate into big results.

Gael Monfils
The 30-year-old Frenchman is perhaps the purest athlete in the game. Equal parts gymnast, sprinter and high jumper, “La Monf” occasionally seems more suited to being Olympic track-and-field athlete than tennis player. It’s exhausting to watch the 6-foot-4 Monfils cover the court – leaping up against the backdrop to hit a smash off an overhead; racing side to side, striding across more ground than any other player in fewer steps; and acrobatic retrieving balls even Nadal might have given up on. And while his physical feats on the court are astonishing, it’s his creative genius and showman instincts that make Monfils unique. He often seems to be toying around, genially rallying while sifting through an endless repertoire of shots until he suddenly decides to thump a scissor-kick forehand out of nowhere. Earlier this summer, Monfils pulled off a memorable “Montreal Miracle” at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Down in the final set to Nishikori, the Frenchman improbably extricated himself from a 2-6 deficit in the tiebreak, roaring back with a series of scrambling and spectacular shots to reel off six straight points (four of them match points against him) with shouts of “Allez!” Ripping backhand winners down the line, zooming all over the court, lofting lobs and finishing it with a bullet of a forehand, it was the kind of tennis magic everyone hopes to see from Monfils. Will he play that way at the Open? Sure, for stretches. The question is whether he can sustain it.

Jack Sock
For Sock, it’s all about the forehand. Of course, that could be said about many on the men’s tour. But the burly, 6-foot-3 Nebraskan’s big weapon is different. Wielding his stick like a flyswatter, he hits the forehand with an extreme Western grip and slack wrist to generate incredible racquet head speed. It has been called weird and unorthodox. But mostly, it’s a monster shot. Sock has registered some of the fastest forehands on tour – routinely averaging in the mid-80-mph range – and he combines dizzying topspin with pace. His topspin, measured in revolutions per minute, is neck-and-neck with Nadal’s. Sock, 24, also possesses a massive serve and excellent hands at net (honed from years of winning doubles titles) but, predominantly, he bides his time in the backcourt until he gets a crack at an inside-out forehand. The Cornhusker likes U.S. hard courts; earlier this year, Sock reached the semis at Indian Wells and the US Open warmup in Washington. Look for “J Sizzle” to ride a wave of home-crowd support in New York.

WOMEN

Madison Keys
With Serena out, the 16th-ranked American boasts the tour’s biggest serve; Keys has a live, loose arm and elastic delivery reminiscent of Pete Sampras. It’s a thing of beauty, and like Sampras, her second ball is nearly as effective as the first. The weapons don’t stop there. Madison’s easy-power forehand, when she’s swinging freely, is the key to her first-strike tennis. The ball comes off her racquet with a resounding thud. The Californian is perhaps the cleanest ball-striker on the women’s tour since her coach Lindsay Davenport. Keys has yet to put everything together in a major. Part of that is an inability to harness her big shots, but it’s also due to injury: Keys sat out four months and dropped out of the Top 10 with a wrist injury. Yet the 22-year-old streaked to victory in Stanford three weeks ago to claim her third career title. If Madison can find the right blend of consistency and power, look out.

CiCi Bellis
Bellis made a splash in her 2014 debut at the Open, when as a 15-year-old the undersized American became the youngest player to win a match at Flushing Meadows in nearly two decades. Now all of 18, having chosen to play pro rather than college ball at Stanford, Bellis has blossomed. Still slight, the 5-foot-7 Bellis has added much-needed punch to her serve and ground strokes, which she hits with excellent depth and acute angles. CiCi’s all-court savvy and moxie are still beyond her years. She plays big points well and instinctively knows how to involve fans in her matches. The Californian has vaulted to No. 35 in the rankings after impressive victories over 8th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Rogers Cup in Toronto and former Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova to reach the semifinals at Stanford. Bellis is now more than a curiosity. And you can bet that the excitable teen will have the partisan home crowd behind her in Flushing.

Jelena Ostapenko
Two days after turning 20, the feisty Latvian shocked the tennis world and third-seeded Simona Halep to capture this year’s French Open (and her first title!) with an electric performance of no-holds-barred power tennis. Ostapenko cracked 54 winners – including a walloped backhand return on match point – to become the first unseeded champion at Roland Garros since 1933. She clocked her ferocious forehand at an average of 76 mph (harder than Murray and just shy of Nadal). Ostapenko steps in and takes the ball early at every opportunity, happy to play such high-risk tennis it can appear almost reckless. The Latvian swings for the fences, sometimes literally, with balls almost as likely to paint the lines as land six feet out. In the French final, the Latvian had 54 unforced errors to go with her same number of winners (compare that to Halep, who registered just eight winners and 10 unforced; it was like they were playing on different planets). Now at No. 12, still a bundle of raw, green talent, the voluble youngster Ostapenko loves a big stage. New York should feel like home.

Sloane Stephens
Stephens’ current ranking of No. 84 may not sound all that impressive, but consider the fact that just over a month ago, the unimaginable number 1,125 sat next to her name on the draw, and earlier this year she was confined to a wheelchair. Thought to be the future of American women’s tennis only a couple of years ago (after she shocked Serena Williams to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open), Stephens has rebounded remarkably from a severe foot surgery that kept her off tour for nine months. Few players are as fluid and graceful as Stephens on court; exceptionally smooth but lightning quick, the 24-year-old produces deceptive power with relaxed swings and excellent timing. Sloane surged to consecutive semifinals in the two major lead-ups to the US Open, the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati – only her third and fourth tournaments of the year – by upending the likes of Kvitova and Kerber. Her legions of fans would love nothing more to see the American back near the top of the women’s game.

Johanna Konta
As she steadies herself on the service line, the Brit by way of Australia (and of Hungarian parentage) at first glance may look like a club player with her stilted service delivery. But once Konta strikes the ball, she produces one of the most effective serves on the women’s tour. Come for the curious serve, stay for the aggressive ground strokes. The 5-foot-11 baseliner may be outwardly calm and mature, but she goes for broke with hard, deep, flat and acutely angled shots off both wings. A late bloomer who finally climbed into the Top 100 in 2015 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 at the age of 26, Konta has won three career titles, including two this year, and developed into a big-match player, becoming the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since 1978. The Brit’s game is well suited to the hard courts of Flushing Meadows; look for Konta to improve on last year’s round-of-16 performance.