The 2019 US Open is locked and loaded. It’s the last chance for all players to win a Grand Slam this year, so expect the marquee names to perform in New York in these dog days of summer. Below, we take a look at some of the players to watch over at the men’s singles bracket, including a pair of favorites, a couple of sleepers, and an intriguing long shot to win it all at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
For the second Grand Slam tournament in a row, Djokovic will be entering one as the defending champion. The Serbian topped the US Open in 2018, which was the third time he had done so. One year later, the sentiment remains the same — that Djokovic is among the men to beat at the tournament. In fact, he owns the shortest odds to win the last Grand Slam event of the year. Djokovic, who won this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon, followed up his win in London with a disappointing semifinals loss to Daniil Medvedev at the Western & Southern Open, though, that shouldn’t deter anyone from trusting him to win the 2019 US Open.
The King of Clay just had success on the hard court, as Nadal just won the Rogers Cup in Canada earlier this August. He beat the likes of Fabio Fognini, Gael Monfils, and Medvedev to win the tournament. Nadal keeps a strong 15-2 record on hard-court ATP matches this year, as of this writing. Nadal also made it to the Finals of the 2019 Australian Open, losing to Djokovic in the final match of the tournament.
Note: No Federer you ask? Sure, he’ll likely make it to the semis or quarters, but this writer confidently does not expect him to go all the way to the finals.
Nishikori only has one title so far this 2019, but that was coming from a tournament done on the hard court. Earlier this year, the Japanese star took home the title at the Brisbane International. At the Australian Open, Nishikori made it to the quarterfinals, where he had to withdraw due to fatigue. Nishikori is reportedly dealing with a breathing issue ahead of the 2019 US Open, but presuming that he’d recover just in time of the New York tournament, expect him to be a thorn in the side of even the big hitters. Nishikori has made the semifinals of the last two US Open he had participated.
Anderson has never won a Grand Slam, but he’s among those who can be scrappy and give the favorites a run for their money. Anderson reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2018 then the year prior, he made a semifinals appearance. The 33-year-old South African is 8-2 in ATP matches on the hard court this year.
Querrey turned lots of heads at Wimbledon this year, as he made it all the way into the quarterfinals round. He upset Dominic Thiem in the first round then collected three-straight wins before falling prey to Nadal in the quarterfinals. Querrey is a shaky player to trust in hard court events, as he’s only 7-7 on the surface as of this writing this year, but if his Wimbledon performance was any indication, it tells that he’s capable of pulling off a surprise.
Writer’s Prediction
Novak Djokovic wins his fourth US Open title this 2019.
