The 2019 US Open begins on Monday and BSO will be on hand bringing you the very best of the sights and sounds from Flushing Meadows. We previewed the women’s draw yesterday. You can check it out here.
Today we are releasing our men’s preview.
If the women’s draw is classified as “wide open” the men’s draw might be anything but. Consistency rules the day on the men’s side and there is a natural order that rarely gets disturbed.
It has been said by many tennis experts and pundits that we are living in the greatest age of men’s tennis. It can be argued, and quite successfully, that the three greatest players of all time are currently in this era. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer have a combined 54 Grand Slam singles titles.
54.
That number is astounding. That’s more than Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi combined.
Since 2010 there have been 39 Grand Slam tournaments, 33 of those tournaments have been won by either Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. That’s 84% of the available Grand Slams owned by three men.
What does this all mean?
The US Open will likely be claimed by one of these three men, but upsets can happen and that’s why we love sports.
The top 20 men’s seeds are as follows (though anyone seeded below #10 making the semis is probably unlikely):
1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain
3. Roger Federer, Switzerland
4. Dominic Thiem, Austria
5. Daniil Medvedev, Russia
6. Alexander Zverev, Germany
7. Kei Nishikori, Japan
8. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
9. Karen Khachanov, Russia
10. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
11. Fabio Fognini, Italy
12. Borna Coric, Croatia
13. Gael Monfils, France
14. John Isner, United States
15. David Goffin, Belgium
16. Kevin Anderson, South Africa (pulled out)
17. Nikoloz Basilashvili, Georgia
18. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada
19. Guido Pella, Argentina
20. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
Young guys to watch:
Dennis Shapovalov, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are all potential “heirs” to the throne depending on who you listen to. They’ll likely beat each other before advancing deep into the second week.
Tsitsipas and Zverev have the looks of week one flameouts right now.
If we had to pick one of these players to make a run it would be Medvedev, though his quarterfinal opponent would be Djokovic if seeding holds. He has beaten the “Djoker” twice this year…
Predictions:
Federer and Djokovic are in the same half of the draw which is good news for Nadal. He will only have to beat one of them (if either makes it) to win the title.
Federer and Djokovic advance to the semis and with likely faster court conditions, Djokovic prevails, but in four tough sets.
Nadal should cruise to the semifinals where he’ll likely meet Dominic Thiem or Roberto Bautista Agut. Nadal will be challenged but he will win in four tight sets.
That sets up a Djokovic vs. Nadal final. Djokovic wins in four.
