The US Open gave tennis fans a sigh of relief after deciding not to cancel this year’s tournament despite the Corona Virus spread in U.S.A.
The men’s single tournament will not see the two legends Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal participate in this tournament with the former having undergone a knee surgery and Nadal making this decision considering travel issues because of the corona virus and for personal safety as well. Similarly, the women singles title will not see world no. 1 and 2 Ash Barty and Simona Halep participating in this tournament as they declined to play for similar reasons along with last year’s US Open champion Bianca Andreescu after citing unforeseen challenges including the pandemic. Let’s look at some of the Contenders for this year’s title.
Men’s Singles:
- Novak Djokovic – The Serbian world no. 1 will be looking to bag his fourth US Open title this year and is undefeated in 2020. His half of the draw doesn’t seem quite difficult and the only real threat as of now looks to be youngster world no.4 S.Tsitsipas who can meet him in the quarter finals.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas – The Greek 22-year-old will be looking to take the tournament by storm as he has cruised into the third round without even dropping a single set till now. He faces 23-year-old Croatian Borna Coric in the next round and would look to atleast meet Novak Djokovic in the quarters.
- Aleksander Zverev – The second youngest player to be ranked in the top 10 by ATP, the German world no.5 will be looking to take on the best and make his personal best position this year.
- Daniil Medvedev – The world no. 3 was last year’s runner up and would be focused to make it one step further this time and lift the trophy. Daniil managed to ease through the first two rounds without dropping a set and can meet Dominic Thiem in the latter stages.
- Marin ?ili? – One of the three grand slam single’s champion, the Croatian would be hoping to make the semi-finals or even the final if he beats his 3rd Round opponent and world no. 3 Dominic Thiem.
- Dominic Thiem – The two-time French Open finalist will be looking to win his first US Open title as he too cruised into the 3rd round without dropping a set. He will face Marin ?ili? which can prove to be a good game of tennis.
Women’s Singles:
- Serena Williams – After being Runners up in the last two US Opens, the world no.8 will be looking to match Margaret Court’s record for Grand Slam single titles as she takes on former US Open champion Sloanne Stephens in the Third round. Her potential Semi final encounter could be one to watch as she’ll face Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
- Sofia Kenin – The world no.4 and Australian Open Champion will be looking to put her name on the list of US Open champions this time as she looks raring to go after cruising in to the third round setting an encounter with O.Jabeur.
- Naomi Osaka – The 2018 US Open champion and the 2019 Australian Open Champion will be looking to win her second US Open title this year as she too cruised through to 3rd round facing M.Kostyuk and is likely to be in the tournament for the latter stages as well.
- Angelique Kerber – The 2018 Wimbledon Champion will be looking to book her place in the final and win her maiden US Open trophy in 2020 as she is looking in good form with straight sets win in both her matches so far and will now face U.S.A’s A.Li in the 3rd round.
With the tournament going into the business end now, both men and women players will showcase their best abilities and lack of concentration may cause an upset like the one witnessed in Andy Murray’s surprise exit in the 2nd round when he lost to F.Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
Written By
Shashwat Nishant
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