Focus on Serena

No matter how the tournament pans out, the focus undoubtedly will be on Serena Williams. The 23-time grand slam champion is playing her farewell tournament. Earlier this month, the six-time US Open champion had announced she would hang up her racquets after the US Open. Her opening round match in New York will be her fifth match of the season. She earned her first win in more than a year at the National Bank Open in Toronto, where she defeated Nuria Parrizas Diaz in straight sets. She comes into the US Open off a 4-6, 0-6 loss to defending champion Emma Raducanu at the Cincinnati Open.

Iga’s complaint

Iga Swiatek, the world No.1, has a point to prove after a shock early exit at Wimbledon. The twice French Open champion, however, has never won at any other grand slam. She has also made her displeasure known about the Wilson tennis balls used for the women’s competition at the US Open. She described them as “horrible” and questioned why women and men “use different balls” at the grand slam.The US Open is the “only grand slam tournament not to use the same balls for all players,” Swiatek had said that the Cincinnati Open last week.

Title tussle

Defending champion and world No.1 Daniil Medvedev will face tough challenges, especially from this year’s Australian and French Open winner Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, who last played at Flushing Meadows in 2019 and was the champion, returns with the aim of adding to his record 22 singles grand slam titles. With four US Open titles under his belt, he is just one short of sharing the Open Era-record for most singles titles at Flushing Meadows with five-time champions Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Novak Djokovic, threetime US Open winner, however, will be missing in action since he remains unvaccinated and falls short of the US government’s entry requirements. Also missing will be Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev due to injuries.

That leaves the field open for the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud, the young brigade who are chasing their first grand slam title dream. Alcaraz had caught the imagination of tennis fans at the 2021 US Open