Right, so now its time for my look at the men's tournament so far at this year's US Open, the final grand slam of the season. So without any further delay let's take a look and see how it has gone so far....
SEEDS WITHDRAWN
Right, to start off I thought I would make a mention of the top seeds that dropped out before the tournament began.
First off is Andy Murray, who withdrew due to a lingering hip injury as he even travelled to New York to try and be ready in time, however he announced just a day after the draw had been made that his hip was too sore to compete, so he decided to pull out. This left alot of people annoyed given that he withdrew after the draw was made, which meant Roger and Rafa would be seeded 1 and 3 instead of 1 and 2, meaning they would meet in the same half of the draw in the semis potentially. Andy has since then confirmed he will "most likely" miss out the rest of the season to recover from his hip injury, which pretty much means his 2017 tennis season is over and I would be very surprised if he were to play again this year.
As for the other seeds that withdrew, Novak Djokovic also announced prior to the tournament that he is out for the season due to an ongoing elbow injury that hampered his progress at Wimbledon as he was forced to retire in the quarter finals there and hasn't played a match since. Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion also confirmed his withdrawal for the rest of the season due to an ongoing knee injury. Kei Nishikori also similarly ended his season early prior to the US Open also due to injury as he had sustained a wrist injury that saw him pull out of Cincinnati and later he confirmed his season ending after that. And lastly, Milos Raonic pulled out of the US Open also with a wrist injury although he is yet to confirm if he will return to the tour or not later this season.
SEEDS OUT EARLY ON IN 1st WEEK
Next up I will be looking at the top seeds that have been upset and gone out early on in the tournament.
First up was Alexander Zverev, who was tipped as one of the favourites for the title given that he had already won his second Masters title in Montreal last month he looked to be in great form coming into New York. However, Zverev came undone against the young Croatian, Borna Coric, who stunned the 4th seed in four tight sets as Coric dropped the opening set and went on to win the next three tiebreak sets to stun Zverev with a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 win.
Next was Grigor Dimitrov who also was a strong favourite going into New York as he had won his maiden Masters title in Cincinnati and already had reached the semi finals of the Australian open earlier in the year. However, Dimitrov this time around was stunned by the Russian teenager, Andrey Rublev, who dominated Dimitrov in a straight set win 7-5, 7-6, 6-3.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also succumbed to an early defeat as he faced new kid on the block, Denis Shapovalov from Canada, who has made a name for himself this summer so far having defeated Rafa on his home soil in Monteral (Denis that is not Rafa's soil!). Shapovalov showed his class and new found confidence as he beat Tsonga in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Tomas Berdych also fell early on in the 2nd round as he was beaten by the flamboyant, Alexandr Dolgopolov in a four set match that saw the "Dog" re-established some form after he had been questioned for match fixing in a previous tournament in Winston Salem. But here the "Dog" beat Berdych with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 result.
Nick Kyrgios continued his poor form in the slams this season as he crashed out in the 1st round to fellow Aussie player, John Millman in four sets in a match that saw him struggle with a leg injury and ultimately it was his downfall as he lost to Millman who won in 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. This poor run of form in the slams this year has seen Kyrgios fail to even get past the 2nd round in any of the majors.
John Isner also suffered an early(ish) exit in the 3rd round as he was beaten by Mischa Zverev who previously already defeated the big American and this time he went down in straight sets to Zverev who came through with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 win.
And last but not least is one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, Marin Cilic, the former 2014 champion, who was tipped to make a great run this year as he took place of Andy in the bottom half of the draw as he could have faced either Roger or Rafa in the final potentially. However, Cilic came undone against possibly the smallest player on the men's tour, Diego Schwartman, who stunned Cilic in four sets to win from a set down in 4-6 7-5, 7-5, 6-4.
MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT SO FAR
Oh and a special mention I thought I would give a shout out to this stunning match, which has to be the best match of the tournament so far (and indeed maybe the whole event!) which was between Dominic Thiem and Juan Martin del Potro as they clashed in the 4th round.
This match started off with Thiem dominating an ill Delpo, who had been struggling with the flu and had to take medication during the match, which saw him trail two sets to love quickly. However, despite fears of del Potro retiring, he managed to battle on and he clawed his way back into the match as he broke Dom twice in the 3rd set. In the 4th set however, fatigued took hold of Delpo again as he went down a break but at 5-3, Thiem was unable to serve out the match and Delpo broke back and play then went on into a thrilling tiebreak where Delpo turned the set around and levelled the match. In the 5th set the racuous crowd (mainly comprising of Argentines!) were thrilled by a high level of tennis from both players that saw a tense and close set go down to the wire and it was only concluded by a cruel double fault on Thiem's serve at 4-5 to hand Delpo a stunning comeback win with a scoreline of 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4.
Well, I think this match will be hard to top in the tournament so far and it really was quite a spectacle for the crowd and it once again showed what a real warrior, Del Potro really is when his back is against the wall. And the match was yet another reminder as to just why he is one of the most popular and likeable players on the tour. As for Thiem it was a real pity that the match had to end this way for him having been in a winning position only to lose it and double fault to lose the match, however he still played his part in an incredible and memorable encounter.
QUARTER FINAL OPPONENTS GONE OUT
Next I look at the quarter final opponents who went out in the last eight, starting with Andrey Rublev, who was beaten by a dominant looking Rafael Nadal who beat the inexperienced Russian teenager, who was into his first slam quarter final, with a convincing win of 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Sam Querrey next was also defeated at the hands of Kevin Anderson, the big South African in what was a real battle of the serves with both men reigning them down with three tiebreaks alone, all of which were pretty epic and intense. But in the end it was Anderson, who reigned better on serve as he won a very tight contest in 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 to reach his first slam semi final.
Diego Schwartzman also went out to the in form and very consistent Spaniard, Pablo Carreno-Busta, who proved too much for the dimunitive Argentine and he dispatched him in straight sets to reach his first slam semi final in straight sets with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline.
And last of all, we had the biggest upset so far of the tournament in the quarter finals as Roger Federer faced Juan Martin del Potro in a match that promised much and certainly delivered at times. Although the match was a bit up and down in quality, it was gripping nevertheless and big Delpo pulled out a stunning win over an admittedly ailing Federer, who was struggling with his back a little (as he had throughout the tournament) but in the end the big Argentine came through in four with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory.
SEMI FINAL MATCHES
Well let's take a look at the men's semi final matches.
Kevin Anderson vs Pablo Carreno-Busta
First up is a semi final that featured two rather unlikely opponents, the big South African, Kevin Anderson and the in form Spaniard, Pablo Carreno-Busta, who had previously reached the French open quarter finals this year. Anderson however did have the advantage going into this match as he already had won their only previous two matches both in straight sets.
But it was Carreno-Busta that made the better start this time as he took his first set ever against Kevin Anderson in any of their meetings with Anderson looking a bit nervous at the start as he was broken to go down a set. In the 2nd set however, Anderson made a breakthrough on Busta's serve and he broke the Spaniard to go 3-1 but it was shortlived as Carreno-Busa broke back. But at 5-6, Anderson pounced once again and finally got the break and the set as he levelled the match with this being the first set that Carreno-Busta dropped all tournament. And from hereon in, Anderson bossed the match with his powerful serves and forehand and he went on to break in sets 3 and 4 to seal a place in his first grand slam final with an impressive 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Well this was quite an achievement for Kevin Anderson, who had only ever been in one slam quarter final prior to this tournament, which was at the US Open two years ago where he beat Andy Murray enroute to reach the quarter finals that year. So, its great to see someone new also make their breakthrough to the final of a slam rather than the usual suspects. As for Carreno-Busta despite the loss, he still played a great tournament and shows much promise for the future in the majors.
Rafael Nadal vs Juan Martin del Potro
And the second semi final was between Rafa and Delpo, as the two men faced off each other in what promised to be quite an epic clash, which saw Delpo actually deny the US Open crowd a chance to see Roger and Rafa face off each for the first time in the tournament's history.
As for the match itself, well it didn't quite live up to expectations as despite a strong start from Delpo, who broke Rafa to win the first set, after that it was pretty much all Rafa as Delpo was struggling physically after his efforts in his matches with Thiem and Federer. And in the 2nd set, Rafa went on to hand a bagel set to Delpo before he then went on to dominate sets 3 and 4 and he conceded only five more games before he reached his fourth US Open final with a convincing 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win.
Well, this match was a bit of a letdown in the end but in a way it was no surprise that Rafa would boss it given that Delpo was so fatigued after the gruelling path he had in order to get to this stage, especially as he faced the exit door against Dominic Thiem in the 4th round being two sets to love down. However it did also show once again that Rafa is really getting back to his best and right now he is looking very convincing as the World No.1.
THE MEN'S FINAL PREDICTION
Right so this sets up the final between Rafa and Kevin Anderson and well...to be entirely honest their head to head is very much in Rafa's favour as he leads 4-0 and has only dropped a single set against the South African, so already it looks to be in Rafa's favour. However at the same time, Anderson has done incredibly well to get this far and he has shown great resilience in all his matches, rather than get down on himself when he was in a losing position, he fought his way back into every match to give himself a chance to be in this position.
But as to how the match itself will go...well I have to really side with Rafa on this one as their head to head speaks volumes, not only that, Rafa has far more experienced in playing slam finals than Anderson, as its a case of 23-1 in his favour! And if Anderson is to have any chance then he is going to have to hit outright winners from the start and ensure everything goes in. However as we have seen with the big hitters so far this year against Rafa, they always tend to go for too much on their shots and make errors that end up costing them, so I can potentially see Anderson do the same here.
So for my actual prediction I think Rafa will most likely win this one in straight sets, as I really can't see Anderson compete with Rafa to a high enough level to actually beat him in his current form. It is possible however that Anderson could nab a set here if he plays well enough but I really can't see him go beyond that. So, for me I think at the end of the match we will see Rafa clinch his 3rd US Open title and bring himself just three slams short of equalling Roger's record of 19.
SIGN OFF
Right, so that's it so far and I will be back soon with the results of both the ladies and men's singles finals from the US Open.
Until then its bye for now!
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