The tennis season is slowly approaching the final. The winner of the last Grand Slam tournament remains to be found out: on August 28 the US Open begins in New York. In the men’s singles category, there are seven Russian athletes in the application at once. Daniil Medvedev is among the favorites and has high hopes for this tournament, but Andrei Rublev can also surprise. It’s time to assess the prospects of each of them.
The best predictions for today.
The main thing for Medvedev is not to relax.
Daniil Medvedev faces the US Open in a controversial way. He started the season well, winning five titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Rome. But it is important to note that they all took place in the winter-autumn period. At that time, the Russian was really at the peak of his form, which is easy to explain – four out of five tournaments were difficult.
Daniil has long established himself as one of the best specialists on this surface: on it he won 35 victories in 41 matches of the season. At the same time, in addition to winning five finals, he reached the semifinals in Adelaide, losing only to Novak Djokovic. Then came a logical decline, since Medvedev never hid that he did not like to play on clay. “Roland Garros” failed, having been defeated in the first round by the Brazilian Thiago Wilde.
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There was a victory in Rome, but it can rather be called an exception. More importantly, Medvedev was able to prepare on time and already looked cheerful at Wimbledon; only the first racket in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, could stop him. In North America he did not force the preparation, he won only three games out of five in Toronto and Cincinnati, but now the motivation is higher.
It is necessary to add Rublev
Andrei Rublev is the second among the Russians, who still has a fairly high price in the tournament. He is ranked eighth, but is perceived more as a tennis player who can pleasantly surprise than an obvious candidate for victory. Until April, Andrei could not boast of stability, he had problems with the field and a number of other technical problems.
On difficulty Rublev has so far shown himself confidently only in Dubai, but at that time in the final he could not cope with Medvedev’s constant pressure. The Russian managed to win remarkably on clay, because he won both titles of the season on this very surface: in the Swedish Bostad he defeated Kasper Ruud in two sets and in Monte Carlo Holger Rune. At Wimbledon, he put up a decent fight against Novak Djokovic and took the first set.
However, the main thing for Andrei is not to waste time, he needs to arrive at the start in perfect condition. He repeatedly played weak matches with low-ranked opponents, which then affected the later stages. In the first round, Rublev’s opponent is Emil Ruusuvuori, whom he recently lost to in Cincinnati.
Who else can surprise you?
It is impossible not to mention other Russian athletes in New York. Two young tennis players, Alexander Shevchenko and Pavel Kotov, recently managed to establish themselves in the top 100 of the ranking, but they have not yet achieved big victories. Kotov this season took off mainly in the early rounds, but he did well in Morocco on clay.
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Shevchenko was out of luck as in the first match he will have to play 16th seed Cameron Norrie. Roman Safiullin is already an experienced tennis player who has gained good momentum at the moment. His best moment was at Wimbledon: Roman reached the quarterfinals. Furthermore, he edged past Roberto Bautista-Aguta, Corentin Moutet, Denis Shapovalov on the grid and took a set from Yannick Sinner. With the right attitude, he is capable of surprising.
Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev have about the same chance of making a breakthrough. Khachanov hasn’t won anything in five years, but he still holds the bar at the usual level. He is in line 11 of the ranking. Khachanov is especially strong in Grand Slam tournaments: in the Australian Open semifinals he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas and in the Roland Garros quarterfinals he lost to Djokovic. Karatsev won in Sydney just a year and a half ago and was in the top 15, but is now on the decline.
Medvedev will live up to expectations
The Russians have good prospects in New York. The fact that one of our athletes can reach the semifinals, experts give a coefficient of only 1.72. However, it should be noted that the main hope is mainly related to Daniil Medvedev. At the beginning of the summer he had a difficult period, but the ruling on unpaved surfaces still did not come as a surprise to most.
“Medvedev cannot be ruled out.” Ruud: On the US Open favorites.
Already at Wimbledon it was noticeable that Medvedev was adding, but the US Open remains for him the main opportunity for a significant victory. Also, let’s not forget that this is the only Grand Slam tournament that Daniil entered two years ago. Last season he only made it to the fourth round, but now he’s ready for more. At a press conference he stressed that he is perfectly prepared both physically and psychologically.
The grid of the third racket in the world does not seem too complicated either: in the fourth round there may be problems with Alex de Minor, and in the quarterfinals, with Hubert Hurkacz. But every one of them Medvedev excels in class. In the semifinals Carlos Alcaraz can wait, but the main thing is not to make a mistake before. Daniil is able to cope with the pressure, so we offer a bet that he will reach the semi-finals at odds of 2.00.
Tender: Daniil Medvedev will advance to the semifinals of the US Open at 2:00 p.m.
Express with a coefficient of 9.58.
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