On Monday, August 28, the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year begins, the US Open. Three qualifying rounds have been completed and now the most important thing remains: the fight for the main trophies.
But whoever the winner is among the men, one thing can be said with almost one hundred percent certainty. At the top of the world rankings, Novak Djokovic is likely to reign supreme again. His rival, Carlos Alcaraz, will have to defend points from last year’s victory, so he has a lot to lose, but not gain anything in the fight for first place.
Therefore, to officially become the best on the planet again, Djokovic needs to win just one match at the US Open. The first rival of the Serb will be the Frenchman Alexander Muller, who is unlikely to become a serious obstacle for Novak on the way to an intermediate, but no less desirable goal.
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As for our tennis players, there is not much reason for even cautious optimism. First of all, it concerns the strange and unpleasant metamorphoses that occurred in Andrei Rublev’s match after the triumph in Bostad. The victory in Sweden happened over a month ago and since then Rublev has only been able to win one match.
It is almost impossible to believe that Andrei suddenly forgot about playing tennis or decided to tackle one of the main tournaments of the year with shock therapy. Nothing is known about the injuries he may have received, so the problems are most likely in the field of psychology. Moreover, luck literally outwitted Rublev, giving him as an opponent the offender in the second round of the tournament in Cincinnati, the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori. On the other hand, revenge for an unfortunate defeat can become a powerful impetus for a kind of revival of Andrey’s game.
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As for the first scandal of Russia, Daniil Medvedev, then, as always, there are more questions than answers. Those who have been watching his game for a relatively long time know full well that Daniil, who has the courage, can beat anyone, but when something starts to go wrong, Medvedev looks like a pale shadow of himself. On the other hand, the starting grid of the tournament for the current best Russian tennis player is not the most difficult, so he has time to speed up and find the best tennis for him. In the first round he will face the Hungarian Attila Balazs.
It is difficult to expect miracles from the rest of our representatives in the men’s singles category. Karen Khachanov has just returned to the pitch after injury and a long absence, and the week two appearance of Aslan Karatsev, Alexander Shevchenko, Pavel Kotov or Roman Safiullin, if that happens, can be considered mini sensations.
On the women’s grid, the situation is traditionally even more confusing than that of the men. More recently, Iga Swiatek, who looked like an indestructible machine, brilliantly held a home tournament in Warsaw, but failed to come out on top in the North American Hard. In both Montreal and Cincinnati he was stopped in the semifinals, and both times his aggressors were the representatives of the United States: Corey Gauff and Jessica Pegula, respectively.
For the tennis players of our country, the tournament will be held mainly under the sign of the dispute for the title of the first rackets of Russia, Lyudmila Samsonova and Daria Kasatkina. Lyudmila brilliantly held a tournament in Montreal and was left without a title, largely through the fault of the organizers. Kasatkina, for her part, fared better in Cincinnati and again edged out her compatriot in the standings.
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Also striking is Mirra Andreeva’s debut in the main draw of the women’s tournament. Our sixteen-year-old star is gradually getting used to the adult level, and although she is too early to compete with the giants of world tennis, as the Cleveland tournament clearly demonstrated, Mirra is quite capable of surpassing him. several rounds in New York. And it remains only to regret that her sister Erika hers, who lost in the last qualifying round, did not make it to the main tournament.
But the one who should really lament the results of the Cleveland tournament is Ekaterina Alexandrova. She stopped one step away from the fifth title of her career. And if reaching the final in itself can be called a good achievement, then the defeat in the decisive match of the lucky loser – Spaniard Sarah Sorribes-Tormo – will be remembered for a long time both by Russian tennis fans and by herself. Ekaterina.
The two Russian tennis players who advanced in the ranking are worth following closely. Tatyana Prozorova debuted on the professional circuit this year and so far her win-loss balance is negative. Therefore, her entry into the main draw was a pleasant surprise. And her match with Caroline Wozniacki herself will be an excellent incentive for Tatiana.
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In turn, Vera Zvonareva, whom many hastened to send to a well-deserved rest, made a real breakthrough. Losing match after match throughout the season, she cruised through qualification for the US Open at the same time, without dropping a set to her opponents. In the main draw, Vera won’t be easy in matches with younger opponents, but the very fact that Zvonareva broke into the main draw deserves admiration. In addition, our country will be represented at the tournament by Veronika Kudermetova, Anastasia Potapova, Anna Blinkova, Elina Avanesyan, Kamilla Rakhimova, Anna Kalinskaya, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Margarita Betova.
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Russian tennis fans have two weeks of big matches and sleepless nights ahead of them. We can only hope that the great adventure in New York, like two years ago, ends with a great celebration on our street.
