US Open Tennis 2022 Preview

The final Grand Slam event of both the ATP and WTA season will commence on Monday with the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

Held at the historic USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre the world best players will be in action with the exception of Novak Djokovic who has had to withdraw from the tournament as he is unable to entre the United States border owing to his own choice to be unvaccinated against Covid.

Djokovic. A 21-times grand slam champion, remained in the event until Thursday but then officially conceded he would not be able to travel to the United States.

Another tennis legend who wont be in Flushing Meadows is Roger Federer, who is still recovering from a knee operation with an uncertain future ahead of him.

In the Men’s event, Daniil Medvedev won last year’s tournament by beating Djokovic in the final. The Russian will be fancied to defend his title but will face stiff competition who will be after his crown.

In four of the previous six Australian or US Open, Medvedev has reached the finals and won his first major last year by winning at Flushing Meadows.

The Russian is currently ranked No.1 in the world, but he comes into this event with some below par performances having lost to Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas recently in Montreal and Cincinnati.

Rafael Nadal will go into the event a little rusty but will still be a serious contender given his outstanding Grand Slam record this year of 19-0.

19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz looks destined to succeed at the top level of tennis. His finest successes to date have come on clay but has also won on hard courts.

The controversial Kyrgios can defeat anybody on any given day, if he can control his on-court antics. His powerful serve will trouble any opponent, but the worry in the back of his fan base will be that temperament of his.

Tsitsipas has the game to win a major, but his recent record at Flushing Meadows isn’t very encouraging having failed to get past the third round four times.

In the women’s event the defending champion is Britain’s Emma Raducanu who defeated Leylah Fernandez to win her first major tournament at the age of 18.

As an unseeded player who had to qualifier it was a remarkable achievement that will never be forgotten in the sport.

Defending her title will be a huge test of her character, with the pressure hanging over her of everybody wanting to beat the champion.

After appearing almost unbeatable earlier this year, Iga Swiatek has recently shown signs of being vulnerable. The number one player in the world has lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia and Madison Keys in Canada and Cincinnati.

After going on a 37-match winning streak, she is more than capable of getting back to winning ways again, starting on Monday.

Sim ona Halep has had plenty of Grand Slam success, but not at the US Open. She has only advanced to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadow just once but has recently won the Canadian Open in Toronto.

Other women players who could go deep into the tournament are American Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia.  The 28-year-old Frenchwomen is in peak form coming into the US Open having beaten Swiatek to win the Polish Open and Cincinnati title.

Karolina Pliskova is considered to be one of the finest players on the WTA Tour but has still yet to win a Grand Slam. However, she did reach the final of this event back in 2016 and has made the quarter finals in three of the five years thereafter.

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