US Open Preview: Who Will Win it This Year?

With the 2019 edition of the US Open inching closer, anticipation for who will be the eventual winners is higher than ever. The sheer talent that will be at the tournament means there are multiple players tipped for Grand Slam glory in New York. Below are just a few of the favourites from the women’s and men’s competitions.

Ashleigh Barty

Ashleigh Barty goes into the tournament having already won the women’s doubles at last year’s US Open alongside CoCo Vandeweghe. Our previous coverage of the 23-year old Australian shows that she can certainly hold her own, after displaying a dominant performance to win the French Open just a few months back. She bounced back from mid-match difficulties in her semi-final against Amanda Ansimova to beat Marketa Vondrousova in the final 6-1 6-3. A similar performance may just see her celebrating another win come September.

Serena Williams

Despite turning 38 in September and failing to win any tournaments since giving birth to her daughter in 2018, Serena Williams is still the favourite to win. The tennis superstar will be looking for her 24th Grand Slam title after being the runner up at Wimbledon. That tournament showed she is still more than capable of reaching a Grand Slam final. One issue that might hinder her progress though is her back pain, which forced her to retired from the Cincinnati Open.

Roger Federer

With three calendar titles under his belt, but no Grand Slams, the Swiss superstar will be looking for his first Grand Slam title at this year’s tournament. Federer managed to reach the Men’s Single’s final at Wimbledon before losing out to Novak Djokovic. Having already won the US Open consecutively between 2004 and 2008, Federer will be looking to make a comeback in very familiar territory. Like Williams, he is coming to the end of his career but is still one of the best players on the tour and one of the favourites to win.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic will be looking to defend his title and is the number 1 seed and favourite to win. His five-set victory over Federer in the Wimbledon final, as well as his victory at the Australian Open at the beginning of year, demonstrate why he is the player to beat. Furthermore, Djokovic will be looking to use this tournament to get one step closer to matching Federer’s record of five US Open titles. At the moment Djokovic is still in Federer’s shadow both in terms of Grand Slams and earnings. In Coral’s list of the highest paid tennis stars it has Djokovic second behind Federer, with the article predicting that the Croatian will one day overtake the Swiss star. Three Grand Slams wins in one year would be a big step towards taking the best ever player crown away from Federer.

Rafa Nadal

Having last won the US Open in 2017, Nadal hasn’t been shy about his desire to win it again. The Spaniard even skipped the Cincinnati Masters in order to be fully fit for the US Open. “I want to arrive well prepared and ready for the US Open, the last major of the season,” Nadal explained. The Spanish star has had a strong year with a runner-up spot at the Australian Open, a victory at the French Open, and reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon. He will be looking to cap off 2019 with one more Grand Slam.