The new edition of the US Open is not just another tournament for Novak Djokovic. It is a Grand Slam, of course, and as such it has its own weight. But there are two extra seasonings that they could make it an event for history. World’s number one will look for two records in the modern era, two feats that would place him on an immeasurable stage for the rest: emerge as the only top Grand Slams winner and complete the four most valuable tournaments in the same season.
The Serbian’s competitive radar is powered by great conquests. At 34 years old and with a brilliant career in tow, he now plays to enlarge the legend, a goal driven only by the highest caliber tournaments. Djokovic is obsessed with being the greatest male tennis player of all time.
This year he already met certain goals that brought him closer to the Olympus. In March it pulverized the 310 weeks at the top of the world rankings, the record held by Roger Federer -this Monday he will begin his 336th week at the top, an unprecedented mark among men-. Champion at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, also became the second man to win the first three Grand Slams of the season since tennis became open in 1968. And he’s the only one who did on three different surfaces -Australia was played on grass until 1988-.
Share that privilege with the mythical Rod Laver, that virtuous player of the ’60 and ’70, the only one capable of winning all four men’s singles Grand Slam titles on the same calendar. The Australian also got it twice: first he won everything in 1962 and, when the tournaments were already open to professionals, he repeated it in 1969. Only two other people did it after Laver: the Australian Margaret Court (1970) and the German Steffi Graf (1988).
Djokovic, in effect, is going for a feat that could not even be accomplished by illustrious such as Fred Perry, Don Budge, Andre Agassi or Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal themselves, his two great contemporary rivals with whom shares the Grand Slam trophy record with 20 crowns. Breaking equality in that area encompasses his second ambition in New York.
The US Open, then, configure the great opportunity of your life, especially since the other two monsters will be absent: The 40-year-old Swiss announced a third surgery on his right knee, while Spanish suffers like never before Müller-Weiss syndrome, a congenital injury to the left foot dragging since 2005, before it suggested as a world star.
“I consider myself the best, I think I am the best, otherwise I would not speak with some confidence about the Grand Slams and the goal of making history in this sport. The debate on the best of all time I prefer to leave it for other people. It is very difficult to compare the times in tennis. The rackets are different; there is other technology, other balls, other courts … It is not the same to play in the 1950s as it is now. In any case It is an honor that many consider me the best in history “, Djokovic had said after winning his sixth title at Wimbledon and weeks before taking Another Olympic frustration from the Tokyo 2020 Games.
That performance in the Japanese capital, where he squandered a new opportunity to hang the gold medal in singles – the only important trophy he is missing – is the last appearance of the number one, who will be discharged from the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters to put the spotlight on Flushing Meadows. The key will undoubtedly be in managing the pressure within a player’s mind that comes from Olympic disillusionment and that will put history at stake.
Djokovic will put first against the Danish Holger Rune, 18 years old and emerged from the classification, but the draw yielded several complex crossroads along the way. In the third round, a possible crossing with the Japanese Kei Nishikori, finalist in 2014, is glimpsed. If he advances, he could collide in the round of 16 with Russian bomber Aslan Karatsev, one of the revelations of the year. In quarters they would appear the Italian Matteo Berrettini (8th), whom he defeated in the Wimbledon final, or the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (13th), a recent semifinalist at the All England.
The two biggest threats to Djokovic will be Alexander Zverev (4th) and Daniil Medvedev (2nd). The German, the controversial olympic champion that comes from snatching sleep in the semifinals in Tokyo, accumulates eleven consecutive victories between the Games and the Cincinnati Masters. Finalist last year – he had two sets of advantage against Austrian Dominic Thiem – he would meet again with the Serbian in a hypothetical semi-final.
Medvedev, main pursuer of number one in the ATP rankings, He already played the final in New York in 2019 and has just won in Toronto, the other great tournament of the previous tour of the last Grand Slam. A match for the trophy would mean revenge for the Russian from this year’s loss to the Serb in Australia.
Djokovic embarks on a winding journey, with great obstacles to tear down and unattainable goals to materialize. The emotional pressure and weight of the condition of top favorite they make up a tandem that the Serbian will have to control if he wants, in short, become a myth.
The debut of the Argentines
Will be seven Argentine tennis players who will participate in the United States Open. In the male box, the porteño Diego Schwartzman will face this Monday from 12 on court 5 against the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (96); and at the same time, on court 12, he will the Santa Fe Facundo Bagnis (79) against the Japanese Taro Daniel (109).
It will be around 2 p.m. his debut was the Santiago from the classification Marco Trungelliti (198), who will be measured against the rising Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (33); while the first day for the Argentines will be closed by the Bahiense Guido Pella (84), which has been recovering ground after a bad start to the season will be measured, around 16.30, against rising Serbian Filip Krajinovic (38).
In the jTuesday morning, they will debut Federico Delbonis from Azuela will have a difficult save against Canadian top ten Denis Shapovalov (10), around 2:30 pm at the Louis Armstrong Stadium; and Rosario Federico Coria (61) will be seen from 15.15 on court 17 with the Frenchman Gael Monfils (20). For him female cadre, Rosarina Nadia Podoroska it will be measured around 17.15 on court 14 against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (29).
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