There is a mystique about playing, watching, and experiencing Arthur Ashe Stadium under the lights. It brings out some of the best head-to-head competitions in sports, and players are pushed to heights they did not know they could attain. The underdog has routinely triumphed over a favorite at the tournament because they dig deep and thrive in the raucous atmosphere. With this in mind, a new chapter in the U.S. Open will start on Monday, August 29 when the 2022 edition of the legendary tournament begins in Flushing Meadow, Queens, New York. In this article, we preview five things to watch for as the action for the next fortnight.
5. Outside Shots to win- in the women’s bracket, there has been a different champion in five of the last six tournaments. Simone Halep has an outside shot after a stellar run to the Wimbledon semifinal. The seventh-ranked player showed she still has plenty left in the tank and will look to go on another big run again. Elena Rybakina is coming off a 2022 Wimbledon championship. However, the 23-year-old hasn’t had much success during the hard-court season. Can she recapture the magic she found at Wimbledon and make another run for the title? It remains to be seen. In terms of Americans, Coco Gauff has a shot at winning after qualifying for her first Grand Slam final at the French Open and winning the Silicon Valley tournament on the hard court. Madison Keys is another American who tends to play well under the bright lights after making the final in 2017. On the men’s side, the outside shot will come from Carlos Alcaraz Garfia. Carlos is considered a young prodigy in the sport and recently winning the German and Croatia Open on the clay court. However, he is still adapting to the hard-court with a quarterfinal run at the Cincinnati Masters.
4. Will Iga Swiatek reclaim her form? – the current world number one started the year in scintillating form, sweeping the French Open and going 37 matches undefeated. However, Swiatek suffered a the third round defeat at Wimbledon and has struggled to regain her dominance since then. At the recent Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati Swiatek lost in straight sets to Madison Keys in the round of 16 which indicates that she is still finding her feet. Will she be able to find form under the bright lights at the US Open? Only time will tell.
3. Will Emma Raducanu repeat as Champ?-the 19-year-old British player is the defending champion and remarkably won the tournament. Raducanu entered the main draw as a qualifier. She advanced to the semi-finals without dropping a set, and became the first qualifier (male or female) to win a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era. Emma has not found the kind of success that she would have expected after this initial success because she has made it to only the second round of the Australian, French, and Wimbledon this year. It remains to be seen whether Raducanu can repeat as Champ in her comfort zone at the U.S. Open as a seeded player.
2. Nadal and Medvedev take center stage-Roger Federer will miss out on the tournament and is due to return from injury at the Laver Cup in September. Novak Djokovic will miss the tournament due to the Covid-19 Vaccine mandate. The championship will give Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev the opportunity to take center stage. Medvedev is the 2021 US Open Champion after stunning Djokovic in his bid to win the Grand Slam that is winning all four majors in the same calendar year. Medvedev will be fresh after being forced to sit out of Wimbledon due to circumstances out of his control. With his rivals not appearing at the championships, Nadal will see this as an opportunity to add to his lead of 22 Grand Slam titles. If he does, it will mean his fifth U.S. Open title tying him for the most with Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, and Pete Sampras. Yes, we could witness more history.
1. Serena Williams’ farewell-Headlining the event is the news that this grand slam will likely be the last competitive tennis tournament for the 23-time major winner. Earlier this month, Serena announced her intentions to retire because she was “evolving away” from the sport to grow her family. Williams is regarded by many as the greatest to play the sport, and she will enjoy her swan song in the best possible way in front of her home crowd. Serena is a six times winner of her tournament, and could end her career with a fairy-tale ending by winning and equaling Margaret Court’s record? It’s improbable but we have learned not to bet against Serena at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
