US Open: The draw reveals Novak Djokovics’ path to the Grand Slam

Novak Djokovic has chased all sorts of records on his journey to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. But he’s never been on a tennis island hunt like that.

Win the US Open, which starts Monday in New York, and he breaks his ties with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and takes the record for the 21st men’s Grand Slam tournament by winning the US Open, and he also meets to win all four major tournaments in the same calendar year. No man has done it on singles since Rod Laver in 1969, including Djokovics ’career-long Federer and Nadal litmus tests. No player has done it since a duel since Steffi Graf swept four major attempts in 1988, rarely losing a set along the way, and then completing it by winning Olympic gold in Seoul.

It was called the Golden Slam, and Djokovic lost his chance to shine as brightly as Graf when he lost to Alexander Zvereville in the Olympic tournament this month. Djokovic left Tokyo without a medal, citing a shoulder problem as he withdrew from the bronze medal mixed match. He has not competed since leaving Japan, but arrived in New York from Europe early to recover from the jet lag and prepare to continue the highlights of his career.

Djokovic, who finished first in the US Open on Thursday, now has a clearer idea of ​​what awaits him, but is hardly entirely clear. He faces the qualifiers in the first round (the qualifier tournament is not over yet) and then faces the German Jan-Lennard Struff or the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the second round. Djokovic is 6-0 against Struff and won him in the second round of the Olympics in straight games. Djokovic has not yet faced 110th place Griekspor.

After this, Djokovics’ path becomes more assumptions. His third-round opponents could be Kei Nishikori, David Goffin or Mackenzie McDonald, a former UCLA star with a good season. Djokovics ’fourth-round opponent could be Russian Alex de Minaur or Aslan Karatsev, a Russian who made a surprise trip to the Australian Open semifinals in January before losing to Djokovic, and then shocked Djokovic in his hometown of Belgrade with clay in the semi-finals. Serbia Open in April.

But Karatsev has been struggling recently to win the duel, and top form is likely to be required to derail Djokovic in New York. He is a missionary man and over the years has shown that he can handle the pressure of daunting tasks. He has defeated Nadal twice with clay at Roland Garros Fortress and knocked Federer down three times on the lawn at Wimbledon Fortress.

Neither Federer nor Nadal is in his way in New York. Both are injured during (or after) the season. Likewise, Dominic Thiem, the reigning US Open men’s singles champion who has slowly recovered from a wrist problem. With the exception of Djokovic, the only men in the U.S. Open who have won the Grand Slam are Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, who has dropped to 36th place, and Andy Murray, who is No. 114 and still chasing the previous form of hip resurfacing. after.

Even if Serena Williamss and Venus Williamss withdraw from the tournament, the women’s raffle will be full of great individual champions. There are a total of 13 of them, including first-place Ashleigh Barty and No. 3 Naomi Osaka, a two-time US Open champion who is in the same eighth draw as previous US Open champions Sloane Stephens and Angelique Kerber. Stephens, who is not currently transferred, will face Madison Keys in the first round of their U.S. Open US 2017 final rematch. The winner is likely to face 17-year-old Coco Gauff if Gauff gets past his tough first-round opponent, 51st-placed Magda Linette.

History opposes Djokovic from having a cake at the Grand Slam. The latest player to come close to Serena Williams was shocked at the 2015 US Open semi-finals by Roberta Vinci, a disabled but imaginative Italian who was able to embrace that moment of bright light with a much freer swinging bet than Williams.

Serena was two matches away from the Grand Slam and you would never have thought she would lose to Vinci, but that’s the magnitude of the challenge, said Brad Gilbert, a former top five player who is now a coach and ESPN analyst.

Strange twists can happen so much on the line, and Djokovic certainly can talk about strange twists in New York. He knocked himself out in the final fourth round by inadvertently hitting the liner throat into a ball he hit when he lost his passes against Pablo Carreo Busta. Djokovic left the omission and then lost to Nadal in the French Open final of recent years. But Djokovic hasn’t been defeated in a Grand Slam since, and New York’s biggest threats are likely to be a new generation of leaders: Zverev and Matteo Berrettini, who in Djokovics are half the draw; and Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who are in the second half.

All four have reached the Grand Slam final in the last 12 months. No one has yet broken through. Medvedev lost in direct innings to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in February. Tsitsipas lost five sets to Djokovic in the French Open final in June and Berrettini lost to Djokovic in four sets in the Wimbledon final in July. They are all talented, taller than 6 feet 2 Djokovic and hungry. They all have big match experiences against him, so if Djokovic doesn’t do his best at Flushing Meadows, it’s hard to see him win.

But while Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev have each won Djokovic several times, no one has yet won him in the top five set match. At the age of 34, Djokovic is still the best long-form player and the most reliable tennis player. He’s just seven matches away from the men’s lead alone and joining a very exclusive club with the Grand Slam.

This dual role would be in the headlines every year, but without Nadal, Federer and Williams ’sisters at this US Open, it deserves my attention right from the start.