Djokovic, Alcaraz and Swiatek face US Open upset from six rivals – EXCLUSIVE
With the US Open kicking off on Monday, there are some apparent favourites for the title. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek go in as the highest seeds and defending champions whereas Novak Djokovic is returning to Flushing Meadows for the primary time in two years. But Johanna Konta informed Express Sport that issues received’t be as clear-cut this yr, naming Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas amongst six others who may additionally elevate the trophy in two weeks’ time.
On the boys’s facet, the main target has been nearly totally on Alcaraz and Djokovic because the pair have confronted off within the finals of the final two tournaments they’ve performed. They are additionally the one Grand Slam champions this yr, although Konta isn’t totally throwing her weight behind the thought of a two-horse race for the title.
“No, I think there’s a handful of men that could I think find themselves in the final there,” the previous world No 4 completely informed Express Sport. Naming three males she anticipated to problem for the title, Konta continued: “Obviously Medvedev, a former champion there as well, I think he’s in the mix.
“And I definitely think Tsitsipas coming off his win in Los Cabos I think he’s gaining some momentum as well and obviously Zverev is playing better and better so I do think there is still a good group of guys that are going to be in the mix there.”
A former quarter-finalist in Flushing Meadows, Konta nonetheless backed Alcaraz and Djokovic to doubtlessly face off within the remaining as soon as once more. “But it wouldn’t also be surprising if it was a Novak and Carlos final again and wouldn’t that be great actually just to see some continuity from that battle that they had,” she added. “But I think there’s a good group of men that we’ll see.”
As for the ladies’s facet, world No 1 Swiatek has develop into a title favorite wherever she goes although Konta thought 4 different gamers had been proper up there with the defending champion. “I think Iga is obviously a frontrunner however I wouldn’t say that she is the only option out there,” she defined.
“I think that Aryna Sabalenka, being the Australian Open champion, coming back onto the hard. I think that she will be a formidable force there. I wouldn’t be surprised if she would win the title.”
Naming one other certainly one of this yr’s Grand Slam champions, the 32-year-old added: “ And then obviously you’ve got players like Marketa [Vondrousova] coming off a Wimbledon win which I think, for her, was unexpected just because of the surface. She would call herself much better on the clay being French Open finalist but also even on the hard. So you never know how she will also come off the back of that win at Wimbledon.”
With Coco Gauff successful Cincinnati and Jessica Pegula lifting the title in Montreal, a house champion was additionally on the playing cards in Konta’s eyes. “And then who knows, maybe a Coco Gauff, maybe it will be a Jessica Pegula,” she mentioned.
“The Americans always seem to – even if it’s more on the men’s side – but in general the Americans like to play at home and they play well at home. So you’ve got a really good base of American players as well. So I think like the men’s side, I think there’s a group. I don’t think there’s a clear-cut ‘Definitely this person, done.’ And we’ve got good proof of why, just from all the tournaments in the season so far.”
The US Open has typically been the location of many first-time Major winners like Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev, and has bred some sudden champions like Emma Raducanu. But Konta couldn’t see the identical taking place this yr. “I mean arguably the US Open winners over the last few years have been sometimes like, ‘Oh wow, what just happened’ kind of thing. According to that yes, maybe it will be an unpredictable winner,” the previous British No 1 mentioned.
“But I don’t know, this year I don’t get that feeling that it will be something really left-field just because I think we’ve just had a bit more consistency in the level of the top players this year. I think post-Covid era in that kind of 2020, 2021, 2022 a bit, there was a lot of I think reshuffling.
“I think with the tour being suspended and quite a few people retiring, there was quite a bit of a mix-up and everyone was just trying to find their feet again, almost trying to re-establish the hierarchy on the tour. And I think it’s been more consistent this year, we’ve seen more players, we’ve seen that kind of two-handful of players who we’ve seen more throughout this season so I don’t think it will be a surprise this year.”
The US Open returns completely to Sky Sports and NOW with feeds to all courts from 28th August.