2012 U.S. Open Preview: Fourth and Final Grand Slam of 2012 Invades New York
Beginning immediately after the conclusion of Wimbledon, the U.S. Open Series links together WTA and ATP tournaments which take place on hard courts across America throughout the summer. This year’s summer calendar was unique in the sense that it was interrupted with the 2012 Summer Olympic games held at the All-England Club. Here, players returned to the grass courts a few weeks after Wimbledon play. As the summer comes to a close, fans are gearing up for the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the season, the 2012 U.S. Open.
With the 2012 U.S. Open beginning Aug. 27, the big names in tennis will have just enough time to play a warm-up event on the American hard courts before the start of the tournament. Since 1978, the tournament has been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. and has been a highlight to the summers of New York tennis fans. This year’s championships will undoubtedly provide a high level of drama, action, and excitement as the world’s best players compete for the final Grand Slam title of the year.
Some players go into the tournament looking to finish a disappointing season off on a more positive note, and some seek to build on the solid season they’ve had thus far. No matter what the player’s individual goals are for the tournament, we can forecast the true contenders, pretenders and American hopefuls for this year’s U.S. Open.
Contenders
On the women’s side, no one can argue Serena Williams as a major contender for this year’s title. After her shocking loss in the opening round at the 2012 French Open, Serena Williams has yet to lose a match. In June, Serena was crowned 2012 Wimbledon champ. With two U.S. Open titles under her belt, Serena’s game matches up impeccably well on the American hard courts.
In addition to Serena, Maria Sharapova has proven to be another strong contender for this year’s U.S. Open title. Although she didn’t follow up her French Open victory with a strong showing at Wimbledon, Sharapova certainly played a strong string of tennis at the 2012 London Olympic games, taking home the Silver Medal for her nation of Russia. With the experience of winning the U.S. Open, Sharapova will take that knowledge and confidence with her from the start of the event.
Although she has never before won a Grand Slam event, Agnieszka Radwanska has really proven herself this 2012 season. Currently ranked number three in the world, Radwanska reached the finals of this year’s Wimbledon championships, falling to eventual winner Serena Williams. Even though her game style doesn’t have the power of Sharapova and Williams, Radwanska makes up for it in her high level of “tennis IQ.”
Of course one would expect the “big three” of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to be the strong contenders going into the 2012 U.S. Open. However recently, Nadal has been struck with a seemingly reoccurring knee injury, forcing him to pull out of the 2012 Olympic Games. On the other hand, Djokovic certainly hasn’t had the same 2012 season as he had last year going into the Open. Obviously you cannot count Djokovic out of the equation, but going into this year’s event, it seems that the upper hand should go to Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, and reclaimed world number one Federer. With Murray reaching the finals of Wimbledon and defeating Djokovic at the Olympic Games to earn Gold for his nation of Great Britain, he should approach the U.S. Open with confidence to clinch his first Grand Slam title.
Former U.S. Open champion, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has also been playing a very high-level tennis of late. Del Potro is one of those players who can strike when you’re least expecting it and he has proven to have the ability to do just that at the U.S. Open.
With Federer there is not much to say, he’s Roger Federer. He is a strong contender for every Grand Slam event he takes part in and it certainly helps that he is once again number one in the world, and just claimed the Wimbledon title.
Pretenders
Just as there are strong contenders for this years’ U.S. Open, there are also a few players who have been struggling of late, falling somewhat off the radar. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Na have yet to display sparks of their former glory in the 2012 season. Both go into the U.S. Open with Grand Slam titles on their resumes, however of late, they haven’t produced results that would indicate a shot at U.S. Open glory. Both have been on the tour for a while now and some might conclude their careers are winding down.
On the men’s side, former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick will not enter this year’s U.S. Open with much in the way of confidence. There was a point in time when Roddick’s serve was consistently the biggest in the game. Today, the level of the game has increased just enough to where players don’t seem to be as intimidated to stand on the returning end of Roddick’s serve. Over a decade ago, Roddick won his one and only Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows, however it will be hard at this point in his career to hold the trophy once more.
Americans
There is nothing more exhilarating to the New York crowd than getting a chance to cheer for one of their own. Competing in this year’s U.S. Open are a handful of American hopefuls, on both the men’s and women’s collective sides of the event. On the women’s side, young up and comers Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens. The New Jersey native McHale has had a remarkable year, reaching a career high WTA singles ranking of 26th. She’ll be in front of her home crowd, which will hopefully give her some extra motivation to make it an Open to remember. In addition to McHale, Stephens has also had a strong 2012 season thus far. She has made great strides, especially at Wimbledon this year. Hard courts are by far her best surface, suiting her powerful game style.
On the men’s side, Americans Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, and big John Isner, are the top American hopefuls for this year’s event. Although Fish was sidelined due to injury earlier this year, he chose to bypass the Olympics and get back to proper hard court form. He hasn’t produced the same level of results in this year’s U.S. Open Series; however, Fish will still remain an American favorite. Harrison has had a very up and down year with a lot of racquet throwing and frustration. Among all of the turmoil, he has reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 60th. If Harrison can channel his mental fortitude, hopefully he can relish the kind of U.S. Open event he had in 2011. In addition to Harrison and Fish, Isner has the potential to have a very strong U.S. Open showing. Isner has proven this year that he can hang with the best of them. Admitting to homesickness during the clay court season, hopefully Isner can channel his energy playing in front of an American crowd.
