Skip to content

US Open 2013: Nadal tipped to edge Murray and Djokovic in New York

Andy Murray re-wrote British tennis history at Flushing Meadows last year, will he do the same in 2013?
Image: Murray: should ease past Llodra in round one, says Barry

If Andy Murray retains his US Open title it will be as great an achievement as winning it first time around.

Latest Tennis Stories

Dogfights
I think Roger Federer has slipped from the list of favourites and I would put him behind the likes of Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro in terms of potentially winning the US Open as he is well below what he was at the start of the season. However, I thought he played great against Rafa, albeit in a losing cause in the Cincinnati quarter-finals, and he will benefit from that. I don't think he can get involved in dogfights in the first week and pull it around in the second, but I am not going to say he can't win another Slam. There are plenty of examples of great players coming back and clicking - Pete Sampras at Flushing Meadows 11 years ago, Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 2001 - but for that to happen to Roger, he needs everything to go his way. John Isner, meanwhile, will be confident after reaching the final in Cincinnati and I think he is ready to accept the pressure of being the American number one and, as it stands, the only real American contender. I know they have Sam Querrey, who is seeded 26 in New York, but they want to win or go very deep into the event and Isner is the only one who could potentially get through to the semi-finals. If the conditions are quick and he serves unbelievably, Isner can worry absolutely anybody - he only lost in two tiebreaks to Rafa in Cincinnati - but I don't see him beating three of the top players in a row. Plus, he always seems to get involved in epic matches early in Slams - think his record-breaking encounter with Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon a couple of years ago - and that counts against him.

Around Sky