Simple as... Who is going to win?

Discuss who will be a threat and your opinions....

Personally I think Fed is the hot favourite on this surface, but have a sneaky feeling Djokovic will make his name in this tournament and should they meet in final then Novak will push Federer all the way and may well turn him over.

I make Fed the winner...with Djoko the man most likely to beat him.

I agree with that Gav. Whoever beats Fed would do so in the upset of the century.

Djoko I think is most likely to do so. And I would love for him (or anyone!) to break the monopoly...but over 5 sets? Good luck!

Fed - Should win but Djoko will have to be a bit more patient. I can see him struggling before the fnal stages with Hewitt going through instead.

I think Rafa has a good chance to reach the final as he has relatively easy draw.

Then anyhing can happen. It much depends on Nadal's form. I do think that 2 5 setters in a row (Sat and Sun) might be too much for Nadal's game.

back-to-back-to-back-to-back :) :)

Hmmmm, perhaps I should have done a "Who is most likely to beat Federer at the US Open?" poll instead!!! ;) ;)

Before the tournament I would have confidently predicted a Djokovic victory, but having seen his nightmare draw, he will need to hit the ground running in order to conserve energy for the later stages. He reached the semis of both previous Slams, but was not ruthless enough in doing so; Federer or Nadal would not have been taken to five sets by Patience at the French, nor would they have been taken to 5 sets when two sets and 3-0 up against Baghdatis.

However, given that every single match he plays in this tournament will be a tricky one, perhaps he will be able to avoid any careless performances. Ancic and Stepanek have both struggled with injury recently and probably won't pose the threat we might expect. The only real stumbling block will be Hewitt, where I suspect another gruelling 4/5 setter in the mould of their Wimbledon encounter will take place. The key for Djokovic is to get through the tricky matches with as little difficulty as possible - doing so would be the sign of a champion and I would expect him to prevail against Nadal and Federer as long as he was fully fit.

Nadal really should reach the SF without too many problems, and as odd as it sounds, could be the surprise package of the tournament. A fit Nadal against a fatigued Djokovic - my money's on Nadal. And in the final, it might be his weakest surface, but Rafa knows how to play Federer and would have a very good chance.

It's between these three at any rate, but to avoid a unanimous vote in Federer's favour, I cast my vote for Djokovic.

Djoko all the way.... hopefully. :ok:

Added my vote for Fed - although, Djoko has to be up there as a contender...

Looking forward to this :)

Fed will win.
First of all i don't think any other than Djoko or Rafa will be his opponant. That's already a big advantage; he won't have to play both. Besides; not only will the winner of a possible Nad-Djo match up be pushed to the limit , it's almost certain both men will waste more energy on their road to the final than Fed which also can be said of 2007 in general. So faithfully to the tradition, It seems likely Fed will enter the final as the fittest one. I expect a final scoreline of 3/4 tight sets and a 6-1 final set. Dull predictioning, but that's inevitable these days.
Of course Fed will have to play a lot better like he did in Cincy, but i guess he has got that sorted out all too much (and if he doesn't he really needs a coach ;) ).
If Roger wins it then the 14 slam record is in serious danger as this will result in a relatively 2 year lead over Sampras..

I agree with Gav. You have to put Federer favourite after Toronto and Cincinnati with Djokovic as the best challenger to him on hardcourts.

Fed will win, after the toughest of resistance from Djokovic.........

Djokovic is a Slam champion, but not yet ;)

do you really think so dl? I dunno, I think Djoko has proved himself to be more than tough enough to go after this slam with a vengeance.. and I am happy to see him nearly get there ;)

But Fed to win :D

Really? Hmmm I had you down as the one who voted for Tim.......must have been Mo or Andy ;)

I just think he needs one last lurning curve Pebs, then he'll be unstoppable ;)

No Surprise who my vote went to.i also seem to believe that Canas is in Federers half.Lets hope that He does meet Federer so that some noce revenge can be extracted!

No surprise as well in my side too: Let's hope FED :bow: :bow: can achieve this fantastic result (an additional one in his already great career) 4 Wimbledon and USO back to back :yikes: :yikes:

Hewitt is certainly one to consider as well in the bottom half.

Totally agree with you on this one Gav. :ok:

My bet would be it was Flame who did :)

do you mind if we dont? ;)

There's a fine line between love and hate Pebs. You sure you haven't really got the hots for the handsome Aussie? :wub: :wub:

Dont think theres any room for fencesitting there ;)
As for me, no surprises. Djokovic is the biggest threat to Fed 's 4 in a row but you never know with Nadal if he gets to the final .Even though the surface will favour Fed .
I agree Hewitt could be a threat but not to Fed.

No I actually don't mind! Feel free to denigrate his chances. He used to be my least preferred player, so I know the feeling. :D


Yet.....

Djoko seems the most natural choice to face Fed in the final. But for some reasons I don't fancy his chances this year. The USO is fast and will require some experience to reach the final, it is not like other slams. Nadal, if fit is the better choice....if not Hewitt.

Wise sums it up wel in his post.

Roddick hasnt even had a mention here, but he's in the same part of the draw as Federer and Gasquet so guess he'll not make it past the quarters...

Obviously Federer is most likely to win.

I think a Nadal-Federer final would be the most interesting final however, as I'm not sure Djokovic would be able to perform as well as Nadal against Federer if he reached his first grand slam final, he might freeze.

Hewitt (however much I dislike him) would also make for an interesting final if Federer did not hit top form in the final.

A lot does depend on whether Fed can hit top form or not.

I was just watching last years final, I had forgotten how incredible the 2nd & 3rd sets were in that match, it was definetely the best GS mens final last year.....It's a shame Roddick can't keep that form more consistantky r he would have been mentioned as a title favourite at least once....

The thing with Roddick, he can also lose to Ferrer or any other top 50. The other 3/4 players are less likely to imo.

:blink: :blink:

just spotted this - Gav!! how could you suggest such a thing???

:whip:

and yes, I am quite sure I DONT have the hots for him!!!

:P

:)

Yet... :blink:

The lady doth protest too much ;) ;)

:unsure: :unsure:

*whispers* I really dont hun...

Ah well. He will more than likely be out by the end of the first week.

You have to give me credit for addressing you by the name "lady" though. ;) These eyebrows can spot a lady from 100 yards.

:lmaao:

for that hun, you get tons of credit ;)

and you get extra for those eyebrows - your avatar and writing that goes with it is my fav on the whole board!

Well, after seeing the big 3 in action i think it's fair to say from now on it's between Fed and Djo. There's absolutely no possibility Nadal will enter the final.
Usually i'm not cutting down Rafa's chances after a single moderate match -on the contrary; like we've seen so many times with Rafa winning sluggishly, he's a superb tourney player- but this time it's different.
Apparently, because of the latent knee injury, Uncle Tony ordered Rafa to save energy and move as less as possible. This degraded Rafa in nothing more than an average player who can be beaten by.. well.. any player out there. Yesterday it was his pride that told him to step up to it and save the match but i'm not sure he'll be able to do that a few more times as the opposition will get stronger and the knee will get worse.
I'm quite sure Rafa will retire at some point this tournament. The conflict between heart and body will make him quit.

Roger is doing exactly what he did last year; he went out of the startingblocks at full speed and he'll never look back. Is he catching up to the form he had the second part of 2006? I've seen some glimpses of that backhand again so it's looking good for the maestro.

Djoko is looking good too, i'm looking forward to this Opens' key match; Djo-Hew

Good morning GP. Remember what you said about Federer being "lazy" and need to work out to get his footwork back to where it was? TV and I said he will be ready for the USO (he seems to certainly but too early to say still). ;)

Anyway agreed about Nadal. I can't see how by playing a possible 6 matches in 10 days in going to help his knee.

Hewitt however could reaaly be the surprised package to reach the final anyway. Djoko of course being the other one.

Hi there T,
Always risky to be outspoken in a negative way bout the Fedster on this board :D I did pick Fed as the winner didn't i? :P
Besides; i never said back then he wouldn't be ready for the US open. To me his footwork wasn't automatically below par due to the fact he was less interested in going all the way in Cincy. Now his positioning to hit the ball appears very solid this week i agree he was probably in control of things more than i assumed but i wouldn't rule out Roger had some fiercy practice hours last week.

Not sure about Hewitt, ; those regular foot faults and/or double faults -once under pressure- are a bit worrying

I think Federer can be criticised, no problem. Choosing Roche as a coach was always a bit of a surprise to me. I just think his training, preparation and dedication is close to perfect though. However he is also faced with the tour's tight schedule and therefore is likely to play some tournies with more or less commitment as we now Slams is really what he cares about. (I believe we agree on this).

from Nadal's interview:

Q. How is your knee? What's the problem with it?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, my knee was fine three days ago. Three days ago I was practicing and, well, the last minute of the practice I feel, I don't know in English, but I feel something.

Q. A pull?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Well, I have pain. The next day I didn't practice. Yesterday I practice, well, 35 minutes with Oscar, he's a coach. Well, maybe if I am in another tournament, I never go to the court today. But is the US Open, so is very important tournament for me. I have big illusion for play good this tournament. Well, I hope the knee improve. I have one day, a little bit more than one day, right now. I hope the knee improve.

Q. Do you know what is the problem?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, sure. I have a tendon.
THE INTERPRETER: He's got an inflammation on his tendon on his knee. Because of that inflammation, they cannot really know what's going on.
RAFAEL NADAL: I work a lot the last two days, because two days ago I thought I can't go on court. I work a lot with my physio. I want to say thanks to my physio, to Dr. Parra, with the trainer of the ATP. I work a lot.
I improve. So today I go on court. You saw the match. I didn't run too much, no? I can't move too much. But I spoke with the coach before going on court. Just try to move less as possible and try to win. With one more day, two more days, because maybe I play Friday night, hopefully can improve.