The 2022 US Open tennis tournament takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City between August 29 and September 11. It is the fourth and final Grand Slam event on the tennis calendar. It is the 142nd consecutive edition of this long-running tournament, and everything points to Novak Djokovic walking away with the honors for the fourth time in his career.
Last year, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev caused a major upset by defeating Djokovic in straight sets of 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Djokovic had been a firm favorite in the US Open betting markets online, but Medvedev put on a masterclass of tennis and emerged as a worthy champion. Djokovic is not used to losing – he has only lost 204 of his 1,216 professional singles matches – and will be going all-out to avenge his 2021 finals loss.
Djokovic Wins His Seventh Wimbledon Title
Djokovic is not getting any younger and will be 35 years old when he heads to New York City to compete in the 2022 US Open. Despite entering what should be the twilight of his professional tennis career, Djokovic continues racking up victories like a man ten years his junior. During the past few months, Djokovic has reached the final of the ATP250 Belgrade, the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid, won the APT Masters 1000 Rome, lost to Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros, and won his seventh Wimbledon title. Understandably, Djokovic goes into the 2022 US Open as the clear favorite, but the tournament’s reigning champion will have something to say about that.
Daniil Medvedev is the current world’s number one men’s tennis player and by some distance. The latest rankings have the Russian on 7,775 points, with Germany’s Alexander Zverev in second on 6,850 points, and Rafael Nadal third with 6,165 points.
Medvedev is a Hard Court Specialist
Medvedev is a hard court specialist, which means the US Open suits him because the competition uses DecoTurf courts. Medvedev has been one of the most consistent performers on the hard court since he first broke through to the top ten in 2019. The surface suits Medvedev’s excellent movement around the court and his penchant for making flat strokes that are difficult to return.
The Russian started strongly in 2022, reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Cup before navigating his way to the finals of the Australian Open. Medvedev’s route to the Australian Open final was not easy because he battled world number nine Felix Auger-Aliassie and world number four Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas before losing in five sets to Rafael Nadal. Unfortunately, Medvedev did not compete at Wimbledon after the organizers banned all Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine. While this means Medevedev missed out on the chance to become the Wimbledon champion, it also means he is well-rested going into his favorite tournament of the year.
The Best of the Rest
If it is not Djokovic or Medvedev who lifts the US Open trophy, one would expect Nadal to be in the running. However, Nadal is not guaranteed to play after withdrawing from his Wimbledon semi-final class with controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal injury, meaning Nadal faces a race against time to be fit enough to compete at the 2022 US Open.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz could be a dark horse going into the 2022 US Open. The 19-year-old only turned pro in 2018 and has already climbed to sixth in the men’s singles rankings. The talented Spaniard navigated his way to the quarter-finals of last year’s US Open before retiring hurt in the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
