'It’s wrong to say that Djokovic has had the perfect preparation', says former No. 1

All US Open participants are already in the Flushing Meadows bubble, and can't get out of there. Many were absent, including Nadal, Federer, Del Potro and Wawrinka, as well as Kyrgios. The Swiss, five-time champion, is injured and will not return before 2021. The same goes for the Argentine, who has just undergone knee surgery. Nadal preferred to avoid the American trip in order not to compromise the season on clay. Big US Open favorite Novak Djokovic, who won three tournaments this year. Thiem and Medvedev will try to spoil the party for him, chasing their first title in a Grand Slam. A little further back Zverev and Tsitsipas. Not to be underestimated Murray, who appeared in form in Cincinnati. In a recent interview, Mats Wilander as picked out three dark horses for next week’s US Open, as he backed world No 1 Novak Djokovic to pick up his 18th Grand Slam title in New York.

Wilander on the US Open

“I hope we see new players breaking through. I mean you’re going to have some seriously, some strange match-ups you might not have seen in the later rounds before, that’s pretty obvious. I think it could be a very interesting US Open in terms of the tennis and of the faces that we will see. Certainly, it helps to not have Roger and Rafa there if you are interested in a new phase of professional men’s tennis. I think Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem are very clear favourites because it’s a major and because it’s five sets, but we could see a breakthrough from someone new in this tournament. I think it’s wrong to assume that Novak Djokovic has had the perfect preparation as he has before all the other Slams, I don’t think we can assume that his preparation has been perfect this time.”I am not saying that anybody’s preparation has been perfect, but he knows what perfect means because he’s done it so many times and some of the younger players, they don’t know what perfect means, they’re just preparing but they have never been successful at the end of a slam so they don’t know if they did the right thing or the wrong thing. So, I think the playing field is levelled out by not knowing if Novak is 100% prepared. I am assuming he is but we’re assuming something that is kind of unfair to the best guys, that they can just pick up and be better than anybody else" - Mats Wilander explained.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3hGZnbl