Gigi Salmon Column: Is the U.S. Open too much for Jannik Sinner? Can Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic defend their titles? |Tennis News

in her newest sky sports activities In column, Gigi Salmon displays on her time on the Cincinnati Open earlier than flying again to america in time for this 12 months’s US Open, Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic is bidding for a historic twenty fifth Grand Slam as Coco Gauff defends her ladies’s title whereas additionally asking whether or not the event is just too far for Jannik Sinner It is an excessive amount of.

Additionally, Emma Raducanu, Katie Bolt, Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Jan Choinski As a part of the British Cost…

This time of 12 months is a busy and thrilling time within the tennis world, getting ready for the ultimate Grand Slam of the 12 months. Add within the Olympics and there is little time to breathe. As I write this, it is nicely previous midnight and I am ready for the final load of laundry to dry on Wednesday’s return from Cincinnati, forward of a Friday morning flight again to New York and the U.S. Open.

Gamers have had completely different schedules because the summer time, with some heading to clay courts for the Olympics, others heading straight to arduous courts, and a few recuperating from accidents.

It is fascinating to see how sure gamers fared over the past 1,000 video games performed in Cincinnati earlier than the U.S. Open.

For world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Cincy is a warm-up match. Returning to arduous courts for the primary time since March, she reached the semifinals, shedding to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, the third lady recovering from a shoulder damage. sport.

Whereas Sabalenka was annoyed together with her summer time of rehab, she’s grateful the time away from tennis has helped her reset, and this week she’s again on this planet after Coco Gauff was eradicated early in her title protection. Second place.

Defending U.S. Open champion Gauff is an fascinating instance, with lots of factors and titles to defend in a worrying few weeks.

An Olympic exit meant she missed out on an opportunity to defend her title and attain 500 factors in Washington, having received only one match in back-to-back WTA 1000 occasions – together with her personal in Cincinnati.

She didn’t maintain a information convention after Yulia Putintseva withdrew, however she was quoted as saying she would go dwelling for a couple of days to “recalibrate” earlier than the U.S. Open.

Unbalanced ladies’s draw?

Wanting on the ladies’s draw, it is fairly lopsided and really top-heavy, with 15 Grand Slam finalists and eight Grand Slam champions, together with Swiatek, who has parted methods with long-time coach Stefano Vukov Elena Rybakina, two of three Britons in the principle race. First spherical drama between Naomi Osaka and Jelena Ostapenko.

Not that the decrease half is not with out its challenges, and that is the place we discover Gauff, who will face Elina Svitolina within the third spherical. Sabalenka was ranked on the backside of the draw because the second seed, and Harriet Dart will face France’s Chloe Paquet, who was ranked larger within the draw. 20 individuals.

Within the males’s draw it’s kind of of an analogous story, with a heavier high half with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev collectively.

Are sinners prepared?

World No. 1 Sinner arrived in New York as a Cincinnati champion after information broke earlier this 12 months that he had examined optimistic for a banned substance, however a courtroom cleared him of any wrongdoing and made the again of newspapers and a few headlines. model.

An automated provisional ban was imposed, however he was in a position to proceed taking part in resulting from a profitable problem.

For many who have not learn it but The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found that Sinner was inadvertently contaminated with a banned substance by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi.

Opinions on this case differ, however one conclusion appears to be that the system must do higher. It reveals it could actually act rapidly, as occurred within the Sinner case, but it surely should be rolled out throughout the board, with some circumstances taking years to resolve.

Though Sinner suffered from this, he nonetheless fought nicely and received the championship. I simply surprise, with the query mark on his proper hip being examined within the best-of-five set and now that all the things is out within the open, if this 12 months’s U.S. Open champion may need gone too far.

Can Djokovic make extra historical past?

Novak Djokovic is aiming for a twenty fifth Grand Slam singles title – a quantity he alone can attain, and with an Olympic gold medal hanging round his neck, he may simply obtain it.

The strain that had constructed up earlier than the Olympics has been launched and the trophy cupboard is now full. Djokovic withdraws from Cincinnati, he’s the defending champion as a result of it’s not a query of factors or rankings however a query of Grand Slam titles and is within the backside half of a draw and he might be completely satisfied if there’s a draw, which is able to It is arduous to wager towards him until his post-Olympic get together has taken its toll!

From a British perspective we’ve got UK primary Jack Draper who will face Carlos Alcaraz within the third spherical, Dan Evans Dan Evans, who wants good depth working again to enhance his rankings, and Jan Choinski, who turned the primary Brit to advance since Cameron Norrie in 2017 (out resulting from damage) ), he has been assembly Spaniard Roberto Cabales Baena, who’s ranked 175 locations above him, within the Flushing Meadows qualifiers.

It is nice to see Diego Schwartzman competing in his eleventh consecutive US Open important draw and qualifying – he plans to retire after subsequent 12 months’s Argentina Open.

One other man to retire is former champion Dominic Thiem right here, who by no means absolutely recovered from a wrist damage which, mixed with what he referred to as a “feeling inside”, led to him declaring he hoped to retire later this 12 months It was time to retire from racing in his hometown in Austria.

The USTA gave him a wild card and it might be good to see him win a couple of rounds and get the send-off he deserves, so perhaps extra to observe than a shock!

Prediction time

As soon as you have made them into an article, you’ll Sky Sports activities web site this Sunday So I higher grasp on.

My predictions are notoriously dangerous, so I rigorously picked Novak Djokovic to defend his title and end twenty fifth, and Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka confirmed in Cincinnati that she is again, and her kind is making it troublesome for others to maintain up together with her. Having enjoyable on and off the courtroom, I believe Sabalenka will win her first Grand Slam title exterior of Australia!

Only a 12 months in the past right now, we have been working arduous to construct sky sports activities’ Again within the tennis world, it is nice to see how the groups and protection have advanced over the previous 12 months, however one factor that continues to be the identical as final 12 months is that, stay and unique within the UK, you may have entry to all 16 Each day on the taking part in discipline, Sky Sports activities Tennis combines motion with response.

I am excited to announce that I will be joined by Martina Navratilova, Tim Henman, Marion Bartolli, Feliciano Lopez and Laura Robson, so I hope you may be part of us on Monday at 3pm. sky sports activities tennis.

Sky Sports activities+ is formally launched and might be merged into sky tvStreaming companies Now and Sky Sports Appthis 12 months Sky Sports activities clients can watch greater than 50% of stay sports activities occasions free of charge. Learn more here.