The USA has always had a proud tradition of producing talented tennis players and have always been a powerhouse of tennis. In recent years they have been passed out and are now falling short of having any Grand Slam contenders in both the men's and women's game. For the women they depend on Serena Williams for every Grand Slam and need some younger stars to step up and establish themselves. For the men they need to have a player who rises to the call of his nation and wins a Grand Slam or makes the final to the inspire the younger generation coming through. The men all seem to play the same way with the exception of Mardy Fish and it's clearly not working for them. So this US Open is crucial for the Americans to put themselves back on the map and for the young players who are on the verge of breaking through to make a name for themselves. So let's look at who might be able to make a breakthrough.
For the women they've got the favourite for the women's title in Serena Williams and was simply unstoppable in the Olympics and at Wimbledon and looked go since then. Despite a loss to Angelique Kerber in Cincinnati she is still the clear favourite. When she's playing at her best there is very few who can live with her. It's tough to see who can beat her here and it will take someone at their very best to dethrone Serena. Her serve is the greatest the women's game has ever seen and if she's getting even just 60% of it in she's very difficult to stop. The first round loss at the French Open seems a long time ago now and she's going to be at the latter stages of this Grand Slam barring disaster.
The USA have got a number of young girls who are threatening the top players and will be looking to a run from at least one of them. Melanie Oudin had a stunning run here a few years back but has really struggled to rediscover that form and hasn't shown anything recently to suggest she can make another run here. Jamie Hampton faces Marion Bartoli in round one and that's a match she will be looking to have the full backing of the crowd as she attempts to cause an upset. Nicole Gibbs is a girl I've heard great things about and she has an opening round match against Alize Cornet which will be very tough but would set up a match with Petra Kvitova if she could win. Sloane Stephens is a fantastic player and I think she could be a future top ten player. She opens against Francesca Schiavone and that's a match she will fancy winning on a hard court. A potential third round match up with Ana Ivanovic could await her and in my opinion she's got a real chance of going through to the fourth round if she gets the upset against Schiavone. Venus Williams and Bethanie Mattek-Sands face off in round one for the right to play Kerber in round two and I think either of them would be out of their depth against the German so I wouldn't be hopeful of a run for either of them. The girl I'm most looking forward to seeing is Christina McHale. She's got the game to go very deep here and looking at her draw she won't fear Sara Errani in round three and will be under no pressure against Kerber in the fourth. I think she has a very good run in her here.
The prospects of the men are much dimmer but there are a few players I'm expecting big things from. Donald Young has had the worst year imaginable and the fact that he drew Roger Federer in round one doesn't give him any hope for anything here and the best thing for him is to take some weeks off and work on his game because there is no doubt he has the ability to be a top 30 player, maybe even top 20. Robby Ginepri has had success here before but at his age it's highly unlikely he has anything in him for a win or two here. Youngster Jack Sock is beginning to play regularly on the tour and his opening match with Florian Mayer isn't the worst draw for him and it would be nice to see him get the win as he would have a genuine shot at reaching round three then. Sam Querrey has got a lot of talent and he could very well reach the quarter finals but it would depend entirely on whether Thomas Berdych is on form. If he's not then Querrey could reach a quarter final against Roger Federer. Mardy Fish is a player capable of going deep but the meeting with Federer in round four will be very tough but if he improves his first serve percentage then he has a chance/ The most James Blake will be looking for is to get a win or two under his belt but it would take a monster effort to get over Marcel Granollers. It would be the storyline of the century if Brian Baker could make a deep run here given everything he's been through. Janko Tipsarevic will be a very difficult task in round two but not an impossible one. Ryan Harrison was given a very rough draw with the winner of Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian but it would be huge if he was able to beat one of them. Andy Roddick may well be playing his last US Open and he would love make a good run one last time but I don't think he can get any further than possibly the fourth round. I don't think he could beat Del Potro unless he played out of his skin and Del Potro had an off day but both are unlikely. So with exception of possibly Sam Querrey there isn't anybody threatening the quarter finals. John Isner is the final man to talk about and he will certainly reach the quarter finals. I don't see Tipsarevic stopping him and I think he will reach the semi finals where anything could happen. He could face Gasquet, Ferrer or Haas in the quarter finals and out of them I think Haas is the only one he would fear as Haas has got the guile and the weapons to defend, rally and hit through Isner. The hopes of the entire nation rest with John Isner in New York but I think he is going to produce the goods. He beat Djokovic on the American hard courts in the Spring and so he won't fear playing him in the semi finals, nor would he fear facing Del Potro as he knows his serve is more steady than the Argentines. I would not be one bit surprised to see Isner reach the final here and it would be just the boost that American tennis needs.
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