Who Will Win the U. S. Open Tennis Matches?

I will stick my neck out and state unequivocally that Rafael Nadal will win the U. S. Open this year. He is in the best shape of his life and has not yet lost a set in this Grand Slam. He is fired up about this tournament; it is the only one of the four Grand Slams that he has not won. If he is ever to be rated as the best tennis player that ever lived, he must add the U. S. Open to his repertoire, and then some. At this point, Roger Federer is presumed to hold this honor.

Roger Federer also looks to be at his fittest ever. He is at home in New York City at the U. S. Open, having won five straight U. S. Open titles. This streak was broken in 2009 when Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Roger in the final. Del Potro is on the injured list at the present time and is not defending his title at the U.S. Open. Nadal and Federer will likely advance to meet each other in the final this year. Each has difficult matches to get to that point, however.

I will also be foolhardy by picking Caroline Wozniacki to win the Women's game at the U. S. Open in 2010. She has dangerous competition in Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams however. Kim Clijsters is the defending champion, having won this tournament last year, her comeback year after retiring during which she got married and had her little girl Jada. Venus Williams has not won the U.S. Open since she won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.

Caroline Wozniacki is the top seed at the U. S. Open because the World's #1 Serena Williams had to withdraw because of a foot injury. She has a huge incentive to win because she will replace Serena as the #1 player, and also because she will receive the largest amount of money ever won in women's sports - $2.7 million which includes the $1 million bonus for winning the U. S. Open Series as well as the U. S. Open.

This has been an exciting tournament with competitors obviously giving their all, providing viewers with unprecedented tennis entertainment. Outstanding efforts by Fernando Verdasco, Stanislas Wawrinka, Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone made for electrifying play and bode well for their futures on the tennis scene.

Sources:

ESPN2 - TV

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html