NEW YORK: While a host of young rivals hope to disrupt the dominance of the ‘Big Three’ in men’s tennis, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer remain the US Open favourites.

The year’s final Grand Slam showdown starts from Monday on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts with top-ranked Djokovic, 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer and Spanish superstar Nadal having combined to win the past 11 Grand Slam titles.

Federer, 38, doesn’t see a problem with the dominance by the sport’s elder statesmen, who together own 54 of the past 65 Slam titles.

“I don’t think it’s a problem, per se,” Federer said. “Now that Novak, Rafa and me are healthy again, Andy [Murray] also slowly coming back again, has made it much harder for young guys to come through.

“They are definitely knocking on the door big-time now. I think that’s very encouraging for those who want to see somebody else win. I think also Novak’s domination, Rafa’s domination is also not normal for the game of tennis.

“I think there’s going to be chances moving forward, but it’s not surprising with the type of tennis they’ve been playing in recent years.”

Third-seeded Federer also throws in a chance for Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka, who like Britain’s injured Murray has won three Slam crowns during the ‘Big Three’ reign, but figures a familiar face will be lifting the US Open trophy.

“Yeah, it seems like the same guys are the favorites again this time around,” Federer said. “It will be a surprise if anybody else won.”

Defending champion Djokovic, seeking a 17th career Grand Slam title, has won four of the past five Slams, denied only by Nadal’s French Open win in June. The 32-year-old Serbian says he has adjusted to the extra pressure of defending over the years.

“It’s a paramount challenge to defend a Grand Slam title,” he said. “These are the tournaments you want to win the most. This is where you want to shine.”

Nadal, 33, has made an impressive run with titles at Rome, the French Open and Montreal and a Wimbledon semi-final loss to Federer.

“Arrive to the big events with good feelings helps,” Nadal said. “Positive feeling, positive memory on my mind. That helps for the confidence. For the moment I am feeling well. I am practicing well during the whole week.”

Second-ranked Nadal, an 18-time Grand Slam winner who took his 12th French Open title in June, isn’t too excited over Federer and Djokovic both being in the opposite half of the draw.

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has enjoyed a stellar US Open run-up with a win at Cincinnati and runner-up efforts at Washington and Montreal.

Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem lost to Nadal in the Roland Garros final and will be a threat.

Germany’s sixth-ranked Alexander Zverev warns not to ignore other lower seeds such as Japan’s seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, and Greece’s eighth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas.

SPOTLIGHT ON SERENA

Serena Williams has the US Open spotlight as she chases tennis history, but a host of Grand Slam winners and high-ranked rivals are also taking aim at the title.

The 37-year-old American will be the focus of attention with her first-round night match against Russian Maria Sharapova the most anticipated of the women’s openers.

“Of course I’m going to watch it,” said top-seeded defending champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in last year’s US Open final. “I think everyone in New York is going to watch it.”

Williams will try to capture her 24th Grand Slam singles title to match the all-time record set by Margaret Court.

Eighth-seeded Williams, who could meet second-seeded French Open champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia in the quarter-finals, has not won a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant, losing the US Open final to Osaka last year amid controversy and the past two Wimbledon finals — including last month to Romania’s Simona Halep.

Barty, Osaka, Halep and Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, seeking her first Slam title, are among the foes trying to deny Williams yet again in a quest she insists doesn’t dominate her thoughts.

Williams has not played since retiring from the WTA Toronto final with back spasms, handing Canada’s Bianca Andreescu the title.

“Definitely if she manages physically, then I think she can do really well here,” Andreescu said.

“She’ll do great, as she always does,” added 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens.

Osaka won last year’s final after Williams was given a game penalty by umpire Carlos Ramos, who US Open officials have decided will not work on any match with Serena or Venus Williams at this year’s US Open.

This time, Osaka has had a better run-up to the Open despite a first-round Wimbledon crash out.

“Last year I lost three matches in a row before I came here, so I just wanted to get one match. Then it just kept building on from that,” she said.

While it’s Osaka’s first time defending a Slam, she had her first taste of defending a title this year at Indian Wells.

Halep, who has crashed out of the US Open in the first round the past two years, enters with confidence after beating Williams at Wimbledon.

“It cannot be worse than the last two years, to lose in the first round,” Halep said. “I’m really good. I’m feeling healthy. I’m feeling fresh. The pressure of doing something special, it’s off. Now what comes, comes as a bonus. I’m still working, I’m still motivated to win titles. I’ve started to feel more and more that I’m capable to do that so my confidence is very high.”

Barty says: “Nothing has really changed for me [since her title at Roland Garros]. I just come here to play and do the best that I can.”

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2019