US Open Tennis Preview

<p>The 2013 US Open tennis is set to be one of the most hotly contested Grand Slams in years&period; Over the past decade or so we’ve always had a strong favourite heading into the men’s draw&comma; yet with the decline of Roger Federer&comma; Rafael Nadal’s unpredictable fitness and recent disappointment on the hard surface for Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray&comma; this Slam really is wide open&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Djokovic is narrow favourite to win this title but Murray is close behind him&period; Nadal&comma; who clinched the Rogers Cup title last Sunday&comma; proved his knees can handle the hard surface and many tennis punters expect the Spaniard to perform this August&period; As for Federer&comma; the Swiss has a slim chance of clinching an 18<sup>th<&sol;sup> Slam but in reality has no hope&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;If fans are looking for a long punt to place&comma; then either Juan Martin del Potro or the exciting Jerzy Janowicz are far more likely to impress under the New York sun&period; While Del Potro proved his steel at Wimbledon&comma; Janowicz’s semi-final berth at SW19 suggests the Pole is ready to push on to another level&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The top-four domination of the men’s draw is about to come to a close as the chasing pack catch up to an ageing quartet and Janowicz is the man to bridge the gap&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Over in the women’s field&comma; many of the top players in the WTA will fancy their chances against a Serena Williams who stuttered at Wimbledon&period; Despite Williams’ Rogers Cup win last week&comma; her opponents know she can be beaten and the best bet for the US Open crown is certainly Victoria Azarenka&period; The Belarusian is superb on hard&comma; having won back-to-back Australian Open crowns&comma; and is set to peak in New York this summer&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Li Na&comma; meanwhile&comma; will hope her run to the Melbourne final in January helps her cause at Flushing Meadows&comma; while both Sabine Lisicki and Sloane Stephens are young newcomers aiming to prove their mettle on the Grand Slam stage&period; While the women’s draw grows in competitiveness&comma; there should be no room for Maria Sharapova&comma; who has proven her limitations as a hard-court player this season&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;