The ATP side of tennis has been decimated by injuries this summer. Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, and Kei Nishikori have shut down their seasons. They won’t play again until 2018 or at least not until the final days of 2017, which is part of the 2018 season. Andy Murray has been hurt and out of commission in the lead-up events before the United States Open. Marin Cilic has been hurt as well. Tomas Berdych missed Montreal. With all these prime players in the top 20 missing, there have been a lot of opportunities for other players to move up the leaderboard in the rankings chase and also in the race for the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November. Yet, each of these players below could not take advantage. The U.S. Open is a place where they have a chance to make a turnaround… but face significant questions first.
Rafael Nadal
Even though he rose to the No. 1 ranking, Nadal got that position only because Andy Murray didn’t play in either Montreal or Cincinnati, and because Roger Federer did not play Cincinnati because of back spasms suffered in the Montreal final. Nadal had a chance to open up a big lead over Murray and Federer at No. 1 with solid runs in Montreal and Cincinnati, but he lost in the round of 16 in Montreal and the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. He lost to 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov north of the border and then, in Cincinnati, to Nick Kyrgios, who has battled both fitness and form in recent months. Nadal expected more from himself at each tournament. He was especially angry with himself after the Shapovalov loss. He was in position to win that match but let it slip away. He had a chance to force the second set of the Kyrgios match to a tiebreaker, but played a terrible game at 5-5 in that set to get broken. Nadal is physically fine, but he is not finishing points. He has to figure out a way to organize his game and eliminate the rough edges before the U.S. Open.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem is solid and dependable on clay, but he has a clear surface problem on tour. On hardcourts, he looks lost. His backhand breaks down under pressure. He hits it way too hard on every shot and therefore sprays it all around the court. Thiem has to learn to construct points and win with shots which are hit with varying spins and angles. He has a lot of adjustments to make after losing to 35-year-old David Ferrer in Cincinnati, ruining a chance at the semifinals and a strong points pickup.
Juan Martin del Potro
The big man does not have his wrists at 100 percent, but the wrists have been better than they were in the recent past because Delpo has not had to withdraw from tournaments. He has entered more events, pointing to greater stability. From that vantage point, everything should be better for the Argentine. However, that has not turned out to be the case. He felt dizzy and fatigued from the heat in Cincinnati, which cost him in an early-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov. He did not play well at all in Canada, losing to Shapovalov one day before Nadal did. Del Potro’s backhand is sliced a lot because of the wrists, but in his losses, Delpo’s forehand isn’t even all that accurate. He needs to reset his game at the U.S. Open.
Jack Sock
The American took a fall in Montreal in an early-round match, but he has too much speed, too big a serve, and too powerful a forehand to lose to David Ferrer on hardcourts. Yet, that’s what he did in Montreal, and when he came to Cincinnati, he was running on fumes. Sock is not physically fit, and in the week before the U.S. Open starts, he needs to find a way to build back at least some of that fitness.
He’s not a player that we’d normally trust to go deep anyways but with him struggling, he could be ripe for an early-round upset. Avoid him or bet against him until you see a change in momentum.
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