Preview: US Open

City: New York, NY USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 2000
2008 Singles Champion: Roger Federer
2008 Doubles: Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan

This is the final grand slam of the year, and Roger Federer will go for his sixth-consecutive US Open title. Between Rafael Nadal’s rehabilitation and everyone else just flaking out, this is the first tournament in two years where I am pretty certain Roger Federer will win. Federer is the most consistent player on tour at the moment. He has also won 16 grand slam titles, so he knows he has that advantage over the others in the slams, with the exception of a top-form Nadal.

Once again, Federer has an easy quarter where he could possibly take meet Robin Soderling or Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. Davydenko had problems this week in New Haven with his wrists, so he should not really be a threat. Soderling is capable of being dangerous, but it looks like he does not know it yet.

Federer’s possible semifinal matchup could be with Novak Djokovic or Andy Roddick. We know Djokovic is still flakey, and Roddick just cannot beat the Swiss champion for a host of reasons. This quarter of the draw is also chalked full of people. Tommy Haas and Fernando Verdasco should be in the mix. Anyone of the fore-mentioned players could end up in the semifinals, so this is the hardest part of the draw.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray anchor the second half of the draw. Nadal has a good quarter for his predicament since he is still trying to find his original form. His first-round match is with Richard Gasquet, who is probably rustier than Nadal is, so that is a good scenario for him. In the round of 16, the Spaniard could possibly have to contend with Gael Monfils. The Musketeer has been tame this year, but he could start feeling it at any time.

The top half of his quarter is littered with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Fernando Gonzalez. These four players are going to have to duke it out for the chance to possibly play Nadal in the quarterfinals. Nadal’s trouble begins here because he has to meet one of them. The old Nadal would have no problem, but the more vulnerable Nadal could have trouble with anyone of these four.

Murray’s quarter is kind of precarious. This first part of it will be very manageable, but his possible quarterfinal meeting with Juan Martin del Potro could be a giant headache for him. Whoever is left standing will have to possibly deal with Nadal -- who could find his form at anytime -- and then head to the final. For this reason, it is probably better for Nadal that he is seated third rather than second.

At the end of the day, the tournament is really Federer’s to lose. Nadal is still nowhere near where he needs to be to be a real threat. The Spaniard probably will not be better until next season to be realistic. When he was playing in Cincinnati, the announcers pointed out that he was still gingerly moving on his forehand side.

As for Murray, he should win this tournament, but he is going to have to stop flaking out in the slams. He wins everything else, so it is time. If we are going to have to be subject to Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill and Robbie Koening go on-and-on about him, the Scotsman better get it done this year. I still think he should have won Wimbledon this year, but he pulled a flakey-jake routine.

It would be nice if Verdasco found his Australian Open form. It would also be nice to see Andy Roddick solve his Federer riddle. It would be really nice to be pleasantly surprised about Nadal’s form. It would be really, really nice if Juan Martin del Potro took the whole enchilada. I guess a girl can dream. Let’s hope this fortnight is exciting and chalked full of surprises.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Evils (formerly Tournament Malfeasance)
3 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA)
4 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
13 Gael Monfils (FRA) vs. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
26 Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Michael Llodra (FRA) vs. Nicolas Kiefer (GER)

(Image: Rob Loud/usopen.org)