This year’s US Open men’s singles tournament appears to be up for grabs with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic joined by a whole host of players in the mix.
While world No 1 Jannik Sinner is injured, Alcaraz returns to competitive tennis at Flushing Meadows, ending a more than four-month absence caused by a wrist injury.
Although, some say 39-year-old Djokovic has a golden opportunity to finally land a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.
The Serb continues his attempts to break a tie with Margaret Court atop the all-time list and with Sinner’s absence and Alcaraz’s lingering injury concerns, this could be Djokovic’s record-breaking major moment.
The issue for Djokovic is that he struggled physically during his second-round defeat to Thiago Agustin Tirante at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, so there are fears that his condition could come back to haunt him in the heat of New York.
In the 11 Grand Slams since his last trophy, Djokovic has lost nine completed matches and withdrawn or retired twice. All but two of those defeats came to Sinner [four] or Alcaraz [three].