The US Open begins today amidst great intrigue on the mens side. Lets face it, Serena Williams looks so utterly dominant right now, that it would almost be shocking is she DIDN’T win the title. However the mens portion is much more debatable. Many feel that the victor will determine the mens player of the year. Each of the top 4 have signature wins. Djokovic won the Austrailian Open, Nadal won the French Open, Federer won Wimbledon, and Andy Murray won at the Olympics. A case could be made for each as the player of the year with a win at Flushing Meadows.

    No doubt the tournament and the sport will be hurt by the withdrawl of Rafael Nadal. It won’t be the same without him. As a fan of the sport, I hope he solves the issues with his now troublesome knees.

    Without having to worry about his nemesis { Nadal}, many consider Roger Federer to be the prohibitive favorite. But the draw does not do Roger any favors. The ATP needs to rethink the process they use to form the brackets.The organizers basically use a lottery to determine the draw. Perhaps seed the players according to rankings, that would seem more equitable. Consider that Federer is currently no. 1 in the world, and thus should have an easier draw than Djokovic. Yet Roger’s path seems much more formidable. He could get Marty Fish in the 4^thround. Marty has a big serve and can be tough on fast surfaces. Roger’s potential semi-final opponents are even more dangerous. Tomas Berdych beat Roger in the 2004 Olympics and Wimbledon 2004. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who also beat Roger at Wimbledon. Andy Murray, the best player not to win a major, who should be brimming with confidence after beating Roger at the Olympics final.

   Novak’s bracket seems much more manageable. Del Potro potentially in the quarters could be dicey, but Martin is dealing with another wrist injury. Gasquet in the semi’s is not a threat, and with all due respect, neither is David Ferrer, who at 30 is a great competitor, but has never reached a slam final.

  PREDICTION  Novak Djokovic over Roger Federer in the final. Roger has had a great year, but he’s 31 yrs old, coming off a tough but successful tournament in Cincinnati. The US Open is a demanding and grueling 2 weeks, that plus a tougher draw gives Novak the edge. The joker is at home on the courts at Flushing, 33-6 lifetime at the Open, and will successfully defend his title.