US OPEN '19: Tournament Starts Monday With Favorites Hoping To Take Home Championship
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The 2019 US Open begins Monday in Queens with a full slate of action, and there are some favorites hoping to take home the championship.
Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, the New York Times and Metro New York, stopped by to preview the event.
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In men's singles, Novak Djokovic, the reigning US Open champ, is coming off winning Wimbledon, where he beat Roger Federer.
"He's really closing in. He's got 16 majors. He's closing in hard on, Roger has 20, Rafael Nadal has 18, and it looks like Novak might surpass both of them," Zagoria said.
Zagoria says a big question is how Federer is going to react coming off of his tough loss at Wimbledon.
Both Djokovic and Federer will play Monday.
Nadal, meanwhile, won the French Open this year and won the US Open in 2017.
"We're really watching maybe the three greatest male players at the same time," Zagoria said.
Zagoria says the "smart money" is on Djokovic to come out on top, but "he does have a little bit of a tough draw with possibly this Russian guy [Daniil] Medvedev in the quarters, who's very good, and then maybe Federer in the seconds."
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In women's singles, Serena Williams will face Maria Sharapova on Monday.
"It's crazy. When the draw came out, everybody oohed and aahed about Serena against Maria Sharapova. That normally would be a quarter- or a semi-final," Zagoria said.
This will be Williams' first match at the US Open since last year's final against Naomi Osaka, where Williams was penalized a game and ultimately lost to Osaka.
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Osaka is currently number one in the world, but Zagoria says she's coming to the US Open with a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from a tournament in Cincinnati.
"She could play Coco Gauff in the third round. That's the 15-year-old American sensation who got to the fourth round at Wimbledon. So there'll be a little drama if that match happens," Zagoria said.
Simona Halep, who won Wimbledon, will also be playing.
"In the last 11 women's majors, nine different women have won them, as opposed to the men's, where the three guys have won all 11. Simona Halep is one of the people who's won multiple majors. She's coming off winning Wimbledon, where she beat Serena in the final. She really hasn't done too well at the Open in the past. She lost in the first round the last two years," Zagoria said.
Zagoria says he thinks a lot of eyes will be on Gauff, who plays Tuesday.
As for the winner, Zagoria says "it's wide open."
"I guess I'll take Serena, but there's so much drama surrounding her. You know, a lot of history on the line here. She can finally get to 24 and tie Margaret Court. I just think there's so much pressure on her. It's her home Slam. It's the US Open. There's always so much pressure on her to do well," Zagoria said.
The US Open gets underway at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
Visit usopen.org for more information.
