Scouting Report: Medvedev Defends US Open Title, Nadal Seeks Third Slam Of Year

The ATP Tour’s finest head to New York this fortnight for their final opportunity to claim Grand Slam glory in 2022 at the US Open.

Daniil Medvedev defends his 2021 crown at Flushing Meadows, where the World No. 1 is seeking to hold off four rivals who have a chance of replacing the 26-year-old in top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. That group includes second seed Rafael Nadal, who is chasing his third Grand Slam crown of the season following his victories at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at 10 things to watch this week.

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1) Medvedev Defends Title: The World No. 1 defeated Novak Djokovic to lift his maiden Grand Slam trophy in New York a year ago. The 26-year-old is chasing just his second title of 2022 at Flushing Meadows, but he can look to a 20-4 career record at the final major of the year for confidence as he prepares to face home favourite Stefan Kozlov in the opening round.

2) Four-Time Champ Rafa: Nadal arrives in New York having played just one match during the North American hard-court swing due to an abdominal issue. He lost that lone match to eventual champion Borna Coric in Cincinnati. Despite his disrupted preparations, the Spaniard knows better than anyone how to raise his game on the big stage — he is chasing his third Grand Slam of 2022 (following victories at the Australian Open and Roland Garros) and a record-extending 23rd major overall.

3) Alcaraz’s Grand Slam Moment?: Carlos Alcaraz appeared to take a liking to the US Open a year ago, when he surged to the quarter-finals on tournament debut at Flushing Meadows. The Spaniard has backed that run up in style with a standout 2022 season during which he has claimed four ATP Tour titles, including two ATP Masters 1000 crowns. Can the 19-year-old add his first Grand Slam title to that tally in New York?

4) Top 10 Stars Seek Maiden Major: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime are established members of the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but all three are chasing their maiden Grand Slam crown in New York.

Tsitsipas and Ruud have never been past the third round at the US Open, but both have reason to be confident. Tsitsipas found form to reach the final in Cincinnati a week ago, while Ruud can look to his championship match run at Roland Garros in June as proof of his ability to perform on the Grand Slam stage. Auger-Aliassime will hope memories of his 2021 semi-final run can inspire him to another strong fortnight at Flushing Meadows.

5) Five-Way Battle For No. 1: Five players — Medvedev, Nadal, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz and Ruud — could potentially finish the US Open as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. All but Nadal must reach the championship match to have a chance of leaving New York as World No. 1. Should 19-year-old Alcaraz climb to top spot, he will become the youngest No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history. More On Key Matches In Battle For No. 1.

6) Kyrgios & Kokkinakis Face Off: Close friends, doubles partners, and now Grand Slam opponents.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have already tasted success at a major in 2022, lifting the doubles crown together at the Australian Open in January. Now they meet in the first round of the singles in New York, where Kyrgios seeks to back up his strong recent form that includes a run to the Wimbledon final in July. It will be the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting.

7) Zhang & Wu Make History: No Chinese man has ever competed in the US Open main draw in the Open Era, but that is about to change after both Zhizhen Zhang and Yibing Wu battled through rainy conditions to qualify for the main draw in New York. World No. 178 Wu has strong pedigree at Flushing Meadows, where he won the boys’ singles title in 2017, and he takes on 31st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round. The No. 138-ranked Zhang faces Tim van Rijthoven.

8) Turin Chase: Plenty of all-important points are on offer this fortnight as the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin heats up. Leader Nadal, second-placed Tsitsipas and third-placed Alcaraz seek to consolidate their spots as they bid to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals, while Hubert Hurkacz (ninth), Taylor Fritz (10th) and Cameron Norrie (11th) are among those trying to break into the qualification spots with strong runs in New York.

9) #NextGenATP Contenders: Top young talents looking to make their mark in New York include Hamburg champion Lorenzo Musetti, Munich winner Holger Rune and the in-form Jack Draper, who reached his third tour-level quarter-final of 2022 in Winston-Salem this week.

Musetti, Rune and Draper sit third, fourth and fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan, respectively. Among those also attempting to boost their qualification chances for November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals are Jiri Lehecka, Brandon Nakashima and Chun-Hsin Tseng.

10) Ram/Salisbury Top Seeds: Defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury found their form a week ago in Cincinnati, where they lifted their second ATP Masters 1000 title of the season. Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are the only other former champion team in the draw, while Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings leaders Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski seek to continue their stellar 2022 season with a maiden Grand Slam crown.