There are a lot of people who play tennis around the world. We have a 12 times grand slam champion. A bunch of former world No. 1s and grand slam winners who will be playing at the U.S. Open. But there is only one question that matters: who can stop Nadal? I thought before the Olympics that Djokovic would be the one stopping him, but now I see that beating Nadal in a best of 5 sets matches is absolutely difficult and will take a superhuman effort. Guys like Djokovic, Federer, Blake, or even Murray may want to disagree, but at this point, the new No. 1 has so much confidence that he goes in every match as a hot favorite. Now if he gets injured, that’s a whol other story but if Nadal plays his best, there will be no one that can stop Nadal. As far as Federer is concerned, he may have to think about his plans for next year already. With his confidence in an all time low, he has absolutely no chance of beating Nadal, and unless Nadal gets Djokovic in the semis, I can’t see how Federer can win this tournament.
Early predictions: Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray in the semis. Winner: Nadal (against any of the other three regardless of the draw).