The ‘Big Three’ will once again be the favourites as another grand slam rolls around, but who could be their biggest challengers in New York in 2019?

The US Open has been the most open of the men’s grand slam events since the dominance of the ‘Big Three’ began, and since 2006 there have been seven different winners of the tournament. The other three grand slam events have all only had four different winners in that same period, and so this clearly has been the best chance the rest of the field have had at winning a grand slam. However, since the start of 2017 Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won all 11 grand slam events.

While the ‘Big Three’ are still without a doubt the players to beat in New York, the rest of the field will think they have a shot at causing an upset this year. As such, we’ve picked out a handful of players who could end the recent dominance of the ‘Big Three’ at these grand slam tournaments.

The 2019 US Open is now less than a week away, and we’re going to have you covered with Tennis Betting Tips and Predictions throughout the two weeks in New York!

Daniil Medvedev

We think Daniil Medvedev is best-placed to clean up should the ‘Big Three’ falter in New York. The Russian ace has had a tremendous summer hard court season in North America, and he’s coming into the US Open having reached the final or better at all three of his tournaments since Wimbledon. Medvedev was beaten in the final at both the Citi Open and Canadian Masters, by Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal respectively, but he bounced back this past week. The Russian ace won his first Masters title by winning in Cincinnati, and he also picked up a fantastic win against Novak Djokovic en route to that title.

Medvedev has won 14 of his last 16 matches, and he’s going to full of confidence heading into this year’s tournament. The twenty-three-year-old also has the most ATP match wins of anyone on the Tour this season, and so it’s not just been the last few weeks that he’s been in form. However, there is the possibility of both physical and mental fatigue with Medvedev. Like we’ve said, the Russian has played a lot of tennis in the build-up to the tournament, and while that can be a good thing with regards to match sharpness, it will have also taken a lot out of him.

We think Daniil Medvedev will have had enough time to recover after winning in Cincinnati, and that’s why he’s our 16/1 each-way prediction for the tournament!

Nick Kyrgios

Australian Nick Kyrgios usually attracts the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but we shouldn’t forget just how talented the Australian star is. If Nick Kyrgios could be as professional as the top guys are in the sport, he’d probably be ranked in the top four or five players, he’s that good. The Australian ace holds a perfect 2-0 record against Novak Djokovic, he leads the head-to-head against Rafael Nadal off of a clay-court, and he usually performs well against Federer. Kyrgios has also been in good form of late, and just a few weeks ago he won the Citi Open.

Nick Kyrgios can beat the very best players in the world, no one doubts that, the problem is his attitude. The Australian ace is just not reliable. Kyrgios could beat the world number one in one round, and then follow that up with an uninterested approach to a match, and ultimately lose out to a player he should be beating. The fact of the matter is Nick Kyrgios’ temperament make him extremely unreliable, and the fact you need to be consistently motivated and focused over a fortnight at these slams, will probably see him lose out more often than not when a grand slam rolls around.

Fancy a home favourite to take the crown? We profile the Americans most likely to challenge at this year’s US Open.

Stan Wawrinka

Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka represents fantastic value at this year’s US Open. Wawrinka won this title as recently as 2016, defeating Djokovic in that final, and so he clearly knows what it takes to get over the winning line. The experience he possesses and his know-how give him an advantage over the majority of this year’s field. If you take the ‘Big Three’ out of the picture, since his debut, no one has won more grand slam titles than Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss ace is reliable, and he’s proven he’s capable of beating the very best players, in the biggest matches.

However, Wawrinka isn’t the same player that won three grand slam titles between 2014 and 2016. The Swiss ace had to deal with numerous injury problems and setbacks during 2017 and 2018, and he hasn’t been the same player since returning. Wawrinka seems to have lost his killer instinct somewhat, and that might lead to him coming up short in New York.

Roberto Bautista-Agut

Roberto Bautista-Agut is enjoying the best season of his career, and he’ll be looking to take it to the next level in New York. The Spaniard has enjoyed career best runs at both the Australian Open and at Wimbledon already this year, reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, and he’s playing well enough to enjoy a great run in New York too. Bautista-Agut has reached three successive quarter-finals since Wimbledon, including back-to-back quarter-finals at the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters. The Spaniard also holds the 7th best ATP Tour hard court win-rate in 2019, at 76.92%, as well as the 5th best grand slam win-rate this year.

What holds Bautista-Agut back is the fact he doesn’t possess that ‘X-Factor’ that all of the top guys have. The Spaniard is probably one of the hardest workers on the ATP Tour, but he doesn’t possess that little something extra that would see him reach more finals and win more titles.

Can young American Cori Gauff cause a huge upset in New York? We review her chances after being given a main draw wildcard.

John Isner

American number one John Isner loves to play on home soil, and he definitely has an outside shot in New York. The big serving American has reached two US Open quarter-finals in the past, including last season, while he’s also reached a grand slam semi-final at last year’s Wimbledon Championships. The biggest factor regarding John Isner’s chances is his serve. If he can get his serve firing at its absolute best, the American has the potential of causing some real damage at this year’s tournament.

The drawback with John Isner is that he plays too many close matches. The American ace often goes to deciding sets in matches, while 68.57% of his matches this season have possessed at least one tie break. Just this year alone, Isner has played 12 sets of tennis at grand slam events and of those 12 sets, 50% of them have gone to a tie-break. If Isner could finish off matches with greater ease, he’d have more energy for the second week of the slams, something he’s rarely been able to do throughout his career, and something that will probably stop him from going all the way in New York.

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