US OPEN – On August 28, 2015, the USTA hosted the Media Day which saw the pressing having “unlimited/unrestricted” access to the top players in both the men and women’s draws. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic (1), Roger Federer (2), Andy Murray (3), Kei Nishikori (4) and Rafael Nadal (8) were all present answering questions not only about their chances in the tournament but on a host of other matters.
On Preparation and Being at the Open
Djokovic: The Serbian feels that he is stronger and more mature than he was in 2011 when he won three majors. He is very confident and prepared for this tournament as he noted that he played 14 matches (singles and doubles) coming prior to New York since his Wimbledon victory. “I feel like I’m well prepared for New York. I’ve had a lot of matches like I mentioned. So that competitive mode is going to help me ease my way into the tournament better. Confidence is still there … This is where of course I was setting up my form to be at its peak. Hopefully that can happen.”
Federer: Fresh off his 7th Cincinnati title where he beat the then world’s number 1 and 2 (Djokovic and Murray) in successive matches, the Swiss spoke on his thought process coming into the event, “The goal was for me to play well here at the US Open and hopefully defend Cincinnati, as well. I did very well at Cincinnati, and now the focus shifts to New York. I feel like I have a good chance.” Despite being a 5-time champion here (2004-2008), Federer has failed to make the finals since 2009. He said, “I came very close. Clearly my focus needs to be not trying to win the tournament right away, that’d be thinking too far ahead. I haven’t been in a finals in this tournament as of late. I came close, but close is not good enough. I’ve tried to build up as we move forward.”
Murray: The Brit played three tournaments this summer as well as doubles at one of the event and had this to say on his preparation for a possible 2nd US Open title: I think that I feel confident, I’m hitting the ball well. You know I’ve played a lot of matches so my body is match tight, which is good, and I also played a couple long matches the last few weeks, which is physically very good preparation for here”
Nadal: The Spaniard is having a poor season by his own standards. He has not won a major nor a Master Series 1000 all season long. His summer hardcourt campaign was derailed by Nishikori in the quarterfinals of Montreal and in the 3rd round by Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati. His confidence has looked well shaken and stirred all season long, “As a tennis player, I’m feeling better today than I was a couple of months ago. I’ve worked a lot these last couple of months. I know the process; It’s a challenge for me to find the level of play that I’ve been at a lot of times in my career. I’m practicing great, now it’s time to play that great against the competition. The level of tennis is very close to being back there.
Nishikori: The Japanese is looking to repeat his success at the open last year and do one better as he made the finals of a major for the first time in his career. Since his great run of last year, Nishikori has not shown that kind of form at any of the other following majors. However, he is feeling good about his chances here in New York. “I’m feeling pretty good. I think from last year this time I kind of stepped one up and I raised my level after this tournament, so I’m very happy with everything this year. Especially this summer I’ve been playing really well, from Washington and Montreal. I unfortunately got hurt and couldn’t play Cincinnati but still I feel very good physically and also tennis-wise, so very exciting, and it’s going to be a big challenge for me to play this year, again, but I’m very confident.”
Tough First Round Matches
When the draw came out, there were several first round encounters which looked to be very intriguing for some of these players. Federer, Murray and Nadal all have formidable opponents in the form of Leonardo Mayer, Borna Coric and Nick Kyrgios respectively and they are all well aware that they have to be focused from the very first ball. Mayer gave Federer a run for his money back in October in Shanghai last year. Federer noted that it was “was one of the luckiest matches I’ve ever won in my career, to be quite honest.” In regards to the actual matchup, Federer had this to say, “I like the power he has, on both sides, plus the serve, as well, which makes him tough to control from the baseline. I think I always got to try to make an athletic match and there’s lots of movement, shorten the points, on my terms. I think he’s a challenge, to be honest. … I hope I can play with my confidence and use my experience against a player like this.”
Nadal lost to Coric last year at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. Speaking specifically about the loss, Nadal seemed to have very little recollection of that encounter, “I don’t remember playing him before. It was a tough week for me; I had the surgery the week after. I don’t remember it very well, but I think I played very bad.” Nonetheless, the Spaniard was very complimentary of the Croat stating, “He’s a tough player. He’s a young player with a lot of energy and he’s a big competitor. He’s one of the players that is the future of our sport, so it’s a tough one, but I’m playing well. I feel like I’m ready.”
Murray’s upcoming clash with Kyrgios is really not noteworthy considering the fact that the Australian has yet to win a set against the Brit. He is 0-3 lifetime including 0-2 at majors both of which took place this year in Melbourne and Paris. “For me it’s just a tennis match and I go about the match in the best way possible by getting all the things, getting all the tactics, and everything sorted and you know, tailor my practices the next few days around his game style and that’s what I’ll be doing. You don’t obviously pay attention to the other stuff,” said Murray. The real reason this match is drawing so much attention is the “other stuff” as noted by Murray.
Kyrgios has been embroiled in controversy recently because of off-coloured remarks on court pertaining to the romantic entanglements of Thanasi Kokkinakis, Stan Wawrinka and Donna Vekic. The ATP recently imposed a conditional suspension and fine on Kyrgios pending good behaviour within the next 6 months. Murray has seen it fit to express his sympathy towards Kyrgios regarding the situation stating, “He’s a young guy and we all make mistakes and everyone here when they were 19, 20 would have done some bad things and made some mistakes, and for him, it’s unfortunate that’s its happening in front of millions of millions of people. And I think it’s wrong, a lot of the things that he’s done, but I also think that he’s still young, and everyone’s different. People mature and grow up at different rates.”
Djokovic takes on Joao Souza of Brazil and Nishikori will play Benoit Paire in their first round matches on Monday.
