ALEX CORRETJA PREVIEWS THE 2021 US OPEN

Who are your favourites for the men’s and women’s tournaments?
For me Djokovic, Medvedev and Zverev from the men’s side. On the women’s I would say Barty, Sabalenka and Pliskova.

How important will it be to have crowds back in the stadiums?
It’s huge. The US Open is a show. You need to bring the show and when you do that you need the people to join the show. If you don’t have the people, you’ve got the main actors but you also need the others next to you, you need the supporting cast. That brings the atmosphere, the emotion, the craziness of the tournament. You need those people shouting at you, making you feel like you are the greatest guy on earth.

Because when you hit a good shot, you want to feel like you’re someone special and it’s good in a way because they appreciate how difficult it is what you’re doing. In a way, they’re right. When you’re out there playing best of five set or four and a half hours in the heat and humidity, and you can do something special, it’s nice when you get the guys behind you shouting You are the best! You don’t feel cocky but they encourage you and it’s nice. I think it’s good we have a crowd at the US Open even though we already had a crowd at Wimbledon.

Do you think Novak Djokovic goes in as the clear favourite?
I think he’s a little bit more of a favourite than Medvedev or Zverev but I don’t think it’s like at Wimbledon where I felt he was clearly the favourite. I feel now he’s the favourite but Medvedev and Zverev are closer to him and if he has to face both of them, he could really have a hard time because they will be very tough to beat and both feel like they can do it now. They still need to prove it but I think they can both think they can.

I think I have to go with Djokovic because his year has been nearly perfect – he only lost at the Olympics. He is the man to beat, we can’t hide that, but it doesn’t mean it is going to be a walk in the park.

How do you see the chances of Alex Zverev at the US Open?
I think both Alex and Daniil Medvedev will be the toughest guys to beat for Novak Djokovic, for sure. I think Sascha is now convinced that he can win the big titles. Before, I think he felt he was a very good player, but I think he still felt there was something missing. Now he has got more experience, he is more relaxed with himself, he is more calm. He is controlling his emotions more. He knows his serve is now a big weapon, his forehand is way better now and he has now found a good balance between being aggressive and defensive and not just being passive. I think he is ready to win a Slam, last year he was very close but now I see that he thinks he is convinced he can do it.

Winning a gold gave him so much confidence but winning in Cincinnatti proved that he is more mature right now. I’m not sure he will win in New York, but I really believe he won’t just win one major, he will win many more.

Can any players make a breakthrough or surprise us?
I would be a little surprised if some other comes through. I don’t really see someone like Opelka going through. He can be a very dangerous player, but I don’t see him in a semi-final as there are so many matches to win and they ned to recover from that. I will be a little surprised if it’s not out of those 7-8 favourite players.

Alex Corretja will providing expert analysis for Eurosport and discovery+ (selected markets) during the US Open across Europe except UK & Ireland, which starts on Monday 30 August.