MATS WILANDER PREVIEWS THE 2021 US OPEN

You have won seven Grand Slam tournaments in singles. What does this tournament mean to you?
To me personally it’s the tournament where I became number one in the world rankings when I won – I only won it one time. I used to also live just around the corner. More than anything, I think the US Open is a tournament that over the years you learn to love because when you go there as a youngster – you love exploring New York City and the excitement of Flushing Meadows - but the environment doesn’t bring out the best tennis in you because there are too many things going on, too loud, there are airplanes in the sky, you have the New York City traffic. I think it takes a while for players to learn how to love New York – when they learn to love it they can then focus on the tennis itself and then it’s so much fun to play in front of the crazy New York tennis fans, especially at night.

What do you expect from the tournament this year? What top match ups can we expect?
It’s going to be very interesting, because I do expect that people are going to be very tuned in – not just tennis fans, but sports fans in general. We have players who are looking to make history – Serena trying to win her 24th title – who knows how good she is going to be? Of course, you then have Novak looking to win a the calendar Grand Slam on the men’s side. It’s going to be a very attentive crowd. If he can do it then he’ll make a lot of people very happy as calendar Grand Slams are not won easily and most people haven’t even seen it. Of course, Serena Williams winning her 24 title would make everyone happy as she would then without doubt be able to be called the greatest player – male or female – of all time. It has a chance to be historic Grand Slam that we never stop talking about.

Who are your favourites on the men’s side?
The favourite is Novak Djokovic. However, for me, there is a good chance that another name wins the US Open other than Novak Djokovic. Which name? I don’t know. It could be Sascha Zverev, it could be Tsitsipas, it could be Medvedev. I don’t know, but I do know that it is going to be very difficult to stay on top when he gets to the finals because every player from the first round until the finals on hard courts believe they have a chance to beat him. Everyone is a hard court specialist today – I know Novak is a hard court specialist – but it’s not the easiest surface for him any more and is more physically demanding. You can’t be as creative, you can’t play drop shots, you can’t come to the net as much.

I think for Novak the number 21 is just irrelevant as he has won many US Open titles. However, the calendar Grand Slam is a great opportunity – it might well be the one and only chance he has in his career to do this and that’s why I think Novak will win the US Open, because he has the chance to do it for himself.

In the 2020 edition, Dominic Thiem won his first Grand Slam at the US Open. Do you expect another surprise in this year's edition?
I don’t expect there to be a surprise. The big surprise for me would be who did not win it. For example, Naomi Osaka did not win it. But I don’t think on the men’s side it will be a name outside of Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Berrettini, Rublev and Novak Djokovic – there are six or seven players that will win it.

Do you see their being an outright favourite for the women’s title?
I don’t see there being a player who will be dominant on the women’s side for a while because they are playing such big games these days. They have big serves, they hit the ball very hard, and when you are only playing two out of three sets, then anyone can beat anyone at any time. We have seen that on the men’s ATP Tour. We have to get used to the fact we won’t have a female player that wins three Grand Slams every year for the next five years – I think it’s impossible. It’s not the players, it’s more the style of game that they are playing. It’s just so hard to win consistently.

At some point, I really think we have to go to five sets for women, at least in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Minimum in the finals. We have to move towards five sets for women.

Who are some of the players that can win the women’s title?
To me, it’s pretty obvious that Naomi Osaka is most probably the favourite now that the press conference issue is starting to calm down a bit. It seems like she is dealing with her mental health issues well, everyone is being more understanding. For me, she is the favourite. But there are so many other great players – Coco Gauff is going to be very dangerous, all of the Czech players – Krejicova, Kvitova, Pliskova, Muchova – there are so many dangerous players. Even the Russian players. There are 25 women that can win the US Open, and maybe more than 25 women who can beat Naomi Osaka or Coco Gauff. It’s so open it’s impossible to start guessing.

Mats Wilander 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.