U.S. Open: Five players to watch

1. VICTORIA MBOKO. Mboko has the potential to be the Open’s biggest surprise. The 18-year-old Canadian pulled off a stunning victory in Montreal, becoming the youngest winner of a Masters 1000 event by defeating Naomi Osaka in the final and Coco Gauff in the second round. Has lots of time to develop her promising game. Big serve, bigger future.

2. NOVAK DJOKOVIC. Djokovic is still in search of a 25th Grand Slam title, but at age 38 does he still have what it takes? The greatest of all time has said that the physical toll of best-of-five matches has worn him out in the later stages of tournaments. He’s only played the French Open and Wimbledon over the past three months, so maybe he has been stockpiling his energy.

3. JESSICA PEGULA. Is Pegula good enough to win a U.S. Open? The 31-year-old American lost in the Open final last year to Arnya Sabalenka, her best showing in a Grand Slam. Pegula has not made it past the quarterfinal of any other Slam. She’s won nine career titles without possessing a go-to weapon other than her sheer grit and determination. It’s getting to be now-or-never time.

4. ALEXANDER ZVEREV. Zverev is the best player never to have won a Grand Slam event. He lost in the finals of the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open in 2020 where he led champion Dominic Thiem by two sets to none. He’s got a complete game but not a complete resume. A U. S. Open title would look more than appropriate, but he has to come up with the goods at the end.

5. JACK DRAPER. If Draper is healthy, and that seems to be an ongoing question for this 23-year-old Brit, then he’s got a long shot chance of collecting his first Grand Slam. Draper has had to retire from eight career matches out of a total of 168. (Roger Federer never retired in 1,750 career matches.) Draper seems to have the tools, they just have to be in working order.