tennis gut

  Halep is the favourite.   Serena is struggling.   Azarenka is resurgent.   Muguruza is giving off her usual set of mixed signals.   The last five slams have had five different champions.   How will it end in two weeks time?   First Quarter Simona Halep is the #1 seed and would be my favourite even if all the top players were present.   Covid has depleted the ranks, along with injury, and the tightness of the end of year scheduling.   The two most notable absences are world #1 and defending champion, Ash Barty ; and Naomi Osaka who just took the title in New York.   Osaka has now won three of the last seven slams, and she would be my second favourite if she were playing.   It seems when she is ‘on’ she is unbeatable.   She is the de facto alpha right now.   But I see at least two challengers for that honour, Bianca Andreescu and the redoubtable Serena Williams.   Serena has been playing like she’s past her prime the last two years, and Andreescu has been battling injury.   S

  Surprisingly, a majority of the ‘expert picks’ I track are predicting Djokovic for the title.   Or is it a surprise?   First Quarter Novak Djokovic is undefeated in completed matches this year.   He just won Rome.   He’s got to be frustrated by the New York default, and the resultant loss of a golden opportunity in the slam derby and de facto GOAT race.   He looks to be super-focussed and I expect we will get his best tennis.   But past showings indicate that is about as good as Thiem on clay, and probably not as good as Nadal at his best on this surface.   But it should be enough to take him through this quarter.   He’s also lucky that Thiem and Nadal are both in the bottom half. Ugo Humbert looked great taking Daniil Medvedev out of Hamburg.   Christian Garin (20 th seed) made the semis there.   Karen Khachanov (11) has made the second week all three times he’s played here.   Robert Bautista Agut (10) has a tough opener against Richard Gasquet .   US Open semi-finalis