RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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This year's US Open men's singles tournament appears to be up for grabs with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic joined by a whole host of players in the mix. <p>While world No 1 Jannik Sinner is injured, Alcaraz returns to competitive tennis at \u200cFlushing Meadows, ending a more than four-month absence caused \u200cby a wrist injury.</p><p>Although, some say 39-year-old Djokovic has a golden opportunity to finally land a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.</p><p>The Serb continues his attempts to break a tie with Margaret Court atop the all-time list and with Sinner's absence and Alcaraz's lingering injury concerns, this could be Djokovic's record-breaking major moment.</p><widget id="5"></widget><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/scores-schedule"><strong>Latest US Open scores and results</strong></a> \ud83c\udfbe</li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download Sky Sports app for analysis, news and video</strong></a> \ud83d\udcfa</li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Latest Sky Sports deals</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream with no contract on NOW</strong></a>\ud83d\udcf1</li></ul> <widget id="1"></widget><p>The issue for Djokovic is that he struggled physically during his second-round defeat to Thiago Agustin Tirante at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, so there are fears that his condition could come back to haunt him in the heat of New York.</p><p>In the 11 Grand Slams since his last trophy, Djokovic has lost nine completed matches and withdrawn or retired twice. All but two of those defeats came to Sinner [four] or Alcaraz [three].</p><h3>What does being fourth seed mean for Djokovic?</h3> <widget id="6"></widget><p>Speaking to <em>Sky Sports Tennis</em>, former player turned coach Ryan Harrison said: "Being fourth seed is really, really important because if he gets in that five through eight range in the seedings, he could potentially have to play three players in the top four in the world all the way through.</p><p>"If you're five through eight and you end up drawing in the same quarter as a player who is ranked ahead of you, you have to play somebody in the quarter-finals who is ranked ahead of you, in the semi-finals ranked ahead of you, and in the final ranked ahead of you and that's a really tough task.</p><p>"If you get to that stage at 39 years of age, you're playing four matches even before you get there and then you're getting to the point where you're facing the stiffest competition - so getting that fourth seed means he is going to control his own fate, as in playing players only ranked behind him at least until the semi-finals.</p><p>"We're not quite sure the form Alcaraz is going to be in coming off that long lay-off, while Alexander Zverev has been tough to predict at times, so we'll never know what happens with Novak but he will have that fourth seed."</p><h3>'Very exciting' to have Alcaraz back in the Big Apple</h3> <widget id="7"></widget><p>All eyes will be pointed towards Alcaraz but the omens are against the 23-year-old Spaniard, as no man since 2008 has defended the US Open and no man has ever won it without playing in the Canada or Cincinnati Opens.</p><p>Alcaraz now incredibly heads into the US Open as No 3 in the ATP Race to Turin despite being unable to compete in a number of top events.</p> <widget id="9"></widget><p>"Great news that Alcaraz is coming back," former British No 1 Annabel Croft said. "Very exciting. He's been so successful at the US Open before and he's been so missed out there with his brand of tennis.</p><p>"I've never seen a player light up audiences and draw gasps while they're watching him play with the shot-making that he has. He is a very special tennis player.</p><p>"I think if he can get through the early rounds - watch this space!"</p> <widget id="2"></widget><h3>Can Zverev handle the pressure of being top seed?</h3> <widget id="8"></widget><p>That leaves French Open champion Zverev as the top seed for the US Open. The German, who also reached his first Wimbledon final before losing to Sinner, heads into Flushing Meadows with just two wins since Wimbledon.</p><p>He suffered early loss in Canada and a fourth-round defeat to Tommy Paul in Cincinnati but Sinner's absence will give Zverev, who becomes the first player in ATP ranking history to be the top seed at a major without previously reaching the top of the ATP throne, the incentive to rediscover his best hard-court tennis in a nick of time.</p><p>"It will be really interesting to see how Zverev handles that kind of pressure," said Croft. "There was enormous pressure on him to win the French Open but he managed to handle it and get the job done."</p><p>Zverev, Alcaraz and Djokovic will be joined by several American contenders as the leading beneficiaries of the Italian's withdrawal including Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Brandon Nakashima, Learner Tien and Cincinnati finalist Frances Tiafoe.</p><p>And then there's the youngsters: Rafael Jodar and Jakub Mensik.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>Spaniard Jodar, who only turned pro at the start of 2026, is already up to 11th in the ATP ranking with his relentless hard-hitting, booming forehand, heavy, high-speed shots loaded with topspin from the baseline.</p><p>He became the first player born in 2006 or later to make a Masters 1000 semi-final at the Canadian Open but even more impressive is the fact at the beginning of August last year, Jodar was ranked outside the world's top 500. Twelve months later, he is closing in on breaking into the top 10.</p><h3>Then there is Arthur Fils...</h3> <widget id="4"></widget><p>The Frenchman is arguably the form player after reaching the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open and then marching into his first ...
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