After a whirlwind fortnight at Wimbledon, legendary tennis coach – and onetime Pelham resident – Nick Bollettieri is back on this side of the pond with his predictions for the U.S. Open that begins Aug. 27:
- Rafael Nadal (who went out in the second round of Wimbledon, due in part to tendinitis) will not ever do that again in a Grand Slam tournament. You can put all your possessions on the line that Nadal will be relentless and you will be watching him on the final weekend.
- Novak Djokovic will not be able to continue winning from just the baseline. He must attack.
- Andy Murray will have to be even more aggressive, including coming in whenever possible. Yes, he has a super return of a serve, can move beyond perception, and he is as steady as they come, but he must have more winners and come in whenever he can.
- Roger Federer, what can I say to justify his talent and temperament? There is nothing I can say but I bet you will see him coming in more and more.
- The rivalry of Nadal-Djokovic is a little out of whack right now because Federer has so much to work with that it lightens it.
Possible upsets can come from:
- Milos Raonic, although he must be healthy.
- Kei Nishikori. I believe he can be in the top 10.
- Ryan Harrison. First, he must block out all emotions and then he will win.
- Juan Del Potro, though he is still not 100 percent healthy.
- Tomáš Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who are always dangerous.
We Americans will be very keen to see if Andy Roddick and Marty Fish have enough juice to really go for it, and they both deserve it.
What has happened to John Isner? He must be ready to erase his results of the past few weeks.
Sam Querrey seems to be getting it back and the time can be no better than the U.S Open.
We can see a Serena Williams’ singles championship along with a Williams sisters’ doubles championship as well.
Please don’t put aside Maria Sharapova. She is and always will be a player who can win the big ones.
If Sabine Lisicki remains calm and not plagued by double faults and unforced errors she can beat the very best of all the players.
