FILE PHOTO: Aug 8, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Daniil Medvedev returns the ball to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (not pictured) in second round play at IGA Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports/File photo
(Reuters) - Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are among the contenders who can upend pre-tournament favourites Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open while Taylor Fritz is the best bet for ending America's long wait for a men's Grand Slam champion.
Former U.S. Open champion Medvedev may not have had the best lead-up to the U.S. Open but the self-proclaimed Russian hard-court specialist has the tools to deny Alcaraz and Djokovic another New York title.
World number five Medvedev, whose sole Grand Slam title came at the 2021 U.S. Open where he beat Djokovic in the final, has made no secret of his preference for hardcourts and the ease with which he moves on the surface has been evident this year.
On the hard courts, Medvedev reached this year's Australian Open final, where he lost to Jannik Sinner, made the semi-final in Dubai, lost to Alcaraz in the Indian Wells title match before falling again to Italian Sinner in the semis at Miami.
While Medvedev lost his opening match in a pair of U.S. Open tune-up events in Montreal and Cincinnati, he has a knack for turning up his game at the U.S. Open where has become a fan-favourite after once basking in boos from the New York crowd.
French Open finalist Zverev, still seeking his first Grand Slam title, comes into the U.S. Open on the heels of a tune-up in Cincinnati where the German lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion and world number one Sinner.
Zverev is one of the sport's most consistent performers this year and his 49 wins in 2024 leads all players on the ATP Tour.
Russia's Andrey Rublev, who has made the New York quarter-finals in the last two years, will also arrive in New York full of belief after reaching the Montreal final and the last eight in his other two tune-up events.
Meanwhile, no American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick triumphed at the 2003 U.S. Open, and this year Fritz appears to offer the best shot at a homegrown winner.
The 26-year-old used to struggle at Grand Slams but has changed the narrative and made the quarters in three of the last four blue-riband events, including last year's U.S. Open.
But Fritz's lead-in has been far from ideal as he lost in the second round at the Canadian Masters before suffering a first-round exit at the Cincinnati Open.
Among the other American hopefuls in New York will be Frances Tiafoe, who finished runner-up to Sinner in Cincinnati, and big-hitting Ben Shelton, who electrified the home crowds last year with a spirited run to the semis.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
