The National assesses some of the leading contenders and outsiders at New York.
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Roger Federer (No 2 seed)
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Roger Federer’s supporters are hoping to see the Swiss win his 18th grand slam and first since he triumphed in the 2012 Wimbledon final.
Their wait could be answered in the next two weeks at an event he has won five times, even though the most recent occasion was in 2008. He has not been in the final of the competition since 2009.
Having said that, this has been a strong year for the former world No 1. He reached his first major final since his 2012 success at Wimbledon last month before losing to Novak Djokovic. He also reached the semi-finals in Australia in January.
Federer is not the favourite – that tag belongs to Djokovic. But the world No 3, who is the second seed in New York in the absence of injured Rafael Nadal, has a favourable draw and is the man in form, having won in Cincinnati earlier this month.
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Milos Raonic (No 5)
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Part of Generation Next, he has done well in the warm-up events, winning in Washington and making the semis in Cincinnati.
It has been a breakout year for the Canadian at the majors as he reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, before making the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he went down to Federer.
The big server is expected to reach that stage again in New York, and facing Djokovic for a place in the final is on the horizon.
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Grigor Dimitrov (No 7)
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Known as “Baby Federer” for much of his career, the Bulgarian is finally creating a niche for himself with consistent performances throughout the year, including a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon, where he put in arguably one of the finest displays of his career in beating Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
The aggressive manner, and the way he did it in the face of strong home support for defending champion Murray on Centre Court, was a real statement of intent. He also put up a good showing before losing to Djokovic in the last four.
Blessed with a complete game that should thrive on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows, he could make another good run there, although Federer waits in the quarter-finals.
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No 9)
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After his stunning week at the Toronto Masters, which he won, the Frenchman certainly will be in the spotlight.
He would have preferred a more favourable draw – he has a potential meeting with Murray in the fourth round, Djokovic in the quarters and then Stan Wawrinka or Raonic in the semis. But you can never count him out.
Defeating Federer in the Toronto final showed what he is capable of when he is on form, but his problem has always been stringing great performances together at the majors during a full two-week period.
The US Open has not been a particularly happy hunting ground for the No 9 seed, a quarter-final appearance in 2011 his best result to date, but he is playing well enough to improve on that this time.
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Nick Kyrgios (unseeded)
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The dark horse. He is only 19 and ranked No 60 in the world, but the Australian is being tipped as a future No 1. He showed his potential at Wimbledon, knocking out then-world No 1 Nadal before losing to Raonic in the last eight.
He could meet Raonic again in the quarters if he gets past Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round.
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