NEW YORK — Johnny Mac isn’t exactly going out on a limb in selecting his favorites for the U.S. Open.
The four-time U.S. Open champ is picking top seed and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to win his second title in Queens and his eighth career Grand Slam.
“If you ask me who the favorite is, this guy [Djokovic] is the guy who played one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen in my life when him and Roger went at it [in the Wimbledon final],” McEnroe said Thursday evening at his Tennis Academy on Randall’s Island when he was seated next to Djokovic during a press conference. “And Roger is playing amazing, so clearly those two are the favorites.”
With defending champ Rafael Nadal out of the tournament because of a wrist injury, five-time winner and world No. 3 Roger Federer moves up to the No. 2 seed and wouldn’t play Djokovic until the final on Sept. 8. The Open begins on Monday.
Federer has won a men’s record 17 Grand Slam titles and has been victorious in 18 of his last 20 matches, including capturing the recent hardcourt event in Cincinnati and reaching the final in Toronto.
“It’s not just how well he hits it,” McEnroe said of Federer. “He seemed to be right there as maybe the greatest mover in the history of hardcourts. The movement he was displaying at Wimbledon was unreal and he’s sort of continued that, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Asked to assess Federer’s chances of winning his 18th Major at Flushing Meadows, McEnroe said, “His chances are the second best chance of anyone in this tournament at the moment, certainly close to it if not there.”
The absence of Nadal certainly seems to open up the draw for Federer, who might have had to play Nadal in the semifinals. Nadal is 23-10 all-time against Federer, and according to fivethirtyeight.com, Federer’s last four Grand Slam titles have come with Nadal absent or upset early.
“Rafa obviously has a serious injury,” Djokovic said. “Otherwise, he would be here, I’m sure about that. I’ve know him for many years, he’s a great competitor, he’s somebody that doesn’t give up so easily so if he had a certain chance to play U.S. Open he would be here and I wish him speedy recovery for that. Obviously, not having Nadal in any tournament is a loss for the tournament but we still have all the other best players in the world in U.S Open and I’m sure it’s going to be a great tournament.”
Federer’s path to the final would appear to be much easier than Djokovic’s.
Though he has “Baby Fed” Grigor Dmitrov, the No. 7 seed, in his quarter, Federer is seeded to meet claycourt specialist David Ferrer, the No. 4 seed, in the semifinals. Federer prevailed over Ferrer in three sets in the Cincinnati final.
“I’m happy how I’m playing,” Federer, who beat Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and Milos Raonic in the semis in Cincinnati, said after winning Cincinnati. “I know I didn’t beat Rafa or Novak, but it doesn’t matter. I can only control who I’m facing so I’m just really happy how I’m playing. I think I served great, especially the third [set]. I served clutch all week when I had to. I’m moving well and when these things are working, I have a lot of possibilities out there, coming to net, using my slice, using the forehand so things are going really well. Clearly, I can’t wait for the U.S. Open but I need some rest, too.”
Djokovic, meantime, could face 2012 Open champ Murray in the quarters and Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka in the semis before potentially facing Federer.
“Instead of having to play two [top] guys, one of the two [top] guys is only going to have to play one,” McEnroe said of Djokovic and Federer vis-a-vis Nadal’s absence. “Now it looks like Novak is potentially the guy who’s going to have to play two guys of the top four having one out, so in a sense it opens the door for other people. Stan winning in Australia would seem to give hope for the other guys.”
“I’ve seen only who I play against in the first round,” said Djokovic, who opens against Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, “and my coach doesn’t allow me to see furthermore.”
