Nadal, Federer Prepare For Potentially Historic US Open

The US Open, known before 1968 as the US National Championships, is the second-oldest of the four Grand Slams after Wimbledon, and the only one to have been played each year since its inception in 1881. This is the 137th staging of the event, as well as the 50th US Open and 199th Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era. The US Open has been held on the hard courts of Flushing since moving from Forest Hills in 1978. It was played on grass through 1974 and on clay from 1975 to 1977.

NO. 1 ON THE LINE IN EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS: New World No. 1 Rafael Nadal puts his ranking on the line at the US Open and No. 3 Roger Federer can return to the top of men’s tennis. Both can clinch No. 1 on 11 September by winning the US Open title.

Federer must reach the quarter-finals for a chance at replacing Nadal atop the Emirates ATP Rankings. Federer, 36, debuted at No. 1 on 2 February 2004 and has not been No. 1 since 4 November 2012.

He is hoping to break a pair of Andre Agassi’s records. The five-time US Open champion would be the oldest World No. 1 since rankings were established in 1973. The four years and 310 days between 4 November 2012 and 11 September 2017 would be the longest gap between stints at No. 1. Please see below for all scenarios.

Nadal No. 1 Scenarios
* Champion

* Finalist

* Semi-finalist + Federer does not reach final

* Quarter-finalist, 4th Round or 3rd Round + Federer does not reach SF

* 2nd Round + Federer does not reach SF

* 1st Round or Does Not Play + Federer does not reach QF

Federer No. 1 Scenarios
* Champion

* Finalist

* Semi-finalist + Nadal does not reach SF

* Quarter-finalist + Nadal does not reach 2R

ROGER’S RECORDS: Roger Federer is the all-time leader with 19 Grand Slam men’s singles titles and 302 weeks at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The Swiss can extend those records and set several new ones in New York City.

Federer seeks his sixth US Open title, which would break a three-way tie for most in the Open Era.

Federer seeks his eighth US Open final, which would create a three-way tie for most in the Open Era.

Federer seeks his sixth US Open title 13 years after winning his first, which would set an Open Era record for greatest number of years between first and most recent US Open titles.

Federer seeks a sixth US Open title nine years after winning his fifth, which would set an Open Era record for greatest number of years between US Open titles.

Federer, 36, bids to become the oldest US Open champion in the Open Era (and oldest US Open finalist since 1974).

ONLY THREE HAVE CRACKED BIG FOUR: The ‘Big Four’ of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic has won 45 of the last 50 Grand Slam titles. Only former US Open champions Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka have broken the Big Four’s dominance during that stretch, with Wawrinka winning three Grand Slams. Since 2005 Roland Garros, Nadal and Federer have both captured 15 Grand Slam titles (Djokovic-12, Murray-3).

THREE-QUARTER SLAM: Roger Federer enters the US Open for the fourth time as the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion (also in 2004, 2006 and 2007). Federer went on to win the US Open title in all three of those years.

FEELS LIKE HOME TO HIM: Arthur Ashe Stadium turns 20 at the 2017 US Open, and no man has won or played more matches inside the biggest tennis arena in the world than Federer (66-8). Federer also owns the most evening-session wins among men since 1980 (31-1) and could pass Andre Agassi (28-5) for the most evening-session matches.

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2006 ALL OVER AGAIN: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have combined to win the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles for the fifth time (also in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010). Federer or Nadal went on to win the US Open title in all but one of those years. Juan Martin del Potro defeated Nadal and Federer en route to the 2009 US Open title.

NEVER IN OPEN ERA: Roger Federer did it at the Australian Open in 2007 and Wimbledon in 2017. Rafael Nadal did it at Roland Garros in 2008, 2010 and 2017. But no man in the Open Era has ever won the US Open title without dropping a set. Neale Fraser is the last player overall to do so, sweeping 21 sets for the 1960 US National Championships title.

GRAPPLE IN THE APPLE: Legendary boxing promoter Don King billed it the ‘Grapple in the Apple’ in 2008, but Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have still never played at the US Open. On five occasions, they were only one match away.

HARD-COURT DROUGHT: Rafael Nadal will reach 144 weeks overall as World No. 1 during the US Open. He can ensure that he remains No. 1 by winning the title, but the Spaniard has not bitten a hard-court championship trophy in nearly four years. Nadal has played 34 hard-court events and eight hard-court finals since his last title on the surface at 2014 Doha.

PAST CHAMP RETURNING: 2014 champion Marin Cilic will attempt to become the first player in the Open Era to win the US Open title without playing any matches between Wimbledon and the US Open.

SASCHA SEEKS BREAKTHROUGH: Alexander Zverev has yet to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final. But after winning back-to-back titles earlier this month at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., and the Coupe Rogers, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Montreal, Zverev has emerged as the No. 4 seed at the US Open. Should the 20-year-old capture his third title of the summer and sixth of the season in New York, he would become the second-youngest US Open champion in the Open Era behind only a 19-year-old Pete Sampras in 1990.

DIMITROV DELIVERING: Grigor Dimitrov held in 52 of 53 service games en route to the biggest title of his career at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Dimitrov, the No. 7 seed, has never reached the US Open quarter-finals.

The Cincinnati champion has won the US Open title once in the past nine years (Rafael Nadal in 2013). Dimitrov, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev and Juan Martin del Potro are among those who could make it six straight years with a different US Open champion.

UNSEEDED STATS: There has not been an unseeded US Open semi-finalist since Mikhail Youzhny in 2006, finalist since Mark Philippoussis in 1998 and champion since Andre Agassi in 1994. The US Open went from 16 to 32 seeds in 2001.

THEY’RE UNSEEDED TOO: Gilles Muller (2008) and Nicolas Escude (1999) both reached the US Open quarter-finals for the best finish by a qualifier in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors did one better by reaching the 1991 semi-finals for the best finish by a wild card.

Lucky losers haven’t been as successful, with Flavio Cipolla (2008), Fernando Verdasco (2003) and Laurence Tieleman (1999) tied for the best finish by a player who lost in qualifying. They each reached the third round.

All-Time Grand Slam Men’s Singles Title Leaders

All-Time Grand Slam Win Leaders 

All-Time US Open Win Leaders

Players competing at 2017 US Open in bold

SPANISH SPOILERS: Left-handed Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco are quickly approaching Roger Federer’s Open Era-record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances. Lopez, Federer’s former junior rival, could tie the Swiss at Roland Garros and pass him at Wimbledon. The 31st-seeded Lopez is making his 16th straight appearance at the US Open. The streaks of Novak Djokovic (51) and Stan Wawrinka (50) will end at the US Open.

HARD-COURT WIN LEADERS: Grigor Dimitrov earned his ATP-best 24th hard-court win of 2017 in the Cincinnati final.