Three more days are left till the beginning of the last Grand Slam tournament in 2012 – US Open.
Competitions at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows (New York) begin on August 27, and last until September 9.
The main singles draw has been made on Thursday. Nole will open his title defense campaign at his eighth US Open against world no.69 Italian Paolo Lorenzi. They have met twice, the 25-year old Belgrade native won both matches, the most recent in R1 of the 2012 Australian Open 6-2, 6-0, 6-0.
Last year Novak lifted his first US Open trophy with a 6-2 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-1 victory over Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the finals.
The world no.2 might face either Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil or a qualifier in the second round.
Novak’s possible opponents in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Julien Benneteau (FRA, 31), Olivier Rochus (BEL)
4th round: Aleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine, 14), Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI, 18), Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Quarter-finals: Juan Martin del Potro (ARG, 7), Juan Monaco (ARG, 10), Andy Roddick (USA, 20), David Nalbandian (ARG)
Semi-finals: David Ferrer (ESP, 4), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB,8), John Isner (USA, 9), Richard Gasquet (FRA, 13)
Roger Federer (SUI, 1), Andy Murray (GBR, 3), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA, 5), Tomas Berdych (CZE, 6), Milos Raonic (CAN, 15)… are in the top half of the draw, and Nole can’t meet them before the finals.
Novak won 33 matches of 39 he played in New York. This season he has a 54-10 match record (29-3 on hard).
Enjoy the 2011 final highlights:
Photo: Reuters
