US Open home hopefuls

Who are the home hopefuls to keep an eye on at this year’s US Open? James Walker-Roberts picks five to watch in New York…

A new era? A changing of the guard? It’s tricky to know exactly where American tennis is right now.

Steve Johnson has just become the nation’s top-ranked male player at the age of 26, Serena Williams was recently one match away from losing her long-standing grip on the world No 1 spot, while last year’s US Open boys’ champion, Taylor Fritz, is the youngest player in the top ATP top 100.

With all that in mind, we pick out five Americans to look for at the US Open…

Serena Williams

Last year, Serena had the pressure of the ‘Serena Slam’, this year she could lose the No 1 ranking in New York. Not only that, but she is bidding to surpass Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 majors.

Serena will head into the final major of the year as the top-ranked player, a distinction she has held since February 18, 2013. She does, though, owe some gratitude to Karolina Pliskova, who beat Angelique Kerber in the final in Cincinnati to prevent the German claiming top spot.

There are several scenarios that could play out in New York with regards to the rankings, with Kerber, Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska all in with a chance of taking top spot. For Serena, a run to the final looks almost essential if she is going to stay at the summit and break another Graf record of time spent at the top of the rankings.

Serena is a six-time champion at the US Open but was memorably upset by Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals last year. She has also not played since losing in the third round at the Olympics.

Steve Johnson

If the pressure is on Serena, does the same apply to Johnson?

After a slow start to the year that saw him go 6-14, Johnson won in Nottingham, reached the last 16 at Wimbledon, the semi-finals in Washington …

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