World number one Roger Federer is assured of the top seeding in this year’s US Open since he won’t be defending much points compared to his rivals – Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
As of July 20 rankings, Federer has 11,200 points followed by Nadal with 10,735 and Murray with 9,700.
Nadal, who was forced to miss Wimbledon due to knee injury, will have to perform well during the hardcourt season if he wants to retain the number two ranking. The Spaniard is the defending champion of the Rogers Cup in Montreal (1,000 pts). He also reached the semifinals in Cincinnati Masters (45o points) and clinched the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics (800 points) last year. He accumulated 2,250 points from these three tournaments.
Murray had an impressive hardcourt season last year as well, having won the Cincinnati Masters (1,000 points) and reaching the Rogers Cup semifinals (450 points). He had the chance to clinch the number two ranking had he won the Wimbledon title earlier this month.
Federer only amassed 360 points in three hardcourt tournaments before the US Open. He was ousted in the second round of the Rogers Cup last year (10 points). He also made an early exit at the Cincinnati Masters (3rd round – 150 points) and accumulated the remaining 200 points via his quarterfinal loss at the Beijing Olympics.
However, it might be a different story after the US Open since Federer has 2,000 points to defend as last year’s winner, Murray with 1,400 as last year’s runner up and Nadal with 900 as semifinalist. Let’s see how things will go in the following weeks.
