US Open starts with Nadal to face Djokovic, Keber v Williams
Tennis champions, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, will be playing for the US Open title. But defending champion, Djokovic, and fellow two-time winner, Nadal, begin the season's final Grand Slam with injury concerns.
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World number one, Djokovic, has admitted that he is "not 100 percent" after suffering a wrist injury on the eve of the Olympic Games where he suffered a shock first-round defeat.
Nadal, meanwhile, is also battling the effects of a left wrist problem which forced a mid-tournament withdrawal from the French Open and sidelined him until the Olympics, where he was a gold medal winner in the men's doubles.
The injury concerns, combined with the absence for the first time since 1999 of five-time winner Roger Federer, have put 2012 champion Andy Murray in the position of favourite.
Kerber faces Hercog in women's games
In women’s games, world number two, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerbe, opens against Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Germany's Kerber, who defeated Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in January, is just one of the players with a chance to seize the number one ranking if Williams falters.
The 28-year-old also boasts a title at Stuttgart, an Olympic silver medal and finals appearances at Brisbane in January, and this month in Cincinnati, where she missed her first chance to supplant Williams as champion.
She’s says she’s on form for the US Open.
"I feel really good as I played well these last few weeks," Kerber says. "I left a lot of energy and emotions in Cincinnati, but I have a lot of positive things to think about. I'm really excited to play in New York for the last Grand Slam of the year."
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