Richard Krajicek- “Roger Federer will win because he is always successful at the US Open. He’s been six years in a row in the final and won five of them and at the moment he’s playing well and he’s very serious and working with Paul Annacone, so he’s going to be the one to win it this year. And in the women’s side, now that Serena pulled out, Kim Clijsters will defend her title. She hasn’t played that great recently but she has good memories from last year and she likes the court speed at the US Open.” video
Champions Predict US Open 2010 Winners
The year's final tennis Grand Slam is upon us, and many of the stars of the ATP Champions Tour will be at the US Open on commentary duty. Ahead of the event, eight of the champions have given us their predictions.
Multiple US Open champion John McEnroe, former World No.1 Bjorn Borg, and former Wimbledon champions Pat Cash, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Stich and Richard Krajicek provide their predictions. They are joined by Henri Leconte and Tim Henman.
All will feature at ATP Champions Tour events in the coming months. If you would like to see videos of their predictions, go to our Facebook page.
So, who do they think will win the men's and women's events? Read on.
Bjorn Borg- “For the men’s singles I’m going to pick either Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych or Robin Soderling and for the women I pick Kim Clijsters or Venus Williams.
- Murray is definitely a player that can win Grand Slam tournaments. He’s going to be up there fighting with (Rafael) Nadal and (Roger) Federer from now on and one day I think he might be the number one player in the World.” video
Pat Cash- “I believe the winner's of the US Open this year will be Stan Smith and Margaret Court. I think Evonne Cawley and John Newcombe have a good shot as well. Er, what year are we in? Oh, 2010! Kim Clijsters will be a good shot for the women’s, I think she’ll defend her title there.
- I think Andy Murray will win in the men’s, I think he’ll win his first Grand Slam. If he doesn’t play Mardy Fish that is!” video
Goran Ivanisevic- “I think Kim Clijsters is going to win the women’s title because my first choice Serena Williams pulled out. I think Kim will defend her title now. And on the men’s side I think it’s going to be Roger Federer because the court suits him so well and I think he is ready to win his first Grand Slam for a while. I think the courts are just too fast for Nadal, they’re faster in New York than they are in Wimbledon.” video
Henri Leconte- “So my prediction for the US Open men’s title is that I think and I wish Rafa Nadal is going to win, because it would be great for him to win the French, Wimbledon and the US Open in one year. That would be amazing and he deserves it because he’s putting everything together as a player. For the ladies, I wish and I hope that it will be Kim, but winning back-to-back titles, that’s going to be complicated! But then you never know in tennis.” video
John McEnroe- “Rafael Nadal wants to win the US Open so badly and It’d be hard not to pick him even though he’s never won it. The guy’s just an animal; he’s mentally and physically incredible and he can definitely do it if he’s in this shape.
- The conditions in New York don’t suit Nadal so well and he needs to make his body hold up.”
Tim Henman- “I’d probably go for Roger Federer. I think in those kind of conditions and on a fast hard court, he’ll be the man to beat.”
- There are times when you’re playing against Federer and you just can’t find an area to attack. It’s very difficult to find any weakness and when you put that package together it wasn’t much fun to play against.”
Michael Stich- “It's very open in both the men's and women's draws. On the men's sidet here are a lot of players that are dangerous on this surface. As well as Nadal, Murray, Djokovic and Federer, there's also Soderling and Davydenko. I will go for Nadal.
- I will go for Venus Williams in the women's event, but again, it's so open at the moment. Kim Clijsters is the other one to look at, but Williams has the best chance.”