US Open top seed Zverev downplays favorite status
NEW YORK: The US Open looks more open than ever, and top-seeded Alexander Zverev says the absence of Jannik Sinner and questions surrounding defending champion Carlos Alcaraz as he returns from injury do little to enhance his own status as favorite. “I feel like I’m one of the 128 players that are favorites in the draw,” the German said as he prepared for the start of the last Grand Slam of the season on Sunday in Flushing Meadows. Zverev captured a long-awaited first Grand Slam title at the French Open this year and finished runner-up to world number one Sinner at Wimbledon. Alcaraz, whose Australian Open title in January made him the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, missed both of those tournaments with a right wrist injury that the Spaniard says is fully healed. But more than four months have elapsed since he last played, and it remains to be seen if he has the requisite fitness to become the first man to win back-to-back US Open titles since Roger Federer won his fifth straight back in 2008. “I expect him to be maybe a bit rusty the first or second match, but once he gets through that, I think he’s going to be a contender for sure here,” Zverev said. A host of players who could challenge the top two seeds includes 39-year-old Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth as he again chases a record-setting 25th Grand Slam singles title. Djokovic said his early exit amid physical struggles in the Cincinnati Masters had a silver lining, allowing him to “really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what’s coming up.” Like Zverev, Shelton was reluctant to paint Sinner’s withdrawal with a knee injury as an automatic boost to his own title hopes. “I know how much quality that there is in the
