THURSDAY will mark day one of the first official ATP Tour Masters 1000 event of the year, the Western and Southern Open in New York. Formerly known as the Cincinnati Masters, the tournament will be held at Flushing Meadows for the first time due to COVID-19 concerns. Despite a couple of notable absentees, many stars have entered and will compete for the first time since tennis’ suspension in March. This includes seven of the world’s top ten, so it should be a fantastic tournament.

World number one Novak Djokovic leads the contenders and has won all three tournaments he has competed in this season so far (not including the failed Adria Open). Djokovic previously threatened to withdraw from this tournament and the US Open due to the strict quarantine restrictions in place for competitors travelling from America to Europe. This would have affected his preparation for Roland Garros, which is set to begin two weeks after the US Open. According to Simona Halep’s coach Darren Cahill, these restrictions have now been lifted for players participating in the US Open, Rome Masters and French Open, thus encouraging Djokovic and other players to compete in this lead-up tournament.

Alongside Djokovic as a leading contender is the man he defeated in the Australian Open final earlier this year, Austria’s Dominic Thiem. As the top two seeds in this competition, a rematch of that memorable decider could potentially be on the cards in the final. However, several strong competitors will stand in their way.

Those include Russia’s Daniil Medvedev (ranked fifth in the world), Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas (sixth), Italy’s Matteo Berrettini (eighth) and Belgium’s David Goffin (tenth). Goffin defeated former world number one Rafael Nadal at the ATP Cup earlier this season, so he is certainly capable of knocking off the game’s biggest stars when in full flight.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev (ranked seventh) is another impressive player vying for the title. He had a stunning run to the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open, and he will look to recapture that outstanding form in this tournament. Zverev will have to do so without new coach David Ferrer, as their agreement limits them to only work together at tournaments held in Europe.

John Millman and Alex de Minaur are the two highest ranked Australians competing. Millman has a strong record in America, including a famous journey to the quarter finals of the US Open in 2018. He will look to gain some form in the lead-up to what is arguably his best grand slam. De Minaur had a fourth-round exit at last year’s US Open, the finest grand slam result of his young career. The 21-year-old would love to match or better this performance in 2020 and put an unfortunate abdominal injury from earlier in the season behind him.

Other terrific players to watch in the competition include the big-serving American John Isner, Bulgarian fan favourite Grigor Dimitrov and hard-working Argentinian Diego Schwartzman. Talented young Canadian prospects Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will also look to play some exceptional tennis and have strong preparations for the impending grand slam.

For obvious safety reasons, the ATP has ruled that no spectators will be able to attend the Western and Southern Open. Strict health and safety protocols, including rigorous testing, have been put in place to ensure that the US Open will not be impacted. Fans are hopeful that these safety protocols are significant enough to protect the participants.

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