Crowning glory! It will be Nadal and Serena at Flushing Meadows

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Andy Murray have split the first three Majors among them while on the women’s side Victoria Azarenka captured the Australian Open, Serena Williams the French Open and the now-retired Marion Bartoli won at Wimbledon. After being sidelined for seven months by a knee injury, Nadal came back stronger than ever by sweeping nine out of 12 tournaments he has entered since February. He has posted the best winning record in 2013 with an impressive 53-3 record, including back-to-back Masters Series in Montreal and Cincinnati. 

In fact Nadal has not lost to anyone in the three hardcourt events he has played this year, including the Indian Wells Masters Series in March. While making it to all finals since February, the only hiccup the Spaniard faced this year was at Wimbledon, where he suffered a shock first-round defeat to Steve Darcis of Belgium. While Djokovic is not at his peak, Murray, since turning his dream of holding the Wimbledon trophy into reality, looks very rusty. He has suffered two early exits in the last two Masters events. That leaves Nadal as the most consistent player and apparently playing his fiercest hard-court game ever.

In their latest showdown, the Montreal Masters final, Nadal, who in the past was subdued by Djokovic’s power game, brought the Serbian down to his knees with some stunningly aggressive shots. It was his first victory over the world No 1 on a hard surface in almost three years. Obviously, Nadal looks in best shape and is a heavy favourite to reclaim the title he won in 2010. 

With Bartoli hanging up her racquet and Maria Sharapova withdrawing because of an injury, it comes down to either world No 1 and reigning champion Serena or No 2 Azarenka, who have the best chance at the Flushing Meadows. 

The 31-year-old American has a 60-4 match record this season and despite coming short at Melbourne Park and All England, she remains the most dangerous player at home. When at her best, no fellow player can match her groundstrokes. But when concentration falls apart, she gives away many free points. That was the reason why Azarenka, who is 36-4 this season, narrowly beat her in their latest meeting in Cincinnati last week. The Belarussian is, in mental terms, not as solid as Serena but she can trade heavy blows with the American. So, the world No 1 should have a slight edge over the No 2 over the next fortnight unless some dark horse brings a super A game to upend the top two.

Last but not the least, the potential Nadal-Federer quarter-final match will stop the world. Although Federer is unlikely to shrug off his Spanish jinx like in the past, he will not give up easily and may wow us with his heavenly shots.