The former British-Canadian tennis star \u2013 who is part of Amazon Prime Video\u2019s US Open coverage throughout the tournament \u2013 believes exposing the wider public to the chasing pack of stars is what tennis needs right now. He believes \u201cthe game of tennis is in great shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rusedski picked out some of the key names to look out for at the US Open including Russian star Daniil Medvedev, who has made quite an impact in New York previously and will be determined to wow the crowds once again.<\/p>\n
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Rusedski says upcoming young players are on the cusp of glory. \u201cDaniil Medvedev stepped up this year along with Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Matteo Berrettini got to his first Slam final in the men\u2019s game, so there\u2019s lots to look forward to.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlexander Zverev won the Olympic gold medal too and reached the US Open final last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s intriguing to see what will happen in the men\u2019s side, which actually has a lot going on, but obviously the big storyline is Novak Djokovic. Can he do what hasn\u2019t been done since 1969 with Rod Laver?\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic is gunning for the calendar Grand Slam \u2013 winning all four majors in the same calendar year \u2013 which has not be completed by a men\u2019s player since Rod Laver in 1969.<\/p>
Rusedski is confident the rising stars of the sport will push Djokovic all the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next generation is stepping up. If you look at the Slam finalists so far this year: Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Berrettini and Zverev, who won the Olympic gold, they\u2019re four guys who are stepping up and saying: \u201cOkay, I want to be No.1 \u2013 I want to beat you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is that we can\u2019t always harp on about the past. We\u2019ve had three of the all-time greats recently but tennis always comes through in the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my generation, after Agassi and Sampras, people asked if there were going to be any good players ever again! They all came out. There\u2019s no panic. We\u2019ve got guys to replace the top guys, but the problem is those three [Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal] have taken the storylines globally for so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game of tennis is in great shape but the public needs to get to know these new personalities after you\u2019ve had three dominate for so many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rusedski is pinning his hopes on World No. 2 Medvedev for the upcoming US Open.\u00a0\u201cMedvedev has stepped up and the tennis fans know him, but you want the person who is not a tennis fan to know him, that\u2019s the key.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>Daniil Medvedev in action<\/span><\/figcaption> Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n \u201cHe really broke through in New York. The crowd was booing him and he was taunting the crowd and then he got to the US Open final, he was down two sets and a break to Rafa [Nadal] and he pushed him all the way to a five-set epic. He\u2019s the guy willing to stand toe-to-toe with Djokovic \u2013 Djokovic did that to Nadal and broke through to become one of the greatest of all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Medvedev has done. He plays Djokovic at his own game, he\u2019s not worried to go into 2,000-ball rallies if he needs to and he\u2019s ready for it. He returns further than anybody on a hard court apart from Nadal and Thiem and returns flat, his movement is exceptional and he doesn\u2019t have any weakness apart from his transition game to the net could get a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crucially, Rusedski also explains that Medvedev has the right attitude to be a champion.\u00a0\u201cHe just believes he should be No.1 and that he should beat everybody. Those are huge assets,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd he\u2019s got the most funky looking style. You\u2019d never teach anybody to hit a forehand and backhand like him, yet he hits it in the centre of the racket every time so it doesn\u2019t matter how you produce it, it\u2019s the result it creates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US Open 2021<\/a> is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video from Monday 30th August.<\/b><\/p>\n
![\""Daniil\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/08\/Daniil-Medvedev-fc0ed6d-scaled.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"Daniil\\"")
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