Nadal needs win, but will have tough run

You could hear the screams from the Grand Central Parkway. This was Arthur Ashe Kids Day and some of the kids were on the first balcony of the huge stadium letting everyone know what they thought about Rafael Nadal, the man who needs a U.S. Open win if he is to complete his set of Grand Slam titles.

Nadal may be No. 1 in the world and one of the most popular athletes on earth, but he has reversed the Sinatra song and made it everywhere, but not New York. Not yet. This year, Nadal comes into the U.S. Open as reigning champion of the French Open and Wimbledon with the possibility of achieving something no one has done since Rod Laver in 1969 — win in Paris, London and New York in the same year.

Laver — in the days when the U.S. Open was played on grass at Forest Hills — did it in the amateur days of 1962 and again in the second year of Open Tennis in 1969 — the years he cleaned up the Grand Slam by winning all four. But only Roger Federer and Andre Agassi have come really close since — Federer winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2006 and 2007 while reaching the final of Roland Garros and last year just failing to complete the trio of wins by losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the final here after winning the first two. In 1999, Agassi won the French and U.S. and reached the final at Wimbledon.

So can Nadal emulate Laver after reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for three consecutive years? "He's going to have his hands full." That was the opinion of the man himself, Rod Laver, when I spoke to him from his home in California this week. "I still think Nadal struggles a little bit to play his best tennis on hard courts, and it is going to be more difficult for him now that Roger Federer seems to have regained his confidence. I thought Roger looked to be back on top of his game in Cincinnati. That forehand was working again, and he was moving so well. I think he is going to be tough to beat."

Laver has also been impressed by Andy Murray this summer after watching him beat both Nadal and Federer to win Toronto. "If Andy stays aggressive, he must have a chance," said the Australian.

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So what does Nadal think? "Sure, I have to do better than what I did in Toronto and Cincinnati. I have to improve a little bit in everything."

Meanwhile, Murray, having finished top of the U.S. Open Series leaderboard, is brimming with confidence. The Scot has his part-time coach Alex Corretja at his side but insists he is not going to be talked into playing this way or that. "No extra pressure," he says in answer to the inevitable question about aggressiveness. "I just need to play the game style that wins me matches here. If I have to play ultra-defensive in any of my matches, I'll play that way. If I have to play aggressive, then I'll do that. It's about winning. I'll play the way that I think is going to win me the match."

Federer looked equally relaxed, no surprise there. Once again he has halted talk of a decline with his performance in Cincinnati. "I've spoiled myself by playing so well," he smiled when the question came up. "You can't win every season 12 tournaments. But I'm not scared on taking losses. I just want to know where I stand, and I can only do that by playing tournaments. Yeah, maybe I do take losses a little bit easier today than I used to, but they don't make me happy. They definitely make me improve and work harder."

Andy Roddick, once again the top American hope, is just happy that he can work harder after a mild bout of mono. Roddick came within a point of reaching the final in Cincinnati before being swept away in the final set by Mardy Fish but insisted he took a lot of positives out of the week. "If you would have given me five matches and two top-five wins going into Cincinnati, I would have been ecstatic," he said. "So it was good for preparation and confidence coming into this tournament."

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So while the big boys were talking, the hopefuls were battling away out in the blazing New York sunshine. Judging by the crowd around Court 6, Nicolas Mahut's fame had carried over from Wimbledon after his amazing marathon with John Isner, but it did the Frenchman little good here. He lost in the last round of qualifying to a wiry Brazilian named Julio Silva, 6-3 in the third.

Kei Nishikori, the highly talented Florida-trained Japanese who spent most of last year out injured, seemed to be back to his best as he beat Canada's Frank Dancevic 6-4, 6-1, wrapping up the first set with a off-forehand drop shot winner on the run. But another Japanese fell to an American — the durable Robert Kendrick beating Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-3.

No such luck for another U.S. veteran, Kevin Kim — he went out to Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, 6-1, 6-3. Lithuania, Latvia, Uzbekistan … you never know where the talent is going to spring from these days, for this, more than ever, is truly global sport.