US Open men's draw breakdown - Predicting a Djokovic vs Federer final

Second Quarter –

Andy Murray

Andy Murray could have pressed for the world no. 1 ranking following his Wimbledon win. But the Scot was only 3-2 during the Montreal/ Cincinnati swing, causing him to drop to no. 3 in the rankings and landing himself in the same half as Djokovic.

Murray, who comes into a Slam as defending champion for the first time, meets the French veteran Michael Llodra in what should be a fun first round which Murray should be able to win easily. The Scot has 28th seed Juan Monaco in the third round and 15th seed Nicolas Almagro in the last 16.

The Scot’s first big test could comes in the quarters where he is drawn to meet Czech Tomas Berdych. Ranked no. 5 for the first time in his career, Berdych has a 6-4 edge in head-to-head over Murray and has won both their encounters this year, which should make things interesting if they live up to their seedings.

Berdych could face some trouble in the second round against the 21-year-old American Denis Kudla or 20-year-old countryman Jiri Veseley, the youngest player in the top 100. 31st seed Julien Benneteau should not provide too much resistance in the third round but ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka or in-form South African Kevin Anderson could be tough customers in round four.

Matches to watch out for – (9) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Radek Stepanek; James Blake vs. Ivo Karlovic

Also watch out for – Slovak Martin Klizan

Predicted Quarter-Final – Murray vs. Anderson