Last year the Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro was a grateful surprise for the crowd, after being used to see Roger Federer walking out successfully from the previous five editions.

The most awaited tennis event in the US and one of the most awaited in the world begins this coming Monday August the 30th. During two weeks Flushing Meadows will witness how approximately 700,000 fans pack its stands to vibrate with the greatest tennis exponents in the planet. Its 129th edition will be a stampede of talent towards the last step of the podium, where they will face tough obstacles along the way.

The past editions have had Roger Federer as the main character of the competition, reaching six finals in a row, and losing only the most recent one, quite an impressive record. Even though this year has been like a roller coaster for the Swiss, where he began with an encouraging conquer at the Australian Open, things have not had the desired outcome since then. It has been until this month that everything seems to be getting back in order, thanks to the great performance showed in Toronto and Cincinnati these past weeks. Federer is after his 17th Grand Slam, which would also get him his New York crown back.

The big absentee will be Juan Martin del Potro who will not be able to defend his title, due to an injury in his right wrist that has kept him away from the circuit since January 24th. The Argentinean said that having to announce this makes him “sad” because he will not be in “the conditions to defend my US Open title”. This event has been del Potro’s greatest achievement in his career, and unfortunately he will have to wait one more year to experience it again.

Another athlete that will be deeply missed is Serena Williams, who has also gone through the sadness that del Potro is feeling, after she announced that she was not fully recovered from her injury. She suffered a real awkward accident in Rome, shortly after wining Wimbledon, when in a restaurant a broken glass hurt her right foot. The 28-year-old player is currently ranked number one in the WTA Tour, and has won the US Open three times, back in 1999, 2002, and 2008.

Currently number one in the ATP Tour, Spaniard Rafael Nadal is seeded number one in the tournament as well, with Roger Federer coming in second in both respectively. This will be Nadal’s opportunity to win the only Grand Slam that he is missing in his collection. The 24-year-old player has already won Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, where he has been able to open a big gap between his opponents of 4,000 points and up.

Another player that has been enjoying of a good year is Andy Murray: the English defeated Roger Federer in the Rogers Cup, and keeps holding tight to that 4th place in the circuit, and adding pressure to Novak Djokovic’s third place. He already knows the way to the final, as he reached it in 2008, but his championship attempt found an obstacle in Roger Federer.

Let the countdown begin…