Andy Murray was a late scratch for the 2017 US Open. However, Rafael Nadal seems to think that Murray should have been either a later scratch or an earlier one. As it was, Murray pulled out of the 2017 Us Open on Saturday morning, two days before the start of main draw action and roughly 24 hours after the release of the men's singles draw. According to Nadal the proper time for withdrawal was before the release of the draw or closer to the starting time of the tournament.
"It was a little bit strange that he retired just the morning after the draw was made.
It was something that is a little bit strange and difficult to understand," Nadal claimed (qtd. at Express by Stuart Ballard/August 30). "Normally you want to keep practicing, keep trying until the last moment. You don't retire Saturday morning. You retire Monday morning or Sunday afternoon. If not, you can do it before the draw."
Murray's draw wasn't bad
A big reason why a player might want to have a look at the draw before he decides to withdraw is just to gauge his chances of whether or not he will win a few matches. However Murray had a lenient draw and he still decided to give it up. It could be that Saturday morning was just the time that it was clear to him that he should not participate in the event.
But the big impact of Murray withdrawing late was that it contributed to Nadal and Roger Federer being on the same half of the draw. Had Murray withdrew in a more timely manner then the two players would be opposing one another instead of possibly meeting in the semifinal round at the 2017 US Open.
At any rate what is likely to transpire as a result of Murray's withdrawal is a new player emerging at the US Open.
Marin Cilic is in what was Murray's half of the draw, but the Croat's playing level isn't clear following so many weeks off after Wimbledon. If Cilic is not razor sharp then tennis might have a new face on the big stage of the US Open final this season.
Potential finalists in the young crowd
That could be either Alexander Zverev or Denis Shapovalov.
Lucas Pouille is another player that might do well at the US Open as he was a quarterfinalist from last season. Pouille has Jared Donaldson to best in the second round, another player that might emerge as a new face with Grand Slam tennis fans before the end of the New York fortnight. Shapovalov will have to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round to stay alive while Zverev has to beat Borna Coric in a battle of 20 year olds.
Tsonga, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, and even Janko Tipsarevic are the established veteran players on the bottom half of the draw. If you were to pick the brightest lights there, it would be Cilic and Tsonga, but the former has his rust while the latter played poorly in Montreal and Cincinnati.
A young gun could be into the final at Flushing Meadows, making the tournament the venue where tennis might finally get young again after a period of dominance involving players nearly 30 or over 30 in recent seasons.
