The ATP professional circuit is witnessing one of the most intriguing US Open editions in recent years. The semis are set for today and there are a lot of things worth being discussed. While Rafael Nadal will take on Juan Martin del Potro in a replay of 2009 US Open semifinal, the other matchup will oppose Kevin Anderson and Pablo Carreno Busta. Two weeks ago, their names were barely hitting the mainstream media as the surface news was about Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic or another tennis star from the bottom half of the draw. Fast forward, Anderson and Carreno Busta are fighting over a ticket in US Open final.
Pablo Carreno-Busta and his surreal run in New York
Ranked 19th in the world at the start of 2017 Us Open, the 26-year-old Spaniard has put together some of his finest tennis to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. Thus, he went one step further after reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros earlier this year. Entering the event, he was 30-18 in win/ loss ratio having one an ATP 250 title (Estoril) in 2017. His success on the clay court in Estoril came after reaching the final in Rio ( ATP 500). On hard, his best result was reaching the semis at Indian Wells before losing to Stan Wawrinka.
Having little success during the summer swing on American soil, he was seeded twelve in the men's draw due to the huge pile of absences.
Even so, he cruised through his part of the draw to reach the semis without dropping a single set. If he gets past Kevin Anderson, he will secure a spot inside the top 10 for the very first time. Moreover, if he wins in New York, he will reach the world No. 6 next Monday when the ranking will be updated.
Kevin Anderson trying to regain his lost spot
Once a top 10 player, Kevin Anderson, 31, is well positioned for a great result in New York. Ranked 32nd at the beginning of the tournament he has been in a killer mode so far mostly due to his huge service game. Getting past Sam Querrey in the previous round was a difficult test that Anderson passed by.
The quality of his tennis output has been on a rise recently reaching the final at CIty Open in Washington D.C. En route to his first Major semifinal, he dropped only two sets but more importantly, he has shown a great of tennis. He has a 2-0 lead in head to head stats over Carreno Busta, but this time, the stake is bigger than ever before. Thus it'll be interesting to watch how these two first-time contenders will handle the pressure and the implications of such a tense encounter.
