Rafael Nadal prepares to defend his title at the US Open

The tournament will begin on the 29th August. History will be made yet again at Flushing Meadows as more than 700,000 fans pour through the gates to watch the finest players in the sport battle it out for the year's final Grand Slam. The man to beat is without doubt Novak Djokovic. After 7 months of the season Djokovic had lost just a single match, a barely believable feat in today's era of high intensity, high octane tennis which drains more from the athletes than ever before. Djokovic is a two-time finalist at Flushing Meadows, losing to Federer as a raw 20 year old back in 2007 and again to Nadal last year. But after 5 wins over the Spaniard on some of the biggest stages in Europe and the States, there is little doubt than Djokovic has worked his great rival out, for the time being.

Can Nadal respond ? It could be the start of a fantastic rivalry but he has some thinking to do after several fairly one-sided losses. Hard courts are also his weakest surface.

However it's more than just the Novak and Rafa show in New York. Juan Martin Del Potro won his first Grand Slam title here 2 years ago and now fully fit, there are hopes that the Argentine can make the Big Four, a Big Five. He tested Nadal at Wimbledon and should they meet here, it will be a contest to savour.

After a final in Australia and semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, it has been Andy Murray's best year so far on the tour but that elusive major win remains as far away as ever. Murray knows he's competing in the toughest era ever and he will need to find something special to beat the top three at the business end of a slam. However the US Open represents his best chance.

And we must not forget 5 time champion Roger Federer who utterly dominated this tournament between 2004 and 2008. Currently stuck on 16 Grand Slam titles, there are growing doubts on Federer's ability to add to his tally. At his best the Swiss would never have come close to losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon from 2 sets up but you write off Federer at your peril. As he showed against Djokovic in Paris, he is still capable of turning on the magic on the big occasions.