US Open: Ranking the five biggest threats to pull off late upsets

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 23: Audrey Rublev of Russia returns a shot to Daniel Evans of Great Britain during the Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 23, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

3. Andrey Rublev

Rublev has been quietly ripping through the draw so far through three rounds. In three matches, he has yet to drop a set and currently holds an 84.33% 1st serve win rate. He has arguably one of the best groundstrokes arsenals on tour currently, with his forehand specifically often coming off extremely hot in matches.

His next couple of matches don’t aid his chances of breaking through to a deep run, unfortunately. He’s matched up against Matteo Berrettini, who’s been one of the best under-the-radar players in this tournament so far (we’ll touch on him in a second). If Rublev is able to power through, he’ll likely face 3rd-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who’s the best hard-court player left in the draw outside of Novak Djokovic.

It’s going to be tough for Rublev to escape two straight matches against top-tier opponents like Berrettini and Medvedev but his firepower advantage might give him enough of an edge, especially on hard courts.

Rublev has also put together one of the best 2020 campaigns so far, dating back to January. His consistency has been what’s propelled to a career-high ranking of 14th; he’s currently 18-4 this calendar year with two titles in Doha and Adelaide. If he’s able to continue his rise, we could be seeing a possible upset of both Berrettini and Medvedev and Rublev’s first trip to a major semifinal.

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