so you look at those two young players they so far have every major title this year Well we we've heard and we've talked about for the last 15 20 years fed Nadal jokovic they have been really the backbone of men's tennis and we've been wondering one of the young youngsters going to come up who is going to challenge them jokovic is still in the mix you know he's not human and and by winning the Olympics I mean that has to be the highlight of his life but now we have alarz and center and they're going to battle it out and I think they're the new you know they're going to be the new rivalry in the next 10 15 years so um it it's great to see it's nice to see that not one tennis player is bigger than the game that if somebody like a Federer retires somebody else is going to come along and catch everybody's fancy and play some tennis sets a level ahead and this is what we're seeing right now yeah the game is in great hands that's for sure and you know we've been talking about when are we going to see The Changing of the Guard well I think we've SE it of course Novak saying not so fast cuz I'm still contending for these big tournaments and I think he has a great chance to win uh his fifth US Open but when I think of CER and alcaras it's my favorite matchup to watch now they're both so explosive Dynamic they're fast they hit the ball so hard consistently and they're still improving you talked to both of them and they're working on their serves they're working on um you know Variety in their game coming forward so this is going to be the matchup that we're going to see for years to come I can't wait because they both love the game and they're Superstars they're unbelievable so you know I think for me today with when the draw comes out the big question is where is alcaraz is going to land which half of the draw is he's now number three in the world that's the point I wanted to make we talk about it's alcaraz Center but jokovic is still holding on to that number two spot should jokovic not win this US Open by the way would be the first time a member of The Big Three Roger Rafa jokovic did not win a grand slam title in a calendar year since 2002 and when he won this title last year Chrissy we said okay he's going to continue to win more of them especially going into Australia where he's dominated for so many years but this is a big goal of his now he said the gold medal number one and now he wants to get to number 25 what a year he had last year winning three slams and then winning the year in ATP championships winning another tournament in France and then we were so surprised this year up until the Olympics he hadn't won anything he hadn't won a tournament and I I tell you there were a lot of doubters out there think you know this could be his last year if he's not able to win a major why would he want to keep playing then he wins then he wins the Olympics and surprises us all with a level higher than we've seen all year and uh it the big thing is now the 25th you know he's tied with Margaret core 24 Majors you don't think that he's going to get fired up for this one he needs one more and you know he's always reaching for his goals and he always thinks nothing is impossible and when he leaves the game he's going to leave no stone unturned Chris McKenry Chrissy earlier this week you went on record saying should he win this title he might call it what what exactly I said thank you for saying that because I've been reading in the press that you know chis says he should retire no I said I wouldn't be surprised if he retired you know after because looking at this whole year and not winning a tournament until the Olympics you know I don't know you know everything gets chipped away the longer you play the more years you play he's had injuries also that were surprising this year it would would not surprise me if he won this US Open to call it a day because then he's achieved all of his goals and you know what time to spend time with the family I don't know Chrissy I think he wants to separate himself from Rafa from Roger I think he wants to crush the records that he already no I think he wants to go even further I think he wants to really be the Undisputed best player of all time no questions asked and he's still has things to play for besides the 25 he's trying to win the most titles of anyone Jimmy still holds that Jimmy Connor still holds that record uh he's if he wins here he wins a 100 titles and he would be the oldest player by the way if he won the US Open to win a major title so I I still think there's enough to motivate him I think it's the family though what you say let's have a bed let have a bed we'll see plays a full the family I think is the big the big thing but we spoke with him yesterday that's one thing I remember last year he told me I his daughter sat right across front row at the open last year in that championship match and he said every time in between match sit down he could look up he could see her and she can't be here this year he said maybe the final week if I get that far but school started so he separated now from the kids and that has to be tough so I'm sure there's a lot he's weighing but when the draw comes out today he's weighing one thing who's my first opponent yeah that's true he takes one one day at a time there's nobody that does that better absolutely the American men it's been a long time since there have been five American men in the top 20 you have to go back to 1997 Francis Dio a fantastic run in Cincinnati to the final got himself back in the top 20 Taylor Fritz leads the way Ben Shelton right behind him Tommy Paul and Sebastian Corda I mean they've all been to se semis of Majors except Fritz um I believe and Corda uh Fritz and Paul won the bronze medal at the Olympic how fresh are they going to be going into the US Open Corda has played great this summer Shelton's played well this summer yeah um a lot of it's going to depend on the draw like who where they land what are the seeds they come ac across do they have the dangerous floater like bartini in in one of the opening rounds um but they all are starting to play well I'm so happy for Francis that he had that great week in Cincinnati reaching the finals um and starting to you know feel confident again I think having David wit as his coach um I think uh has been has done wonders for his game has given him the confidence that he needs Ben Shelton I think has the highest ceiling I'm not quite sure if he's there yet he's still young he still needs to get that consistency and that maybe better choice of shots shot making um Tommy Paul's beating all the top players you know Taylor Fritz I mean they're they're definitely quarterfinalists they're definitely second week US Open players but I'm I'm not sure if one of them is ready to win this title this year MJ again I think it so depends on the draw I mean how fresh are the top players right alarz is he going to be frustrated like we saw him in Cincinnati um you know C how's he going to deal with everything that's going on around him and and Novak right so yes those three of course are the the the lead favorites to to go all the way but I think one of them can sneak through there's no question about it we've seen them get to the semi so now can they make that Next Step [Music]