Top US Open Breakout Series contenders: Winston Salem

ATP players from around the world are making their way to North America to compete in the 16th edition of the US Open Series. Beginning last year, the US Open Series recognized one man and one woman in the early stages of their career for “Breakout Performance.”

After Daniil Medvedev’s sizzling summer he almost certainly has the US Open Breakout Performer award in the bag. After reaching the Citi Open final, the Montreal final, and winning Cincinnati, he is firmly in pole position.

Here are some other possible contenders as we head into the final week before the US Open.

1

Andrey Rublev

Perhaps the only possible foil to Medvedev’s breakout award is 21-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev, who has been collecting some serious scalps this summer. Last week in Cincinnati, Rublev dispatched Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer in back-to-back matches. After recovering from a back injury early in the season, Rublev and his rocket-launcher forehand have been blasting opponents off the court. In addition to the Swiss wins, Rublev dispatched world No. 4 Dominic Thiem - on clay- this July in Hamburg. If Rublev can leave Winston-Salem with the hardware, he will have a serious case for the Breakout Performer award.

2

Miomir Kecmanovic

This time last year Miomir Kecmanovic was floating around the 200’s in the ATP rankings. Now, he enters the Winston Salem Open at a career high No. 49 in the world. Based off his rankings climb alone he has made a case for this year’s Breakout Performer award. After qualifying in Cincinnati, Kecmanovic dispatched Next-Gen darling Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets and earned his first Top-10 win defeating Alexander Zverev in three sets. Like Serbia's No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Kecmanovic has the ability to outlast his opponents with an extremely solid brand of tennis. Kecmanovic doesn’t like to miss, and has ground down his competition while raising his ranking to new heights.

3

Hubert Hurkacz

When he gets hot, the 6’5” Pole can take the racquet out of anyone’s hands. While his summer has been slightly disappointing, he still notched some solid victories against Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Montreal. If Herbert Hurkacz can win his first career title this week in Winston Salem he could sneak back into the discussion for this year’s breakout performer award.