Every Grand Slam there is player that goes that extra mile for the first time in his career, producing the best tennis of his life.
The US Open is the last chance of the year for those on the fringe of the ATP Tour to make their moment in the limelight count.
Here are the players that could perform a shock or two in the main draw.
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Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov seems like a Grand Slam champion waiting to happen. The 18-year-old has impressed at times this season. He recently made it to the semi-finals of the Montreal Masters, losing to Alexander Zverev. The World #67 also had a good run at Queens, falling in the round of 16 to Tomas Berdych in three sets.
The youngster thrives playing in front of a home crowd, having won a Challenger tournament in Gatineau, Canada. A week later he reached the semifinals of another Challenger in the country. With the US Open in the same continent, could Shapovalov reach the second week of the Grand Slam? He’ll have to come through qualifiers first, but I don’t see why not.
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Frances Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe is another up and coming star that could earn his stripes at the US Open. The American has played a solid season so far, with highlights including reaching the round of 64 at the Australian Open and the second round at Wimbledon. The 19-year-old has already won two Challenger titles this year in the US and France, beating World #70 Jeremy Chardy in the final of the latter.
Tiafoe, who has a career high ranking of #60, recently reached the round of 16 in the Cincinnati Masters. He beat Alexander Zverev in straight sets, finally beating the German after losing twice this season to the fellow youngster.
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Borna Coric
World #50 Borna Coric has set the season alight at times, winning a main tour title in Morocco–beating Phillip Kohlschreiber, Diego Schwartzman and Albert Ramos-Vinolas en route to glory.
The Croatian reached the round of 64 of the French Open, his best Grand Slam result of the season. While at the Madrid Masters he earned his time in the headlines by beating Andy Murray as he reached the quarter-finals.
Coric is a lively player and, with his favourite surface being outdoor hard, he could upset one or two of the top 20.
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