Twelve players to watch at the U.S. Open

The defending U.S. Open men’s champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, hasn’t been playing tennis most of this season because of a wrist injury.

Serena Williams, the top-ranked woman in the world and winner of two of this year’s three major titles, is sitting out because of a cut on her foot suffered sometime after Wimbledon in a restaurant somewhere in Europe. And that means she won’t be returning to the scene of her 2009 meltdown, the one when she threatened a lineswoman after a late foot-fault call in her semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters.

But the men’s draw is still filled with the same favorites. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are at the top, Britain’s Andy Murray and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic are ranked just behind. The top American man is still Andy Roddick, whose physical condition is a question mark after a bout with mononucleosis.

Here’s a look at the top contenders and dark horses for the 2010 Open championship:

Five favorites and the dark horse, men’s division:

Nadal is seeded No. 1 at the one Grand Slam tournament he has yet to win. In fact, Nadal hasn’t even made it to the final in New York, though the 24-year-old Spaniard has already won eight major titles. Nadal played a less strenuous summer schedule with the hope of coming to the Open less tired and injured than in past years.

Federer is seeded second and comes to New York motivated by the idea that, at 29, there are whispers that his career has begun to wane after he had his streak of five consecutive Open titles stopped last year by Del Potro, and after he lost in the quarterfinals at this year’s French Open and Wimbledon.

Djokovic, 23, has made at least the semifinals in New York the last three years and knows how to win a major, having done so at the Australian Open in 2008. Djokovic suffers in hot, humid conditions, however, so the weather in New York might matter.

Murray, seeded fourth and still looking for a first major title, has the all-court game suited to the Open surface and won the summer hard-court tournament in Toronto, where he beat Nadal and Federer. He also reached the final in Los Angeles after being a last-minute replacement for Djokovic in the draw.

Tomas Berdych, seeded seventh, should have gained confidence with his Wimbledon upset of Federer and his appearance in the final there. He has the all-court game that can succeed in New York.

Dark horse: Maybe Roddick, who won his only major championship at the U.S. Open. Seeded only ninth, he seems to be recovered from mononucleosis.

Five favorites and the dark horse, women’s division:

Caroline Wozniacki, the 20-year-old from Denmark who lost to Clijsters in last year’s final, is the top-seeded player now that Serena Williams is out. Wozniacki has won three titles this year, though she hasn’t reprised her Open performance at the major tournaments, with fourth-round upset losses at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Clijsters, seeded second, is also still searching for the formula that led her to a dramatic title last year, in her first major tournament back from a 2 1/2-year retirement. Clijsters, 27, hasn’t made it to a Grand Slam final this year.

Venus Williams is seeded third, though at age 30 she is nine years from her last Open title. Williams hasn’t played since Wimbledon because of a knee strain, but when she is serving and moving well, she is dangerous on hard courts.

Maria Sharapova is seeded 14th, but she’s a woman with major championships on her resume (including the 2006 U.S. Open) and a growing confidence in her serve after shoulder surgery that kept her out of the 2008 Open.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is seeded fourth and still looking for her first major championship. Her best Grand Slam success has been at the U.S. Open, where she was a finalist in 2008.

Dark horse: Russian’s Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded 11th but knows how to succeed in New York — she won the 2004 U.S. title — and has played well during the summer hard-court season, winning the title at La Costa and reaching the semifinals in Montreal before losing to Wozniacki.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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