Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the U.S. Open. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

This year's U.S. Open will be one of the most fun and exciting Opens that we've had in a long time because there are so many story lines and so many great players at different points in their careers all attempting to achieve the same goal, and in the end only one will.

There's no one who has really stood out this summer as a potential winner of the U.S. Open like you've seen in past years. So many times you get a player who gets on a roll in the summer, wins a couple of tournaments and you might have a good feeling about them leading into the Open. There's no such player this summer. But Lleyton Hewitt is the defending champion. He's the No. 1 player in the world.

Lleyton Hewitt

Mal's Analysis

Hewitt, rightfully so, is the top seed and is a big favorite going into this year's U.S. Open. Hewitt might have had problems in the second round if the original draw had held true. Instead Greg Rusedski, who recently beat Hewitt in Indianapolis, replaced Guillermo Canas as a seed. But this tournament is there for the taking for Hewitt.

James Blake

Mal's Analysis

My long shot is Blake. I predicted in September 2001 that Blake would be a top 20 player by the end of 2002, and he is making me look very good right now. He just had his first career win in Washington, a tournament I always wanted to win but never could. He just had his first win over Andre Agassi. He's a player that has a dangerous combination of talent and confidence on his favorite surface, which is hard courts. Unfortunately for him, he might be meeting Lleyton Hewitt in the third round. But Blake will be one of the players to watch this year and many years to come.

Roger Federer

Mal's Analysis

Federer has been a huge disappointment this year. After winning in Hamburg, I predicted that he'd do very well at the French Open and he bombed out in the first round and did the same at Wimbledon. This guy has so much talent, but it seems in the past six months that he doesn't know what to do with it all. And no matter what his results, I'm always going to pick him as a potential winner in any tournament because I have that much respect for his game and what he can do with a tennis ball. But talent doesn't win you major championships. It's talent combined with good fortune and a lot of hard work and desire. I'm not sure which one, but he's lacking one of those.

Andre Agassi

Mal's Analysis

Agassi is in the twilight of his career and is, amazingly, the sixth seed of the U.S. Open. He still has the ability to win a major, but he'll need some help to do it. In 1994, he won the U.S. Open as an unseeded player, beating five seeded players. I don't know if he has the ability to do that now. In 1994, he was just flat-out better than anyone. Today he has the ability to be better than anyone on a given day but over the course of two weeks and seven matches, someone will usually have his number. If the seedings hold true. That someone could be Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals.

Tim Henman

Mal's Analysis

I have too much respect for Henman not to pick him as a major threat. But time and time again, he disappoints me. I thought it was his year at the Australian Open. I thought it might have been his year at Wimbledon. Now, if he plays his best tennis, he cruises all the way through to the round of 16 where he would potentially meet Andy Roddick. No disrespect to Alex Corretja and Juan Ignacio Chela, but if Henman plays his game he makes it to the round of 16 hands down. But for Henman at the U.S. Open that is a big if.

Andy Roddick

Mal's Analysis

Roddick is having the best year of his career, and he continues to improve every single month. One quality that he has is the ability to survive in big situations like the U.S. Open. We saw it last year in him reaching the quarterfinals. I think of players like Jimmy Connors and Agassi as players who thrive under the limelight in their home country at the U.S. Open. Do I think Roddick's going to win? Maybe not. But I didn't think Pete Sampras was going to win in 1990 and I certainly didn't think Agassi was going to win Wimbledon in 1992, and I didn't think Jim Courier would win the French Open in 1991. So Roddick comes in as the 11th seed and the draw is setting up perfectly for him. If there's going to be a surprise winner at the U.S. Open this year, it will be Roddick.

Pete Sampras

Mal's Analysis

Grab the oxygen mask, grab your flotation device, Sampras is doing everything he can just to survive right now. The truth is his game hasn't necessarily declined that much. But he's not quite as good as he used to be and players know that. Players walk onto the court knowing this is an opportunity to beat the great Pete Sampras. Sampras is coming into this year's Open as the defending runner-up and probably has less confidence right now in his game than he ever has had in his professional career. That is not a good position to be in, because the expectations are on his shoulders, which he has been able to live up to in the past. I would be surprised if Sampras reached the second week.

Tommy Haas

Mal's Analysis

One day, Haas could win a major, but it won't be this year's U.S. Open. Every time I think he's on the verge of breatking through he either runs out of gas like he did at this year's Australian Open or is confronted with an injury like he is right now with his shoulder. You can't go into a major championship with the best players in the world with a major injury that hampers one of your biggest weapons -- his serve. We saw an example of that last week in Indianapolis.

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Mal's Analysis

Ferrero probably should have won the French Open this year, and he could be the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open. Because, ironically, as good as he is on clay, his game is suited very well for hard-court tennis. As he progresses with his game, he's going to be a threat at every major including this year's Open.

Marat Safin

Mal's Analysis

Safin is a guy who continues to baffle. I had so much respect for his game a year ago, and yet he continues to take for granted his ability to hit a tennis ball. If he would actually take his career seriously, he would have two or maybe three major championships to his name. Talent isn't his problem. But his ability to focus on one thing and one thing only and that's tennis. Him winning the U.S. Open in 2000 told the world that he was a great talent and we all believed it, but the problem is he believed it and thought it would come easy. At some point he'll look back and regret lost time. Just hope that he doesn't look back when he's 30 years old because then it's too late. He has the ability to win one or two majors per year for the next few years. But it will never happen unless he's willing to commit to tennis 100 percent of the time. If he doesn't do that, he might never win another major.