Nadal, Federer, Djokovic remain ones to beat at US Open

While a host of young rivals hope to disrupt the dominance of the "Big Three" in men's tennis, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer remain the US Open favorites.

The year's final Grand Slam showdown starts Monday on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts with top-ranked Djokovic, 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer and Spanish superstar Nadal having combined to win the past 11 Grand Slam titles.

Federer, 38, doesn't see a problem with the dominance by the sport's elder statesmen, who together own 54 of the past 65 Slam titles.

"I don't think it's a problem, per se," Federer said.

"Now that Novak, Rafa and me are healthy again, Andy (Murray) also slowly coming back again, has made it much harder for young guys to come through.

"They are definitely knocking on the door big-time now. I think that's very encouraging for those who want to see somebody else win. I think also Novak's domination, Rafa's domination is also not normal for the game of tennis.

"I think there's going to be chances moving forward, but it's not surprising with the type of tennis they've been playing in recent years."
"It will be a surprise if anybody else won."
"These are the tournaments you want to win the most. This is where you want to shine."
Now remain a couple of days to just push a little bit more and try to start the tournament in a good way."
"I have plenty of work before that to know if I have an advantage or not."
- Medvedev, Thiem surging -
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"When I play my best tennis I can beat basically everybody and that's what I need to keep doing here."
"He has everything to win important events. He already is winning important events. He's a very, very hard worker. Just a question of time that he achieve all his goals."
"Obviously the 'Big Three' we don't need to talk about. Of course, Novak is the big favorite, no question about it, but there are other guys that have been playing great tennis. I think those guys will be able to do some damage."