What to expect this fall from the stars of the U.S. Open

The Grand Slam season is over, but there is plenty left on the ATP schedule for the remainder of the 2015 campaign, including the Davis Cup semis and finals, two Masters 1000 events and the World Tour Finals.

Here’s a look at what to expect this fall from some of the men who excelled at the U.S. Open:

Novak Djokovic. Fresh off his third Grand Slam title of the year, Djokovic is now storming into one of his favorite parts of the calendar. After being upset by Kei Nishikori in the 2014 U.S. Open finals, the Serb ended the season winning 17 of his last 18 matches–losing only to Roger Federer in the Shanghai semifinals. Djokovic triumphed in Beijing and Paris without surrendering a single set before winning the World Tour Finals. And it’s not like the three-time defending London champion has the pressure of defending so many points–he has already locked up the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Roger Federer. The world No. 2 is in scintillating form–at least against everyone other than Djokovic. He has not lost to anyone else since succumbing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open quarterfinals. He has not dropped a set to anyone except Djokovic since Sam Groth snagged one in the Wimbledon third round. With the Asian swing and indoor season looming, there is no reason to think Federer will slow down anytime soon. The 17-time major champion won Shanghai and Basel last fall before going undefeated at the World Tour Finals (he withdrew due to injury prior the final against Djokovic).

Marin Cilic. Cilic may not make a second consecutive appearance in London, but his fall swing this time around will undoubtedly be better than it was in 2014. Last year, of course, the Croat was coming off his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. A shoulder injury combined with the emotional toll of such a career-changing moment derailed the rest of his season. Cilic won a 250-point event in Moscow, but aside from that he compiled an awful 2-5 record on hard courts after leaving New York. An in-form world No. 14–fresh off a semifinal in Flushing Meadows–should do well in Shanghai and Paris, but it won’t be enough to get him back to the year-end championship.

Stan Wawrinka. Wawrinka did well to bounce back from the incident involving Nick Kyrgios in Montreal by reaching the Cincinnati quarterfinals and the U.S. Open semis. But he achieved both of results without playing anything close to his best tennis–nothing like what was on display en route to his improbable French Open title. The fourth-ranked Swiss has already secured a spot in London, but he may not go in there with much momentum. Unless Wawrinka suddenly finds the gear he had this spring, some relative struggles may be endured over the next two months.

Kevin Anderson. Anderson picked up the biggest win of his career by upsetting Andy Murray 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0) in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Thus he reached a slam quarterfinal for the first time ever and he was clearly not ready for it, getting blown out by Wawrinka. Still, the South African has a ton of momentum going into the fall. He is 9-1 in his last 10 matches, having triumphed in Winston-Salem prior to his arrival in New York. Anderson has an outside chance at the World Tour Finals and a much more realistic opportunity to be the first alternate. With a style that is tailor-made for fast hard courts, Anderson should finish in the top 10 and make a trip to London in case anyone in the top eight withdraws.

Feliciano Lopez. At 33 years old (he turns 34 this week), Lopez is playing some of the best and most consistent tennis of his career. With quarterfinal performances in Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open, the Spaniard has positioned himself well for arguably his favorite time of year: the fall season. Shanghai has to be considered Lopez’s best tournament, as he boasts three semifinals there in the last six years. With no significant point totals defend outside of Shanghai. the world No. 16 is within striking distance of finishing 2015 at or ahead of his current career-high ranking of 12th in the world.

Fabio Fognini. Fognini had a grand total of zero hard-court victories in 2015 heading into the U.S. Open. Even after getting two under his belt, a third looked out the question when he trailed Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4, 3-1. But Fognini stormed back to somehow prevail in five, thus beating Nadal for the third time in 2015. The Italian has to be in a good mood days thanks to his own showing in New York and the surprise major title won by fiancee Flavia Pennetta. Of course, all of this may make him even more disinterested in the upcoming fall swing than he otherwise would be. Fognini compiled a horrific 1-7 record after last year’s U.S. Open.

Benoit Paire. Speaking of surprise first weeks at the season’s final Grand Slam, Paire pulled off the biggest upset of the opening round. The mercurial Frenchman saved two match points in the fourth set on the way to beating Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. He proceeded to make routine work of Marsel Ilhan and Tommy Robredo before bowing out to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round four. Paire is up to 33rd in the world, which means his focus now needs to be on seeding for the Australian Open–and for all the majors in 2016. With nothing left except tournaments on hard courts, including several at home in France, Paire should finish this year well inside the top 30.

Donald Young. Aside from Fognini’s shocker against Nadal, nobody had a more improbable run during the first week of the U.S. Open than Young. Having never previously come back from two sets to love down, the American did just that against both Gilles Simon and Viktor Troicki. He even trailed Simon 3-0 in the third set of their first-round battle before staging a downright miracle charge. With the exception of New York and a couple of other stops, Young generally plays better and better the farther and farther away he gets from his hometown of Atlanta. The world No. 51 performs by far his best on hard courts and one of his two career ATP finals came in Bangkok four years ago (lost to Murray).

Jeremy Chardy. Prior to the Montreal Masters, Chardy was a disappointing 14-18 for the season. Out of just about nowhere, the Frenchman is red hot and up to within one spot of his career-high ranking at 26th in the world. He made a miraculous run to the Montreal semifinals and pocketed three wins in New York. With a game that can be especially dangerous on quick hard courts (especially indoors), Chardy fared well last fall. Results to end his 2014 campaign included a quarterfinal in Tokyo, a semifinal in Valencia, and a 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 loss to Federer in the Paris second round.

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