ABSENT NOVAK LOOMS LARGE IN NEW YORK

THERE has been much excitement over the composition of the men’s quarter-finals at the US Open, with all eight competitors yet to win a Grand Slam. Frances Tiafoe (right), one of the newcomers, is predicting the end of an era and the emergence of a more open competition, a big 12, not a big three. One problem. Had Novak Djokovic been allowed into America he may have swept the floor with them all, as he did at Wimbledon. The

greatest player in the world right now is often absent or undercooked at majors. So while this is a very healthy evolution in men’s tennis, it is still not quite what it seems.