New stars on the tennis horizon

The fast hard courts at Flushing Meadows, NYC have produced some scintillating tennis matches that brought into spotlight upcoming stars and some veteran journeymen.

Marin Cilic from Croatia is one youngster to watch out for. What was evident was a very mature head on top of a still growing body. The explosive power of his serves and forehand were a treat for tennis lovers. He is arguably even better than his fellow countryman Mario Ancic  and provided a stern test for Djokovic before bowing out in 4 sets in 4 hours. If he puts in a little work on his net game, he should be a top 10 player very soon.

Sam Querrey is another very tall and very strong player with a great serve, a powerful forehand and a good net game. He gave Nadal a run for his money and should take away several positives from his 4 set defeat.

Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina won 4 tournaments in a row prior to the US Open and is another one from the young brigade who is very tall and very focused. He lost a tight 4 setter to Andy Murray but the match could have gone either way.

Andy Murray has put in a lot of hard work to improve his fitness and is already a star with two wins over Djokovic this year in the hard court series. His never-say-die attitude helped him to get through some remarkably close matches - particularly the 5 setter against the Austrian, Juergen Melzer.

Among the tour veterans, Mardy Fish had a great run with some excellent wins. His win over Blake and the complete outclassing of Gael Monfils speak volumes about his physical and mental skills. Nadal was just too good for him.

But my vote for the player of the tournament goes to south paw Gil Mueller of Luxembourg. This middle-of-the-road tour regular played some amazing serve-and-volley tennis that reminded me of Greg Rusedski in prime form. His win over Almagro of Spain (another star in the making) showcased some of the best clutch volleys at this Open. It is such a refreshing change to see some one playing an all-court game with great success.

The disappointment of the US Open was Jo Wilfried Tsonga, the Frenchman who had given such a hiding to Nadal at the Australian Open with his serve-and-volley skills before bowing to Djokovic in the final. He may not have fully recovered from his injuries yet and seemed short of match practice.

Amongst the oldies, Leander Paes of India displayed his fitness and strategy by reaching the finals of the Mixed doubles and the Men's doubles. Not bad for some one on the wrong side of 35.