By Dave Worsley
OPINION: It's a bold statement, but a very likely possibility that there will be a new men's Grand Slam champion crowned at the US Open this year.
Two players stand out ahead of the rest at the moment to win the men's title - and it's probably not who you think.
Six out of the top 11 are out with injuries, including the winner and finalist from last year - Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic - leaving some massive gaps in the 128-person draw.
So who to look for?
Try seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov, the Bulgarian in the top half of the draw, and fourth seed Alexander Zverev, in the bottom half of the draw. Both are in promising form.
The bottom half of the draw has been decimated by Andy Murray withdrawing. In fact, the four highest-ranked players in the bottom quarter of the men's draw have combined to win three matches since Wimbledon - and one of them is former US Open champ Marin Cilic, who is struggling with injury.
Zverev stands out like a sore thumb in the bottom section of the draw with perhaps his older brother, Mischa, a rival and Sam Querrey, Kevin Anderson, Jack Sock and John Isner the only players who could challenge him for a semi-final place.
Top seed and world No.1 Rafael Nadal, and third seed and 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer are two players who haven't yet got a mention - and if all things went to plan, they would face each other in the semis.
But Nadal is a bit up-and-down with his form, and isn't looking 100 percent comfortable - plus he was beaten recently by Nick Kyrgios when all of his weapons let him down.
Federer still has a back concern and although he admitted it's "much better", it's still almost certainly not in top condition. Whispers are that it's worse than he's letting on.
One more fact is that if Nadal and Federer do meet in the semis - and that's a big if - they would have knocked the stuffing out of each other, so whoever the winner faces would have a major upper hand.
This leaves 20-year-old Zverev, an incredibly talented player from Germany who just won the Masters' tournament in Montreal, with his fifth title of the year.
He is the best seed, is fit and in form, and has the bottom half of the draw to himself.
The man in the top half with form is Dimitrov, the winner at the Cincinnati Masters two weeks ago and a semi-finalist at the Australian Open this year.
So this time round, it's looking as thought it could be in with the new guys - and out with the old.
Dave Worsley is a Newhub Sports contributor