In her latest Sky Sports column, Laura Robson discusses new names in the men’s draw, Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka for the women’s title? And why Emma Raducanu must take positives from her run to the third round…

Each Grand Slam has its own personality and the US Open is hectic, in the best way! Everyone works long hours, I get to see as much tennis as possible and work on more matches, but it does affect the sleep. I think I’m averaging five a night, but it’s so worth it. And the atmosphere and the energy being around the grounds just carries you through, along with plenty of coffees.

I know if I had an early finish I would get back to the hotel and watch it on TV anyway, so I figure I may as well just be here in person and soak it up!

But it’s good in a way because it just allows me to catch as much tennis as possible. I know when I would get back to the hotel that I would put it on and watch it on TV, so I figured I might as well just be here in person and soak it up.

Second week nerves?

I think the first week’s been really fun. There have been lots of new names, especially on the men’s side with so many seeds going out early on. Normally the women’s draw is talked about as more unpredictable but it seems to be the reverse this time. I think we always pinpoint Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as the two main contenders, but outside of that everyone else is having some tricky moments.

Even Novak Djokovic hasn’t been entirely happy with his level in the first few rounds.

Jan-Lennard Struff is having the tournament of his life, coming through qualifying and taking out Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune! He has to be one of the biggest winners of the week.

We haven’t yet seen the best of Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka either, which makes it interesting to see how the draw unfolds. As soon as these top players get themselves into the second week, they seem to find another gear and play their best tennis when everyone else starts to feel the nerves.

‘Raducanu will take positives from last few weeks’

Raducanu was up against a very in-form Elena Rybakina. You can come away from that match feeling upbeat about what Emma can improve on to challenge the cleanest hitters. And Rybakina was seeing the ball like a basketball, hitting everything in the sweet spot. For sure, a tough opponent to come up against but exciting to know that she’s got the next few months to get better, to keep working. And that’s what she’s doing on the practice court.

Being able to stay healthy and therefore play every week makes a huge difference. To yourself the best chance of being seeded at Grand Slams, to know you won’t play another seed till the third round.

I think it’s only positives to take from the last few weeks for Raducanu. And looking ahead to a time of the season where a lot of other players are tired and there’s a lot of points still on the line. If you’re mentally fresh and feeling like you can take it on, then it’s a great opportunity.

For Jack Draper, you never fully know how a lingering injury is going to react until you’re in that match situation and you play with the match intensity that a best-of-five requires.

You can hit 200 serves and forehands in practice and it just won’t feel the same as trying to hit a first serve at full pace at a tense scoreline. It’s such a shame for him, considering how well he did here last year as well. These courts suit his game incredibly well but the most important thing is that it doesn’t linger, that it doesn’t become more of an issue. And hopefully he’s caught it at the right time.

Well, for the men’s, before the tournament, I predicted Sinner to win. For the women’s, I went for Iga. Not really pushing the boat out but I’m sticking with them!

Laura Robson was speaking to Sky Sports’ Raz Mirza at Flushing Meadows, New York. Watch the US Open, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.