Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Other Protagonists on the Hardcourts

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

After an eventful early summer on the clay and grass courts of Europe, soon the world's top players will return to North America for the hardcourt swing of the tennis tour.

What can we expect from the coming months? If current news stories are anything to go by, there will be a few riveting story lines to keep tennis fans engaged. 

The main protagonists, of course, will be Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer is currently on paternity leave in Switzerland, awaiting the birth of his first child with wife Mirka. No one is sure of the exact date of the new arrival, but it's certain that tennis will be off-limits for the new dad for several more weeks to come.  

It's expected that Montreal, the first Masters 1000 event of the US Open Series, will be lacking the current World No.1 as he practices diaper-changing and readjusts to playing tennis with a new level of tiredness and new title—Dad.  

Hopes are high for a re-appearance in the following 1000 event in Cincinnati; although if the baby arrives late, this too may be off the table. How much practice or match preparation Federer receives is up in the air, widening the prospects for the US Open at the end of August. 

Nevertheless, Federer no longer has a suffocating sense of pressure or extreme expectation on his shoulders after his record-shattering 15th Grand Slam title victory at Wimbledon this July—it's unlikely that he will be heavily impacted by any negative US Open Series results.  

Instinctive playing at Flushing Meadows could bring out a new form of the old Federer...watch out opponents?  

Rafael Nadal has recently stated his intentions to return to competition from extensive rest in Montreal. He has much to prove.  

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