US Open Tennis 2015: Predicting Final Results for Monday's Bracket

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

As summer prepares to roll into fall, the tennis world has its eyes trained on New York for the annual U.S. Open, the final chapter in the Grand Slam season.  

But while every year is important, the 2015 version of the tournament carries some of the biggest storylines in the history of the sport, with most eyes likely focused on Serena Williams' quest for greatness.

Even with Williams dominating the headlines, though, the men’s singles draw offers plenty of intrigue as well, with a former world No. 1 in Rafael Nadal attempting to recapture his form while Novak Djokovic attempts to make it double-digit Grand Slam titles.

With play kicking off Monday, let’s take a look at the bracket for the first day and predict who will get through their first-round matchups.

Predictions for Top Stars

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Serena Williams begins tournament in style

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

With all due respect to the other participants in this year’s U.S. Open, one story matters the most in this year's iteration of the tournament: the crowning of Serena Williams as the greatest of all time.

Far from a foregone conclusion, Williams’ quest for the calendar Grand Slam would not only make her the first women’s singles player to win all four titles in a calendar year since Steffi Graf did so in 1988, but it would also tie her with Graf for the Open era record with 22 career Grand Slam victories.

Her first-round opponent, Vitalia Diatchenko, shouldn’t provide much of a roadblock for Williams, who has won the U.S. Open in each of the last three years and hasn’t missed a final since 2010.

Expect Williams to overpower the Russian on her way to an easy first-round victory as her march toward history continues.

Novak Djokovic dominates in opening round

John Minchillo/Associated Press

While the world No. 1 in women’s singles has been dominant all year to this point, her male counterpart hasn’t had the same level of success, though he has still had an excellent year.

After surprisingly falling to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final, Djokovic returned to the All England Club at Wimbledon and took down Roger Federer with relative ease in the final. Now he looks to capitalize in the U.S. Open, which would be his third Grand Slam title this year.

For all the success he has had over the past few years, though, Djokovic has struggled at the U.S. Open, winning only one title in 2011 and falling in the semifinals last year to Kei Nishikori. But these aren’t the semifinals yet, and the competition shouldn’t be too tough for the world’s top player for at least another few rounds.

The first match for Djokovic is against Brazilian Joao Souza. Don’t expect this match to get past three sets, with Djokovic hoping to claim his 10th Grand Slam title and second U.S. Open title.

Rafael Nadal wins, but questions linger

John Minchillo/Associated Press

It has been tough to watch Nadal this season for those of us who were tennis fans during his heyday. One of the greatest to ever play the game, he has been a shell of his former self all year, falling in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and French Open before a shocking second-round defeat at Wimbledon in July.

The U.S. Open could provide a platform for the oft-injured superstar to climb his way back toward the top of the sport, but there are too many questions surrounding his game to have full confidence in a return to form.

His first-round opponent, Borna Coric, is 1-0 in his career against Nadal and could put a scare into the former champion.

In the end, Nadal has looked better in recent weeks after the disappointment in England and should take down Coric easily in spite of everything, but if the cracks start to show early again, expect a lot of questions to surround the Spaniard moving forward in the tournament.