The US Open Is a Crazy Chicken Burger (US Open Men’s Preview)

by Deghasio

What to eat while watching: A delicious chicken burger.

Why it’s delicious: This US Open could prove to be the craziest grand slam since the 2013 Wimble-geddon. The top quarter of the draw promises to have great matches early in the draw: Tsonga and Murray are set to play in the fourth round, as are Djokovic and Isner, and the winner of those two matches gets to duke it out in the next round. The much-maligned third quarter may not have star names in it, but Lleyton Hewitt and David Ferrer always (well—almost always) play hard. The quarter also has a platoon of big hitters in Tomas Berdych, Ernests Gulbis, Marin Cilic, Marcos Baghdatis, Jerzy Janowicz, Kevin Anderson, and Bernard Tomic, who on any given day could make a run to the semis, and on most of the other, non-given days will not make a run to the semis. I have no idea who will make it out of that quarter, but I’m excited to watch them crash-and-burn as they try to fly. Milos Raonic, top-five seed and winner of the US Open Series, has playing the best tennis of his life—or my life—since reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, and is potentially poised to make a leap.

Why it’s chicken: I love tennis. I love burgers. (Discussion for another day: Is a burger a sandwich?) I love tennis so much that when my two favorite players pull out with wrist injuries, I will still watch the US Open. I love burgers so much that when people freak out about Mad Cow, I will still eat chicken burgers. Is a great chicken burger delicious and worth eating? Yes. Do I secretly wish I were eating a beef burger? Yes. I know ALS is bad, but save the ice for the wrist, Rafa. You’re only the defending champ who last lost before the semis when Obama Guitar Hero was the coolest game on shelves.

Why it’s a burger: No matter how much bacon, fancy mayonnaise, coleslaw, olives, and melted cheese you add to a burger, it’s essentially just a burger. At the end of the day—and by day, I mean tournament—the 2014 US Open is essentially about Djokovic and Federer (the favorite?). We can talk about injuries and Canadians all we want, but the bottom line is that two members of the big three are still overwhelming favorites to make the finals. And if they produce a match anything like their classic Wimbledon final, I’ll sit back and shut up about beef burgers.