So as qualification gets underway at Flushing Meadows, what are the chances of the British players of making the main draw?   In the following article I will give my thoughts on their first round draw and what I think their overall chances of being there when the main tournament starts.  At the time of writing non of the British players have hit the courts.

The only lady in the qualifying draw is Naomi Broady (there are 2 other ladies who will be in the main draw, but that is for another time).  Broady has a tough first round match against Tornado Black who won the junior title in 2013 and has two titles on the ITF tour, however, I feel Broady has the experience to win this.  I'm going to go with Naomi for the win in 3 sets, she plays later today.  I believe Naomi can make it to the main draw and join Heather Watson and Johanna Konta.

Over on the male side we have 4 men in qualifying.  Dan Cox, Daniel Smethurst, Dan Evans and James Ward.  Let me look at each of these in turn.  Starting with the match that again is playing today - that is Dan Cox.  He has drawn 3rd seed Filip Krajinovic.  This will be a tough match for Cox and I think Krajinovic will be too strong for the brit.  I think Cox will lose in 2 and therefore not make the main draw.

Next we have Daniel Smethurst who has drawn Konstantin KravchukSmethurt has been playing well lately, though this is definitely a hard match for Smethurst.  I am not sure how this one will go, but I believe if he plays very well he can beat Kravchuk.  It depends on the form of Smethurst really, so although I hope he can win this one I am going with a 3 set match with the brit just losing out in very tight sets.

Dan Evans is attempting to repeat last year and make the main draw (and beyond).  Evan's form this year has been very up and down, so this will be tricky to call.  He has drawn Jimmy Wang the 16th seed.  Depending on which Evans comes out for the match depends on how I believe it will go.  If the on form Evans comes out and plays as we know he can then he beat Wang in 3 sets.

Lastly, James Ward.  Seeded 15th in the qualification rounds, he has drawn Aldin Setkic.  This is a match I believe James can win given his current form, where he has been playing really well, reached finals and semi finals on the Challenger tour and last week took out 3 seeded players in his run in Cincinnati, which saw him reach a new career high ranking of 131.  I fully expect Ward to win this in 2 and also be in the main draw.

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