Novak Djokovic will be looking to follow up on his maiden Olympic gold with a fifth US Open title that could take him to a record 25 Grand Slam wins. Jannik Sinner, who will be the top seed and among the favourites for the title, will, on the other hand, arrive with the shadow of two positive doping tests hovering over him. Five-time Major winner and world number one Iga Swiatek will meanwhile looking to win the US Open for the second time with defending champion Coco Gauff going through a dip in form.
Djokovic could go past Margaret Court’s record for most Grand Slam titles of all time. Djokovic currently has 24 titles to his name which is tied with Court for most Major titles ever, both before the Open era and since. It could also make him the oldest Open era champion at the tournament along with Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.
Djokovic would be desperate to win at Arthur Ashe Stadium, having been denied a Grand Slam title this year thus far. Sinner beat him in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and went on to win the title itself. Carlos Alcaraz then won the French Open, where Djokovic was forced to pull out before the quarterfinals after which the Spaniard thrashed the Serb in the Wimbledon final.
Sinner arrives at the final Slam of the season having captured the Cincinnati Masters title. However, that triumph was quickly overshadowed when it emerged he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for a banned substance earlier in the season. Sinner tested positive for clostebol, an anabolic agent prohibited at all times by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). But he escaped a lengthy ban after officials accepted his explanation that the substance had entered his system as a result of contamination from a support team member.
Alcaraz may have beaten Djokovic in the Wimbledon final but he suffered a bruising defeat in the Olympic gold medal match against the 37-year-old. He broke down in tears on court before admitting he felt he had “let Spain down”. His build-up to New York wasn’t helped by a second round exit in Cincinnati to Gael Monfils in a match which saw the usually composed Alcaraz smash his racquet on court.
All eyes will be on whether Gauff can get her act together in women’s singles. A stormy exit from the Olympics in the third round was followed by early losses in Toronto and Cincinnati. No woman has successfully defended her US Open title since Serena Williams in 2014. Five-time major winner and world number one Iga Swiatek, the 2022 champion in New York, made the Cincinnati semi-finals where she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, was runner-up to Gauff at the US Open last year, losing from a set up in the final.
The US Open 2024 singles and the doubles draw will take place on Thursday, 22 August, in Paris.
The US Open 2024 singles and the doubles draw will happen at 5:30 PM IST.
The US Open 2024 draw will not be aired in India.
The French Open 2024 draw will not be aired and live streamed in India. However, you can catch the analysis of the draw here at hindustantimes.com. Matches of the US Open will be aired live on Sony Ten Network from the main draw onwards. They will also be streamed online on the Sony Liv app and website in India.
1 Jannik Sinner (Italy)
2 Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3 Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
4 Alexander Zverev (Germany)
5 Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
6 Andrey Rublev (Russia)
1 Iga Swiatek (Poland)
2 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
3 Coco Gauff (United States)
4 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
5 Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
6 Jessica Pegula (United States)
7 Zheng Qinwen (China)
8 Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic)
9 Maria Sakkari (Greece)
10 Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)
WHERE TO WATCH THE U.S. OPEN ON TV
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