US Open: Come Monday, It’s Ready, Play!

US Open
US Open (photo: Michael Dickens)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, August 27, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

As another US Open, the last of the year’s four Grand Slam events, begins Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, there are plenty of wonderful storylines that await tennis fans who have converged on Flushing Meadows for the late-summer fortnight (from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10). One of them is: Can Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Iga Swiatek of Poland successfully defend their singles titles?

The women’s final will be held on Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. Eastern (10 p.m. Central European), while the men’s final is scheduled for Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. Eastern (10 p.m. Central European). A lot can happen between Opening Day and Championship Weekend.

While Alcaraz, 20, and Novak Djokovic, 36, a three-time US Open titlist, are a class unto themselves among the 128-player draw – and the biggest rivalry in the men’s game – can they navigate their respective draws to thrill fans with another Grand Slam rematch like this year’s Wimbledon, which the Spaniard won in five sets? That’s a question on everyone’s minds. It won’t come easy. After all, reach the second week and Alcaraz could have a US Open rematch with Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals, which would generate plenty of buzz, following their match-of-the-tournament a year ago that lasted five sets and stretched well into the wee hours of the night. Plus, Alcaraz’s section of the draw also includes 2021 US Open champ Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Alexander Zverev of Germany.

As for Djokovic, he hasn’t played at the US Open since losing the 2021 final to Medvedev. The Serbian was absent last year because of his decision to remain unvaccinated for COVID-19. Now, with the U.S. government having rescinded its travel ban on unvaccinated foreigners, Djokovic is back – and with no points to defend. If he can beat 85th-ranked Frenchman Alexandre Muller in his opener, he will return to the No. 1 ranking at the conclusion of the tournament.

Meanwhile, after sweeping the North American hard-court titles between them in what has been a very fulfilling month, are Americans Coco Gauff (Washington and Cincinnati) and Jessica Pegula (Montreal) ready to mount a serious threat against Swiatek at their home country Slam? Perhaps. Stay tuned.

Gauff has won 11 of her last 12 matches to go with her two titles and will be featured on Opening Night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sloane Stephens (2017) is the last American to win the US Open and seven of the last eight have been won by non-Americans. However, World No. 6 Gauff reached the semifinals of the year’s first two Grand Slams and was a U.S. Open finalist in 2021, while World No. 3 Pegula has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam singles event. All eyes will be on Gauff and Pegula to see if either can make a deep run.

Great match-ups from Day One forward

The first round of majors always brings out great match-ups. Take for instance, Greek star and World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who will face former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic of Canada. Raonic is finally healthy again despite the many injuries that have sidelined him the past couple of seasons. They will be featured Opening Night on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Then, there’s always former US Open champion Dominic Thiem of Austria, now ranked 82nd, who is still trying to recapture his old mojo that made him a Top 5 star. He will face the always entertaining and sometimes unpredictable No. 27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the opening match on the Grandstand.

Finally, 43-year-old wild card Venus Williams of the United States, winner of seven majors – including two US Open trophies – still has plenty of box office appeal despite now being a part-time player. She is ranked No. 407 and hasn’t made it past the third round of a major since reaching the US Open semifinals in 2017. But it is still a thrill to watch her play. She was drawn to face former World No. 2 Paula Badosa before the Spaniard pulled out Saturday citing a lower back injury that has curtailed her 2023 season. Instead, Williams will face 98th-ranked qualifier Greet Minnen of Belgium.

Worth noting is the impending retirement of 38-year-old John Isner, the towering – 6-foot-11-inch – American with the powerful first serve, whose 17-year career includes more than 14,000 service aces. In what could be his final pro match, the 158h-ranked Inser opens with No. 93 Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta.

Also, there’s the return of former women’s No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who will play in her first Grand Slam since the 2020 Australian Open. Two months ago, she announced her return to pro tennis after leaving the sport to start a family. The 33-year-old from Denmark received a wild card into the tournament and will be featured Opening Night on Louis Armstrong Stadium. She has twice reached the US Open final, most recently in 2014. Earlier this month, Wozniacki returned to the WTA Tour and won her first match over Kimberly Birrell of Australia before losing to Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

On Friday, many of the principal competitors met the international media, when they weren’t out hitting the practice courts, signing autographs or posing for selfies with fans. Here’s a sampling of what some of the key players said during US Open Media Day:

– Men’s World No. 1 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz on what has changed for him since winning last year’s US Open: “Well, my life has changed a lot, a lot. Probably is a different life, talking about the way that I’m more, let’s say, famous. A lot of people is starting to know my name after US Open last year, but I feel like I’m more mature and I’m better.

“The personal life didn’t change at all. I’m the same guy, normal guy. Obviously, I feel that I’m more mature on court. I feel that I’m a better player than I was a year ago. Even I got my first Grand Slam last year, but I feel like I’m more mature and I’m better.”

– Women’s World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek on the key to defending her title: “I try to take everything step by step, not really go forward with my thoughts, think that I need to do something more because last year I won.

“Remembering this is a totally different chapter always helps. I also want to kind of just take a lesson from last year. I learned a lot during the US Open. This was probably the most important tournament in terms of me believing in myself and progressing on hard courts.”

– Men’s World No. 2 Novak Djokovic on the inner-pressure of chasing after career major No. 24: “I get nervous like anyone else. People think I don’t have any stress or tension. Actually, to the contrary, I have quite a bit of that. I have to deal with it, manage it. Everyone has their own way of managing the emotions and trying to be in optimal balance emotionally, mentally, physically in order to perform their best. …

“At 36, I still have the drive. I love the competition. I think the more you find yourself in those particular circumstances, where you’re experiencing adversity on the court, where things are not maybe moving the right way for you in terms of the performance of that day, in terms of tennis, or mentally you’re not feeling your best, that’s normally the best possible opportunity to grow mentally from that, to learn something. Normally, in the face of adversity, is where you learn the most.”

– Women’s World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka on if she views non-Slam tournaments any differently now that she’s won a major: “I changed my approach to these tournaments. Of course, I want to,win all of them, like we all do. But yeah, now I’m looking to those tournaments more like a preparation for the Grand Slams. I think it’s changed a little bit after [winning] the Australian Open. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I hope it’s good. But it is what it is.”

– Men’s 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev on his mind set for this year’s event: “I love the US Open. I feel excited to play. I feel excited for next week. I feel excited to come out on court and see how the crowd is going to be this year. Feeling pretty well physically, mentally. I want to try to play better than I did the last couple of weeks and let’s see how it’s going to go.”

– American No. 1 Jessica Pegula on her confidence and whether winning a U.S. Open tune-up (Montreal) changes her preparation and focus: “I don’t feel any more confident than other times, to be honest. Again, tennis is so week to week. I won Montreal, then I got bageled and lost in Cincinnati. You’re kind of like back to square one, here we go again, what did I do wrong, what do I need to fix, what do I need to work on?

“I don’t necessarily feel the most confident. Not least confident, but I just feel kind of typical, like I usually do. I go into it looking at it as a new week, new challenges, new things to try to improve on, new ways to try to problem solve. That’s how it’s always been for me.”

Monday’s order of play

By the numbers

– Novak Djokovic will be playing for his third Grand Slam singles title of the season and Carlos Alcaraz, who at age 19 a year ago became the youngest US Open champ since Pete Sampras in 1990, his second as he defends his 2022 US Open crown. Alcaraz is looking to become the first repeat men’s singles winner at the US Open since Roger Federer won the last of his five straight (2004-08).

– Iga Swiatek has won three of the last six majors, including this year’s French Open. She and Coco Gauff have landed in the same quarter of the draws in all four majors in 2023.

There are five seeded American men in the main draw – most since 2004.

The men’s and women’s singles champions each will receive $3 million from an overall prize pool of $44.7 million. Each runner-up will get $1.5 million. The winning men’s and women’s doubles teams each will receive $700,000 and the second-place teams each will receive $350,000.

“Quotable …”

“Everyone’s excited to come out and watch me play. Everyone wants to see me do well. Obviously, there’s a level of expectation. But ultimately, I’m just ready to have a good run and play tennis at a high level. This is one of the places where I can actually enjoy playing generally. It’s just fun. It’s super fun out here. Atmosphere is crazy. It will bring a good spark in me, that’s for sure.”

– Men’s World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, on how he feels coming into this year’s US Open as a Top 10 player.

 

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