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US Open preview: Can Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic defend their titles? Will Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek rebound from Olympics?

US Open preview: Can Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic defend their titles? Will Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek rebound from Olympics?


Coco Gauff will return to the US Open for the primary time as a defending champion. (AP Photograph/Pamela Smith)

It is time once more for the US Open, the ultimate Grand Slam of the tennis yr. The 2023 singles winners, Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, are each returning at full power to defend their titles. Will Djokovic smash by means of the competitors once more to win his mind-bending twenty fifth main? Will Coco Gauff be capable to fend off a feisty girls’s discipline? Learn on for a preview of the 2024 US Open.

Rafael Nadal is not in a position to give 100%: Spain’s biggest tennis star pulled out of the US Open in early August, saying solely that he would not be capable to give the event his all. He hasn’t made any choices on retirement but, however that is the inevitable vacation spot as Nadal travels these final steps on his skilled tennis journey.

Andy Murray has retired: The beloved participant, who by no means gave up regardless of damage after damage, retired after a fabulous run on the Paris Olympics with doubles associate Jack Draper. That is the primary main event with out him, and it is frankly fairly bizarre. His presence was all the time a logo that there have been tennis stars exterior the Large Three, and he turned unimaginable to root towards within the second half of his profession when he struggled mightily with accidents. We miss you, Andy.

Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz: These two have began constructing a really entertaining rivalry. They’ve confronted off in a number of finals over the previous few years, most just lately in Paris on the 2024 Summer season Olympics. Djokovic was in a position to win his first-ever Olympic gold medal, the one honor that had eluded him all through his profession, whereas Alcaraz, taking part in at his first Olympics, simply did not have it that day.

When these two get collectively on the courtroom, you may count on something from magic to fireworks to even an Alcaraz frown. Regardless that we have seen them play towards one another earlier than, that is the match that everybody needs to see: the GOAT vs. the Phenom.

Fallout from Jannik Sinner’s constructive exams: The information of Sinner’s two constructive exams for Clostebol was fairly stunning, as was the willpower that he was not at fault for ingesting the banned substance. A number of gamers have stated they do not assume it is honest that Sinner wasn’t suspended or banned. It will likely be fascinating to see if gamers point out it over the course of the event, and if it finally ends up affecting Sinner’s play.

Can Coco Gauff defend her title? Gauff gained her very first Grand Slam title on the 2023 US Open, and she or he has continued to enhance throughout the board since then. She made it to the semifinals for the primary time on the Australian Open and French Open earlier this yr, however that progress was weirdly blunted by her less-than-great efficiency on the Olympics. The 20-year-old Gauff, who’s about to compete at her seventh US Open, does not want redemption, but when she needs it, she’ll discover it on the Billie Jean King Tennis Heart.

It could possibly be one other wide-open girls’s event: If the troubles Gauff had in Paris comply with her to Queens, we may see one other first-time champion. However in the identical place is Iga Swiatek, the longtime WTA No. 1, who additionally crashed out early on the Olympics on her most popular floor. And Swiatek has additionally gained a US Open trophy earlier than. The one constant factor about Swiatek, Gauff and the opposite top-ranked girls is their lack of consistency, so it really seems like anybody’s trophy to win.

1. Jannik Sinner (Italy)
2. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3. Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
4. Alexander Zverev (Germany)
5. Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
6. Andrey Rublev (Russia)
7. Hubert Hurkacz (Poland)
8. Casper Ruud (Norway)
9. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
10. Alex de Minaur (Australia)

There aren’t any U.S. males within the high 10, however there are 5 sitting simply exterior it. Taylor Fritz is seeded twelfth, Ben Shelton is at 13, Tommy Paul is 14, Sebastian Korda is 16 and Frances Tiafoe is at 20.

Jannik Sinner: Not solely is Sinner going to be below a microscope from the media and his fellow gamers after his constructive drug exams, he is coming into this event with an damage. He is been coping with hip points because the clay courtroom season and was pressured to withdraw from the Olympics. Whereas he is extra rested than the opposite Olympic rivals (Alcaraz, Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev all performed in Paris), that is meaningless if his hip is impacting his play.

Taylor Fritz: After a superb efficiency on the Paris Olympics, it seems like Fritz is on the way in which up. He briefly broke into the ATP high 10 in January, however has been holding regular at No. 12 ever since and is the top-ranked American man on the ATP. If he’ll make the leap to stable contender, that is when he ought to do it. However now’s positively the time, since fellow American Ben Shelton is sizzling on his heels at No. 12 and is getting higher and higher each event.

1. Iga Swiatek (Poland)
2. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
3. Coco Gauff (USA)
4. Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
5. Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
6. Jessica Pegula (USA)
7. Qinwen Zheng (China)
8. Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic)
9. Maria Sakkari (Greece)
10. Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)

Along with Gauff and Pegula within the high 10, three American girls are seeded between 11 and 15: Danielle Collins (11), Emma Navarro (13) and Madison Keys (14).

Danielle Collins: After saying her intention to retire on the finish of the 2024 season, Collins has been on a tear. The US Open will probably be her final Grand Slam ever, and it will be price watching the 30-year-old American play her coronary heart out on the massive stage one final time.

Iga Swiatek: It has been a tricky few months for Iga. She bowed out early on the Olympics after which once more only in the near past on the Cincinnati Open. She’s all the time discovered her manner out of dropping streaks, stopping them earlier than they get too crushing, however she’ll have to get her confidence again if she needs to dominate the competitors like everybody is aware of she will.

Written by bourbiza mohamed

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