Four things to look out for at the US Open 2024
• 3 MINUTE READ
Ready for the US Open this year? Here our our four things to keep an eye on at Flushing Meadows in 2024.
Can Jack Draper and Katie Boulter build on career-best performances in 2023?
All eyes will be on the British No.1s at the US Open and there’s plenty of reason for optimism given that both had career-best performances in Flushing Meadows last year – Jack Draper making the fourth round and Katie Boulter into the third.
Draper made his Grand Slam return at the US Open last year and clinched a standout win over world No.17 Hubert Hurkacz before taking Andrey Rublev to four sets, meanwhile Boulter picked up wins against Diane Parry and Yafan Wang.
Both are strong hard court players as well. Boulter won the biggest title of her career at the WTA 500 in San Diego this year, made the fourth round of the Miami Open and third round at National Bank Open. Draper on the other hand made the final in Adelaide, semi-finals in Acapulco and recently defeated world No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Alliasime to reach the quarter-final in Cincinnati.
Neither of the Brits have made it into a Grand Slam quarter-final or beyond yet, but could the US Open prove a landmark event for the top-ranked Brits?
Title defence from Coco Gauff & Novak Djokovic
Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic will be the players to beat at Flushing Meadows this year as the current reigning champions.
A then 19-year-old Gauff won her first Grand Slam title at her home Slam last year – coming back from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
In doing so she became the first American teenager to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999.
However, the now world No.2 will have to re-discover her form if she is become the first player since Williams to win back-to-back titles in New York since 2014. After reaching the quarter-final at Wimbledon, she has since bowed out in the third round of the Olympics, third round in Toronto and first round in Cincinnati.
Her closest rivals will likely be world No.1 and 2022 champion Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina – but the title challenge could be wider than ever.
On the men’s side, Djokovic will be looking to become the first men’s player in the Open Era to reach 25 Grand Slam singles titles having recently won the Olympic gold medal – the only accolade that had been missing from his trophy cabinet.
However, the 37-year-old hasn’t won a Grand Slam title so far this year – the last time this happened was in 2017, which is the only season in 14 years where he hasn’t won a major.
Standing in his way will be world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who claimed his first Grand Slam in Melbourne this year, a familiar rival in Carlos Alcaraz, who has lifted the French Open and Wimbledon this season, and 2022 champion Daniil Medvedev.
Can Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram win a fourth straight title?
In 2023, British star Joe Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram, won their third straight US Open men’s doubles title – a record in the Open Era.
The title also made Salisbury the most successful British men’s doubles player in the Open Era.
Coming into this year, there will be a big target on their backs as they rest of the field look to bring an end to an unbeaten run that currently stretches over 18 matches.
Their record on hard courts is impressive in their six years together – winning 12 of their 14 titles on the surface.
Already in the last couple of weeks they have made the final at the National Bank Open and look set to launch a strong challenge for an unprecedented fourth straight title.
Their closest challenge could come from world No.1 and No.2 Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, or Australian Open champions Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna.
In-form stars to watch from the hard court swing
After the Olympics, the hard court swing has got off to a bag, with several surprise title-winners who could be ones to watch out for in New York.
American fans will have been excited by Seb Korda’s second and biggest ATP title of his career at the Citi Open in Washington before reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season at the National Bank Open.
Countryman and former US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe will also be one to watch having reached the final in Cincinnati last week.
Also flying the flag for the US is Jessica Pegula, who while consistently featuring in the WTA top 10, hasn’t yet reached a Grand Slam final. However, the hard courts are where she excels and the 30-year-old recently won her third career WTA 1000 and second consecutive National Bank Open title and finished runner-up at the Cincinnati Open, which could be a sign of good things to come for the former quarter-finalist.
Perhaps the surprise star of the last few weeks has been Australia’s Alexei Popyrin – who, ranked world No,62, won his first ATP Masters title in Montreal. He beat five top 20 players, including Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Korda and Andrey Rublev to become the first Aussie to win a Masters in 21 years.
The return from injury has been up and down for Spain’s Paula Badosa, but the 26-year-old seems to have turned a new corner recently having won her fourth career title at the Citi Open. However, she’s not gone further than the second round before in New York, but with this new-found confidence, could she be one to push on in 2024?
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