The final tournament of the season starts today, August 26. It traditionally brings together almost all the strongest tennis players and players of recent years. Russian athletes have distinguished themselves several times at this tournament, and it will be even more interesting to follow the new rally.
“Helmet” that never stopped
The US Open is the second oldest Slam after Wimbledon. The tournament was first held in 1881, and since it has never been interrupted during this time – neither by the First and Second World Wars, nor by the coronavirus pandemic – the current draw will be a record among all major tournaments – the 144th in a row. For almost 100 years, the tournament was held on grass (until 1974 inclusive), in 1975-1977 – on clay, and since 1978 it has been installed on the hard surface. It was then that the competition moved to the National Tennis Center, located on the territory of the public park Flushing Meadows in the New York borough of Queens. Later, the center was named after the American tennis legend Billie Jean King.
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The US Open is the coolest Slam. They pay record money here and put on the best show in the world.
Djokovic chases Connors, Sampras and Federer’s record
Even in the early days of tennis, the American tournament was won seven times by Richard Sears, William Larned and Bill Tilden. Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer each scored five goals in the Open Era. Of the current players, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have four titles each. The Spaniard misses the current draw through injury, but the Serb is not averse to trying to catch up with Connors, Sampras and Federer. Among women, the all-time record holder is Molla Mallory with eight titles. In the Open era, Chris Evert and Serena Williams have the most wins – six each.
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11 US Open singles champions
Overall, 11 champions and champions of tournaments from previous years will compete in the current draw. For the men, there are five: Novak Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023), Stan Wawrinka (2016), Dominic Thiem (2020), Daniil Medvedev (2021) and Carlos Alcaraz (2022). For the women, six previous champions will compete for the main prize: Sloane Stephens (2017), Naomi Osaka (2018, 2020), Bianca Andreescu (2019), Emma Raducanu (2021), Iga Swiatek (2022) and Cori Gauff (2023). Note that Djokovic continues his correspondence battle with Margaret Smith Court. Both tennis players have 24 Slams under their belt, which is a record in tennis history. And if the Serbian wins now in New York, he will become the sole leader.
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TBS successful for Russians
The US Open is a very successful TBS for Russians. Of the 13 major singles titles, four Russian tennis players won them in New York: Marat Safin (2000), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004), Maria Sharapova (2006) and Daniil Medvedev (2021). In doubles, Natalia Zvereva (1991, 1992), Evgeny Kafelnikov (1997), Vera Zvonareva (2006, 2020), Dinara Safina (2007), Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova (2014) distinguished themselves, in mixed doubles – Zvonareva herself (2004) and Makarova (2012).
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Happy TBS for Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev holds the record among Russian men for the number of finals at the TBS – six. And it was at the 2019 US Open that he first reached the final of a major, and in 2021 he achieved his only and very important victory. It is worth adding that in New York Daniil has the best win-loss ratio at the Slams – 83% (29/6).
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A quiet start and a difficult finish: Medvedev’s possible path to the US Open final – 2024
Medvedev has a chance to take second place in the rankings
At any TBS, 2,000 rating points are at stake, which is quite a lot. However, before the start of the US Open, Jannik Sinner is ahead of Novak Djokovic by 1,900 points, and after subtracting points for the fourth round of the 2023 tournament from Sinner (180) and the title from the Serbian (2,000), this gap will increase to 3,720 points. This means that even if Yannick is withdrawn from the competition without playing and Novak wins the title, Sinner will still be the world’s number one player based on the US Open results. But Djokovic’s second place is very much under threat: he could well be overtaken by Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. Even Daniil Medvedev has a chance to become the world’s number two player, given the unsuccessful performance of Djokovic, Alcaraz and Zverev. But if Daniil fails in the tournament, he can be overtaken not only by his compatriot Andrei Rublev, but also by a whole group of pursuers (Hurkach, Ruud, Dimitrov, de Minaur and Tsitsipas). Therefore, it is extremely important for Medvedev to defend last year’s points for the final.
Details in our table.
SinnerDjokovicAlcarazZverevMedvedevRublevrating at 26.8936074607360703562754805US Open – 2023-180-2000-720-360-1200-360rest918054606640667550754445first circle10919054706650668550854455second circle50923055106690672551254495third circle100928055606740677551754545fourth circle2009380566068406875527546451/4 final4009580586070407075547548451/2 final800998062607440747558755245final13001048067607940797563755745qualification200011 18074608640867570756445
Record prize fund
The US Open prize pool has grown again, reaching a record $75 million, more than in 2023 ($65 million). Just for participating in the first round of singles, the men’s and women’s players will receive $100,000 each. The runners-up will earn $1.8 million and the champions will earn $3.6 million.
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A Russian debutant at the US Open
Russia is represented in the singles draws at Wimbledon 2024 by 17 players, and 10 of them are seeded. The men have five entrants: Daniil Medvedev (fifth seed), Andrey Rublev (6), Karen Khachanov (23), Roman Safiullin and Pavel Kotov. In the women’s draw, 12 Russians will play: Daria Kasatkina (12), Anna Kalinskaya (15), Lyudmila Samsonova (16), Diana Schneider (18), Mirra Andreeva (21), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (25), Ekaterina Alexandrova (29), Veronika Kudermetova, Anastasia Potapova, Anna Blinkova, Erika Andreeva and Kamilla Rakhimova. Note that only Schneider of these 17 tennis players is a US Open debutant.
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Medvedev, Rublev, Kasatkina, Mirra: All Russians in the US Open draw
Medvedev could fight Sinner again in the quarterfinals
The draw divided the representatives of the top 8 seeds in such a way that Daniil Medvedev (5) for the second consecutive TBS ended up in the quarter-finals against Italian Jannik Sinner (1). In the second half, Carlos Alcaraz (3) will be able to face the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (7) in the quarter-finals. In the lower half of the field, the following combinations can be formed: Casper Ruud (8) – Alexander Zverev (4) and Andrey Rublev (6) – Novak Djokovic (2). As for the Russians, in the first round Medvedev will play Serbian Dusan Lajovic, Rublev with Brazilian Thiago Wilde, Khachanov with Briton Daniel Evans, Kotov with Belgian Zizu Bergs, and Safiullin with the wild card from the USA Matthew Forbes.
Rakhimova hit Swiatek and Potapova hit Fernández
Representatives of the top 8 in the women’s category were distributed as follows: Iga Swiatek (1) – Jessica Pegula (6), Elena Rybakina (4) – Yasmin Paolini (5), Barbora Krejcikova (8) – Cori Gauff (3) and Zheng Qingwen (7) – Arina Sabalenko (2). At the same time, out of 12 Russians, seven are seeded, and of the remaining five, four in the first round were seeded: Kudermetova will play with Belgian Elise Mertens (33), Blinkova with American Emma Navarro (13), Potapova with Canadian Leila Fernandez (23), and Rakhimova with Iga Swiatek (1) from Poland.
Here are 10 reasons why you should keep an eye on the 2024 US Open. The tournament will be held in New York from August 26 to September 8. All the details are in the “Championship.”
