NEW YORK | There they are, the US Open, the last major tournament of the season, the most enthralling with its huge stadium and its evening games that can keep spectators spellbound until the wee hours of the morning.
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As Le Journal waits for the first balls to hit around 11am Monday, it has compiled a list of fun facts about the top 10 men’s and women’s favorites and the four Canadians who will be looking to break through to create New York madness.
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1. Carlos Alcaraz (20 years – ESP): The prodigy, reigning champion in New York, has never lost a ‘regular’ match at the US Open. In two participations, he suffered his only defeat in 2021 in the quarterfinals against Félix Auger-Aliassime.
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2. Novak Djokovic (36 years – SRB): If he won in two weeks, “Djoko” would win his 24th major trophy, making him the most successful individual athlete at the Grand Slam, level with Margaret Court Smith.
3. Daniil Medvedev (27 years – RUS): If everyone is expecting (or even dreaming of) a final between Djokovic and Alcaraz, perhaps Medvedev is the hidden card of this tournament. But not so hidden. After all, the Russian won the tournament two years ago and is often considered the best hard court player in the world.
4. Holger Rune (20 years – DAN): Two years ago, Rune, then 145th at the ATP, qualified for the US Open before losing to Djokovic in the first round, not without taking a sleeve from him. This time he is fourth in the world rankings, his best placing of his career.
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5. Casper Ruud (24 – NOR): Ruud has a lot to lose in this tournament. Although his favorite surface is still clay, he reached the final at Flushing Meadows last year before losing to Alcaraz.
6. Jannik Sinner (22 years – ITA): Wimbledon semi-finalist, Toronto champion: For the other top 10 prodigy, everything seemed to be going well for a few weeks until that early defeat in Cincinnati. Nevertheless, he remains one of the players who could go very far in the table.
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas (25 years – GRE): Hard court champion in Los Cabos, Paula Badosa’s boyfriend couldn’t keep his achievements on the surface for the rest of the North American season, losing his first game in Toronto and his second in Cincinnati. In New York he meets a player in the first round who has nothing to lose with Milos Raonic.
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8. Andrey Rublev (25 years – RUS): The enigmatic Russian hasn’t done well in Toronto and Cincinnati, getting eliminated in his first game each time. And in New York he will immediately find the one who showed him the way out at his last tournament: the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, 56th in the world.
9. Taylor Fritz (25 – United States): The American arrived in New York last year full of hope in front of his fans but lost the flag in the first round to fellow countryman Brandon Holt, then 303rd in the world. The good news for whoever has been one of Félix’s training partners for the past few days is that this time around he couldn’t be any worse off.
10. Frances Tiafoe (25 – United States): The flamboyant American shone in the spotlight in New York last year, where he reached the semifinals by beating Rafael Nadal. At that time he was 26th in the world rankings, but since then he has only taken the lead in the overall rankings.
WOMEN
1. Iga Swiatek (22 years – POL): The defending champions have been almost unsolvable since last year, coming to New York with just nine losses in 62 games this season. But both in Montreal and in Cincinnati she was held back in the semifinals by an American (Jessica Pegula, then Coco Gauff).
2. Aryna Sabalenka (25 years – BLR): She has the fearless game of dominating in New York, but Sabalenka is also capable of scattering during games. However, she now knows how to win a Grand Slam, having done so in Australia earlier in the year.
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3. Jessica Pegula (29 – USA): The Montreal champion with excellent quick-wittedness was a late starter, but in the last two years she has multiplied her Grand Slam quarterfinals and is currently a career-best finisher. The next step? In the end you manage to break the quad in a big tournament.
4. Elena Rybakina (24 years old – KAZ): The naturalized Kazakh-Russian reached the semifinals in Montreal before retiring in her second game in Cincinnati. Rybakina is playing very well on hard courts this year: in the spring she won the title in Indian Wells and lost in the final in Miami.
5. Ons Jabeur (29 years – TUN): The “Minister of Happiness”, as she is known in her country, reached the final in New York last year, where she was beaten by Swiatek. The Tunisian has been injured since her setback that left her in tears at Wimbledon. She therefore played little on hard courts, but reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, where she lost to Sabalenka.
6. Coco Gauff (19 – United States): The tour on hard North America, it was his. Winner in Washington and Cincinnati, quarter-finalist in Montreal and already making waves on the circuit for a number of years despite her young age, she will be the player to beat in New York.
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7. Caroline Garcia (29 years – FRA): The powerful Frenchwoman caused a sensation at last year’s US Open, where she reached the semifinals. A feat, coupled with his title at the year-end tournament, had allowed him to climb very far into the top 10. But “Caro” has had problems for a few months.
8. Maria Sakkari (28 years – GRE): Arguably the most athletic player in the world whose muscles were injured with a knife, the Greek has torn her in her last two Grand Slam appearances, losing in the first round each time.
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9. Marketa Vondrousova (24 years – TCH): The surprise winner of last Wimbledon is now adjusting to her new status as a top 10 player. So far she’s done well, especially in Cincinnati where she reached the quarterfinals.
10. Karolina Muchova (27 years – TCH): Here is another Czech who has good feelings in the big tournaments this year, she reached the final in Roland-Garros, although clay is not her favorite surface. Two weeks ago she was also a finalist in Cincinnati.
CANADIAN
1. Felix Auger-Aliassime (23): The Quebecer showed his best Grand Slam performance at the US Open, reaching the semifinals two years ago. So the opportunity is good to get his disappointing season back on track. As for the anecdote, when Félix made the four aces in New York, he was the 15th favorite of the tournament…like this year.
2. Leylah Fernández (21): Leylah is perpetually unsatisfied and refuses to claim that she has had good moments lately. The New York 2021 runner-up sits 7-4 on North American hard and her ranking has risen to 67th from just under 100th not too long ago.
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3. Rebecca Marino (32): The veteran Marino has not won a match in a WTA tournament grand draw since June 22, a four-game losing streak that has helped her drop out of the top 100 (she’s 104th this week). She has points to defend in New York after reaching the third round there last year.
4. Milos Raonic (32): The powerful server has not inherited an easy table for his fourth tournament since returning to competition, which will play against seventh-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas at around 7pm on Monday. But that doesn’t seem to bother him: Although aware that he had fallen far down the standings after almost two years’ absence (he is ranked 337th), he knew he would quickly be compared to a seeded player.