On 28 August 2023, New York will host the last Grand Slam tournament of the year: the US Open. In the men, it promises to be another exciting duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. In the women’s event, Iga Swiatek has another great chance to win her second US Open in a row.
The US Open
The US Open is a prestigious tennis tournament held annually in the United States. It is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and is usually played on hardcourt courts. The event takes place in New York. Players from all over the world can participate in the US Open, competing in both men’s and women’s singles and doubles. It has been around since 1881, but only from 1887 did it become open to women.
So the tournament already has a long history, and one of its most iconic moments was the duel between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. In it, King, a leading tennis star, took on Bobby Riggs, a men’s champion, in a match dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes”. King defeated Riggs, which helped promote gender equality in sport.
Arthur Ashe’s victory also helped promote equality and inclusion in tennis. He was the first African-American player to win a Grand Slam title. He did so in 1968, when the US Open was also opened to amateur players for the first time. Not to mention the 2014-2015 season, when Serena Williams managed to win four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. The “Serena Slam” showed once again how dominant and influential Williams is in tennis.
Favourites
Poland’s 22-year-old Iga Swiatek is the world number one. She may start her campaign to defend the title on Monday 28 August, playing against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. Home favourite is Coco Gauff, she plays against Germany’s Laura Siegemund on the same day. Gauff can also start the tournament with a mental edge, as she recently won the ATP1000 in Cincinnati.
On the men’s side, world number 2 Novak Djokovic will play Alexandre Muller. Djokovic can reclaim his first spot in the rankings though if he can win against the Frenchman. The Serb was not there last year because of COVID restrictions, but is now putting all his efforts again to win his 24th Grand Slam title. Last time, in 2021, he was eliminated by Daniil Medvedev. For Muller, it is the first participation in the US Open.
Djokovic will face another difficult opponent: Carlos Alcaraz. In their first Grand Slam encounter at Roland Garros, the Serb was still the better player, but that changed at Wimbledon. There, Alcaraz lifted his level and beat Djokovic. In total, it is now 2-2 between the vedets, as Alcaraz also managed to win it from him in Madrid last year, but Djokovic won the ATP1000 last week in Cincinnati. It will be a titanic battle between a tennis legend looking for his 24th Grand Slam, and the Spanish titleholder and world number one, who is all too keen to retain that title and ranking.
Old acquaintances
After a six-month absence, Venus Williams made a comeback in July. At the ATP1000, she landed in the top 20 for the first time in four years, so she hopes to do better in this tournament. The seven-time Grand Slam champion gets to start right away against a Belgian: Greet Minnen, ranked 98 in the WTA rankings.
Former winners Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are also competing in the tournament. The 36-year-old Scot still knows no tricks, and could patiently watch Djokovic and Alcaraz at the Wimbledon final. He must have learned something from that. Wawrinka too probably analysed that match, and will pull out all the stops to win another major title.
Others who we might see often at work are Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune and Casper Ruud. Ranked 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively, they have already shown their worth. Can they make sure we don’t get another duel between Alcaraz and Djokovic? Medvedev didn’t do so well at Roland Garros, but then again, there’s more than enough reason that he’s still in 4th place in the rankings. Holger Rune, the 20-year-old Dane, would be only too happy to take revenge on Djokovic for his loss in the 2021 US Open. Then again, he did win the Paris Masters tournament. Casper Ruud has already won 10 ATP matches, but could not yet win a Grand Slam. He lost to Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros in 2022, and the US Open he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. Also in 2023, Djokovic was just too strong for him in Roland Garros.
