This year’s U.S. Open Tennis Championship delivered thrilling battles, shocking upsets and inspiring underdog stories. The U.S. Open is the last of four Grand Slam tournaments that take place during a season of professional tennis. The tournament began in 1881 and eventually became known as the US Open Tennis Championship in 1968, when all players competed in one venue located in Queens, New York. The courts consist of hard court surfaces and occur over the span of two weeks. Here is the rundown of the 2024 US Open Tennis Championship.
The women’s singles tournament began with the reigning champion, American Coco Gauff, taking a win in straight sets. Ranked No. 1 in the world, Polish Iga Swiatek and No. 2 Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, also started their tournaments off strong, living up to fan’s expectations leading into the tournament.
Quickly, expectations were all but abandoned as the top-ranked players began to fall short in tournament play. Gauff struggled against fellow American Emma Navarro, who eliminated her from the round of 16. Swiatek needed a good tournament after a disappointing Olympic performance, but played a mistake-prone match against a strong Jessica Pegula from the U.S., which resulted in her defeat. Recent Wimbledon winner, Czech player Barbora Krejcikova, did not make it past the round of 64 in the women’s singles tournament and lost out in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles tournament. Sabalenka, however, continued to dominate, while Pegula proved to be someone to look out for after beating Swiatek to reach the semi-final.
The final took place on Saturday, Sept. 7. Sabalenka went into this match with the confidence of a two-time Grand Slam tournament winner. Having never played in a Grand Slam tournament final, Pegula adapted to the new territory quickly. The experience of Sabalenka in combination with an impressive average topspin forehand speed, faster than anyone in the tournament, proved to be an unbeatable force. She put on a dominant performance winning in straight sets. This win was her career third singles Grand Slam title.
The men’s singles tournament also saw multiple upsets over the course of the two weeks. Coming off of a recent gold medal at the Paris Olympics and 24 Grand Slam titles in his career so far, reigning U.S. Open champion and Serbian player, Novak Djokovic, was a clear favorite amongst fans and experts alike. Similarly, with two Slam titles this year (The French Open and Wimbledon), young Spanish talent Carlos Alcaraz was on many fans’ radar to add another to his collection. However, both Djokovic and Alcaraz lost far earlier than expected: Alcaraz faced defeat in the round of 64 and Djokovic lost in the round of 32.
Ranked No. 1 in the world, Italian Jannik Sinner started his tournament off strong. Sinner beat 2021 U.S. Open champion, Daniil Medvedev, in the quarterfinals and battled through a minor wrist injury to beat Jack Draper for a spot in the final, a familiar place for Sinner.
American Taylor Fritz was an unexpected opponent for Sinner, seeing little success in the other Grand Slam tournaments earlier in the year. The U.S. Open was Fritz’ chance to prove himself as someone to look out for, and he succeeded. With impressive wins over Casper Ruud, ranked No. 8 in the world, and over Zverev, ranked No. 4 in the world, he got himself a place in the final.
Coming into the final match on Sunday, Sept. 8, Sinner held the upper hand after great performances so far in the season, making him the favorite to win. However, Fritz had the loud support of his home crowd giving him an extra boost of confidence. Sinner started out strong taking the first two sets, but Fritz did not make it easy. Fritz played a strong third set, but Sinner’s calm demeanor and 88% first serve win percentage were simply too hard to beat. After two hours and 16 minutes, Sinner took his second Grand Slam win of the year.
Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko took the women’s doubles title while Australian duo, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson took the men’s title. In the mixed doubles final, Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, beat out the Americans Taylor Townsend and Donald Young.
Overall, this tournament reflected highly upon the U.S. States with four American players reaching their final matches throughout the Open. Sinner and Sabalenka continued their dominance in 2024 with the U.S. Open being the second Grand Slam title they each won this year, both of them took their first in the Australian Open in January. While the completion of the U.S. Open marks the end of this year’s Grand Slams, there is plenty more tennis to enjoy with multiple tournaments from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) lasting until December.