American tennis sensation Coco Gauff, 20, will attempt to win her second straight U.S. Open women’s championship when the 2024 tournament begins on Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens.
While Gauff entered the 2023 U.S. Open playing well and having won the 2023 Mubadala Citi DC Open, her first WTA 500 singles title, and her biggest title as a singles star to that point, the same cannot be said about this year. Gauff, who was a flag-bearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, failed to medal in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles action. This month, she lost in the second round of the Canadian Open and last week, she was ousted in the opening round of the Cincinnati Masters. Gauff will need to turn things around if she is going to make a deep run in this year’s Open.
Poland’s Iga Świątek, who won bronze in Paris, is No. 1 in the WTA women’s rankings released on Monday and will be one of the favorites. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who Gauff defeated in last year’s U.S. Open women’s final, is ranked third in the world after No. 2 Gauff and is a candidate to walk away with the title in Queens after capturing the Cincinnati Masters last week. China’s Zheng Qinwen, who won gold at the Paris Olympics and was a finalist in the Australian Open last January, losing to Sabalenka, is a threat to emerge with her first career major championship.
Other top Americans on the women’s side include No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 10 Danielle Collins, and No. 14 Madison Keys.
On the men’s side, an American has not won the U.S. Open championship since Andy Roddick hoisted the trophy in 2003. With no American male in the top 10 of the latest ATP rankings and participation by arguably the greatest tennis player ever, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has won a men’s record 24 grand slam titles, and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, winner of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon, it will be difficult to end that streak. Djokovic defeated Alcaraz to earn a gold medal in the Olympics men’s finals earlier this month.
Taylor Fritz, who at No. 12 is the top-ranked American male, has lost all 10 of his matches against Djokovic and Alcaraz, with nine of those at the hands of Djokovic. Americans Ben Shelton, No. 13; Tommy Paul, No. 14; and Sebastian Korda, No. 16 are America’s other top contenders.
U.S. Open Fan Week, which commenced on Monday, continues through this Sunday and features the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, practice sessions for top players, a Block Party with DJ D-Nice on Friday, and Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday. For more information, visit usopen.org.