Scouting Report: Sinner and Alcaraz threaten Djokovic’s title defence in New York | ATP Tour

Scouting Report

Scouting Report: Sinner and Alcaraz threaten Djokovic’s title defence in New York

A summary of what every fan should know about the last Grand Slam of the year

August 23, 2024

In the final Grand Slam of the year, Novak Djokovic will attempt to retain his first Olympic gold medal with his first Major of 2024. The reigning US Open champion will face competition from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have combined to win each of the first three Majors of the year.

Aside from the top three players in the PIF ATP Rankings, other New York contenders include 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev and 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev. A host of Americans will also threaten on home soil, led by Top 20 stars Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda and Frances Tiafoe.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch out for at the hard-court Grand Slam.

1. Djokovic’s title defense: Djokovic comes into the US Open after winning his first Olympic gold medal in Paris, a feat that completed his career Golden Slam. The 37-year-old Serb has not competed since beating Alcaraz 7-6(3) 7-6(2) in the Olympic final, and will be returning to hard courts for the first time since Indian Wells in New York.

If he wins his 25th Grand Slam men’s singles title, Djokovic will extend his streak to seven years with at least one major title. From 2011 to 2023, he was without a Grand Slam title just once (2017).

2. Alcaraz seeks his third consecutive Slam: The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion brings a 14-match winning streak to New York at majors. The 21-year-old has never been eliminated before the quarter-finals at three US Opens, winning his first Grand Slam title in 2022 and reaching the semi-finals last year.

A shock first-round loss to Gael Monfils in Cincinnati means the Spaniard has played just one match on hard courts before the final major of the year. In his last two hard court outings before Cincinnati, he won the Indian Wells title and reached the quarter-finals in Miami.

3. Sinner looking for more after Cincinnati win: After withdrawing from the Paris Olympics due to illness, the PIF ATP Rankings No. 1 stepped onto the hard courts in Montreal. At the Canadian ATP Masters 1000, the Italian suffered a quarter-final loss to Andrey Rublev in which he appeared to struggle with his hip, an injury that has plagued him for much of the 2024 season.

However, he was unfazed in Cincinnati, beating Rublev and Alexander Zverev in straight sets before taking the title against Tiafoe. Can the reigning Australian Open champion sweep the hard-court Slams after winning his second ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event of the season?

4. Zverev strives to take final step towards first Grand Slam: A US Open finalist in 2020 (l. to Thiem), Zverev reached his second major title match this year at Roland Garros, where he again suffered a heartbreaking five-set defeat. After falling in five sets to Taylor Fritz in the fourth round of Wimbledon, the Rome champion reached his third final of 2024 on home soil in Hamburg.

After advancing to the quarter-finals in Montreal and the semi-finals in Cincinnati, Zverev could be primed for another deep run at a Major.

5. Medvedev seeks comeback in his most successful Slam: Medvedev was beaten in his opening matches in both Montreal (l. to Davidovich Fokina) and Cincinnati (l. to Lehecka), leaving him seeking his first hard-court win since reaching the Miami semi-finals in March. Despite his recent slump, Medvedev is always a title contender on his favourite surface, especially in New York, where he won his first Grand Slam in 2021 and reached the final in 2019 and 2023.

Medvedev’s 29-6 record at Flushing Meadows is the best among majors in terms of total wins and winning percentage (83%).

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6. Top 10 Talents: Rublev, ranked No. 6 in the world, split a pair of meetings with Sinner in consecutive weeks, beating the Italian en route to the Montreal final before losing to the world No. 1 in Cincinnati. He was defeated in Montreal by Alexei Popyrin, who went on to win his first ATP Masters 1000, which lifted him to No. 23 in the ATP rankings.

Hubert Hurkacz made a successful return from knee surgery after tearing the meniscus in his right knee at Wimbledon to reach the quarter-finals at both ATP Masters 1000 hard-court events. World No. 10 Alex de Minaur will be hoping to return to winning ways from injury when he competes for the first time since a hip problem forced him to withdraw before his Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic.

New York 2022 finalist Casper Ruud and 2019 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov will be looking to pick themselves up after early falls in Montreal and Cincinnati. The same can be said for world No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has never made it past the third round at the US Open.

7. The American Top 20: For the first time since 1997, five Americans are in the top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings, just in time for his home Grand Slam. Tiafoe’s run to the Cincinnati final lifted him to No. 20 in the world, behind No. 12 Fritz, No. 13 Shelton, No. 14 Paul and No. 16 Korda.

While Fritz and Paul – who teamed up to win the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics – went 1-2 in Montreal and Cincinnati, Tiafoe, Shelton and Korda have all made strong hard-court runs in recent weeks. Korda won his second tour title in Washington before reaching the Montreal semi-finals, while Shelton reached the DC semi-finals and the Cincinnati quarter-finals. Tiafoe reached the Washington semi-finals, as well as reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati.

8. Thiem and Wawrinka, among the wild cards: Dominic Thiem has been handed a wild card for his farewell US Open, as the 2020 New York champion is set to retire after this season. Stan Wawrinka has also received a wild card for what will be his 72nd Grand Slam singles appearance, which will put him fifth on the men’s all-time list.