Top Seeds to Clash at US Open With Sinner, Djokovic, and Alcaraz in the Mix

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia pose with their trophies after the final of the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, on Aug. 20, 2023. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

As the calendar flips from August to September, most sports fans know that means that football season has arrived. But this time of the year is also associated with one of the most popular sporting events in the world: the United States Tennis Open. The 2024 U.S. Open will be the 144th version of the Grand Slam tournament, and it will start on Aug. 26 before wrapping up on Sep. 8.

The Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y., will host the last major tournament of the year, with the men’s singles one of the featured attractions. While men’s tennis is infamous for the dominance of a select few in any given era, there’s been nothing but parity in recent years at the U.S. Open.

There have been five different men’s singles winners over the last five editions of the tournament. Novak Djokovic is the defending champion, but Italian Jannik Sinner is the No. 1 seed as he vies for his first U.S. Open victory.

Sinner, who won the Australian Open earlier this year for his first Grand Slam, received some good news just days before he’ll begin play in Queens. After twice testing positive for a banned substance in March—and at risk of a two-year suspension—it was ruled that Sinner would not be suspended after the substance entered his system unintentionally.

He can now focus on the hard courts of the Billie Jean King Center, where a quarterfinal in 2022 is his best finish. Throughout his career, the U.S. Open has been his toughest Grand Slam tournament as his 67 percent win rate at the event is the lowest of the four majors.

However, Sinner did win his last tournament—the Cincinnati Open just last week—so he’ll enter the U.S. Open 2024 with plenty of confidence.

Jannik Sinner of Italy returns the ball during a practice session before the start of the 2024 U.S. Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City on Aug. 22, 2024. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Speaking of winning one’s last event and entering this tournament with confidence, that aptly describes Djokovic, who is the No. 2 seed. He checked off the last box in his illustrious career by winning a gold medal at the Summer Olympics, which was his last tournament. Djokovic is a four-time U.S. Open champion, and another victory would tie him with Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, and Roger Federer for the most by any player in the Open Era.

Despite the Paris gold, it’s been a trying season for Djokovic. He hasn’t won a major all year, had knee surgery in June, and lost his No. 1 ranking to Sinner. You have to go back to 2017 to find the last year Djokovic didn’t win a single major, so that’s added motivation for this year’s event. At 37, he’s attempting to become the oldest men’s singles champion since 38-year-old William Larned was victorious in 1911.

While Sinner is the No. 1 seed, and Djokovic is the reigning champ, it’s No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz who is the betting favorite. The 21-year-old is already a four-time major winner, including this very tournament in 2022, and he’s already claimed the French Open and Wimbledon this year. Even with his prior success on Arthur Ashe Court, hard courts aren’t his favorite surface. His career-winning percentage on hard courts is 75 percent, which trails both clay (82 percent) and grass courts (89 percent).

As the No. 3 seed, it’s possible that Alcaraz will have to go through both Sinner and Djokovic to win it all, and based on prior matchups, it’s a 50/50 proposition that he’ll do that. The Spaniard is 8–8 all-time against the two higher seeds. Alcaraz is 5–4 against Sinner, including 4–2 on hard courts, and he is 3–4 against Djokovic, including 0–2 on hard courts.

Three other past U.S. Open champions are in this year’s draw in Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev. The first two are ranked outside the top 100 and earned their spots in the U.S. Open draw as wild cards, but Medvedev, who won this event in 2021, is the No. 5 seed. The 6-foot-6 Russian has made at least the semifinals in four of the last five Grand Slams, but he’s still searching for any kind of tournament triumph this year. Medvedev has 20 career singles titles, but he’s failed to win any of his 13 tournaments this year.

Daniil Medvedev (left) of Russia practices on Aug.22, 2024, ahead of the 2024 US Tennis Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Others to keep an eye on in the men’s draw are the top-seeded Americans: No. 12 Taylor Fritz and No. 13 Ben Shelton. Fritz reached the quarterfinals last year, while Shelton made the semis at just 20 years old. The U.S. Open is as close to a “home” game as American tennis players can have, and the New York crowd is never shy about showing its support to the locals. Americans have won 85 of the previous 133 U.S. Open tournaments on the men’s side, but you have to go back to 2003 and Andy Roddick to find the last man born in the United States to win the U.S. Open.

Finally, it’s worth noting who is not competing at the 2024 U.S. Open, and that’s Rafael Nadal. After playing doubles at Roland Garros in the Paris Olympics, Nadal announced that he would skip the U.S. Open—where he is a four-time winner—and will instead focus on playing in the Laver Cup in September.