New Delhi: The US Open 2024 will commence with the main draws on Monday, August 26, at the Flushing Meadows in New York. The final Grand Slam event of the calendar year will witness four Indians into action.
World No.73 Sumit Nagal will become the first Indian to play in all four Grand Slam events of the year since 2019. Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the last player to compete in all the slam events of men’s singles category in 2019. The top-ranked Indian singles player will also pair up with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in the men’s doubles event in a quest for double challenge.
so ready. pic.twitter.com/UuTkLlmJCS
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 26, 2024
Australia Open 2024 champion Rohan Bopanna will continue his partnership with Matthew Ebden in the men’s doubles to add a second title and third major Grand Slam in his cabinet. Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji are the other Indians to compete in the men’s doubles event. While Yuki will pair with Albano Olivetti of France, Balaji, who paired with Rohan in the Paris Olympics, will joined hands with Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi.
Before the Indians start their quest at the Big Apple, we take you through some of the biggest accomplishments made by Indian tennis players at the US Open in the past.
Leander Paes
With 18 Grand Slam titles to his name, Leander Paes is the most successful Indian player at the biggest stage in tennis history. The player from Kolkata has been champion at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on five occasions. His first US Open trophy was in men’s doubles in the 2006 edition along with Czech Republic’s Martin Damm.
Paes bagged the mixed doubles championship at the US Open in 2008 with Cara Black of Zimbabwe. The pair defeated Jamie Murray and Liezel Huber 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in the final. In the following year in 2009, Paes paired with another Czechian Lukas Dlouhy as the pair clinched the men’s doubles title after a come-from-behind win over Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
Paes also won another men’s doubles (2013 with Radek Stepanek) and mixed doubles (2015 with Martina Hingis) in his illustrious tennis career.
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza is the most successful female tennis player from India at the Grand Slams. The Hyderabad-born player bagged a total of six Grand Slam titles – three in women’s doubles and three in mixed doubles. She won her first US Open major in the mixed doubles category when she paired with Brazilian tennis player Bruno Soares.
The India-Brazil pair defeated Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez 6-1, 2-6, (11-9) in a final that spanned for exactly an hour. In the very next edition of the US Open, Sania and Martina Hingis won the women’s doubles following their triumph over Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shevdova with identical margins of 6-3, 6-3.
Mahesh Bhupathi
Before the likes of Paes and Mirza, it was Mahesh Bhupathi to become the first Indian to hold the US Open championship in 1999. He partnered Ai Sugiyama of Japan as the pair won in straight games 6-4, 6-4 against American duo of Kimberly Po and Donald Johnson in the final of the mixed doubles event.
Bhupathi also won the mixed doubles at US Open with Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in 2005. The Chennai-born tennis player clinched his only men’s doubles title in New York in 2002 when he joined hands with Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi. The duo got the better of Czech pair of Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek a 6-3 3-6 6-4 enticing clash.
Catch all the sizzling tennis action and intense drama straight from US Open 2024, LIVE only on Sony Sports Network from 26th August onwards.
The US Open 2024 will commence with the main draws on Monday, August 26, at the Flushing Meadows in New York. The final Grand Slam event of the calendar year will witness four Indians into action. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
