New Delhi: The US Open 2024 is all in readiness to take off on Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York’s Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The Main Draw will begin with defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff in action along with ex-champions Sloane Stephens and Dominic Thiem. With the qualifiers done, the final Grand Slam of the year will officially commence and will conclude on September 8 with the men’s and women’s singles final.
For Djokovic, it would be an opportunity to become the first man to successfully defend his US Open crown since Roger Federer did the unbelievable of winning five straight from 2004-2008. It is also the final chance for the veteran star to claim a Grand Slam this year after Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open and Carlos Alcaraz bagged both the French Open and Wimbledon titles. He recently won a men’s singles gold medal in the Paris Olympics 2024 to complete a Golden Slam.
Meanwhile, Gauff is trying hard to turn the tables as she is struggling to maintain the form that led her to capture a maiden major last year in New York. She will be in action on Monday as well.
Key matches to look out for on Monday at US Open
Radu Albot (Moldova) vs Novak Djokovic (Serbia; WR 2)
Serbian great Djokovic, who comes fresh on the back of an Olympic gold medal, looks good to begin his title defense as he takes on Radu Albot of Moldova in the first round meeting. Albot is 138th in the world ranbkings and has a record of 0-11 against the top 10 players. Although it won’t be that easy for Djokovic who is coming with a clay court experience of the Roland Garros.
He had surrendered his Australian Open and French Open titles as well as his top world ranking and this will be his first match on the hard court since March this year.
Varvara Gracheva (France) vs Coco Gauff (USA; WR 3)
World no. 3 Gauff will look to defend her title as well – a first Grand Slam that she won last year at the Flushing Meadows. She will hope that history repeats itself when she takes on Varvara Gracheva of France at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the afternoon. Both last met in the quarter-finals at Auckland in January where Gauff won the game 6-1, 6-1 to claim the title.
The 20-year-old American has lost three of her last six matches and a second-round exit at the Cincinnati Masters has dropped her to third in the world.
Zheng Qinwen (China; WR 7) v Amanda Anisimova (USA)
Zheng Qinwen won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 and will find herself in a possibly hostile territory when she takes on US wild card Amanda Anisimova at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in what would be a first career meeting between the two
Zheng gave China its first tennis Olympic gold and will try to continue her rampant run to claim a Grand Slam title, having been close in the Australia Open final in January. Meanwhile, Anisimova is on a comeback path after she took a mental health break in 2023. She is back in the top 50 in world rankings after she reached her first WTA 1000 final in Toronto a couple of weeks ago.
With the conclusion of the qualifying stage, the prestigious US Open is all set to kick off its Main Draw on Monday with some key matches taking the centre stage. Here are the clashes to look out for on Monday. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
