The tennis world has once again descended on New York ahead of the year’s final grand slam.
Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner will defend their US Open titles while Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu lead British hopes.
Here, the PA news agency picks out five talking points at Flushing Meadows.
Radu-can?
It is now four years since Raducanu’s moment to end all moments, but she has not so much as a won a match in New York since. It does seem, though, that the 22-year-old has finally found her feet in the professional game. She has been consistently strong since March and might well have done better than two third-round appearances at grand slams this season had she not run into Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. There has been more coaching upheaval but she has a permanent mentor in place again, this time experienced Spaniard Francisco Roig, who previously worked with Rafael Nadal, and the positive shoots feel ready to bloom.
Opportunity knocks for Draper
This year it is the turn of Raducanu’s friend since childhood, Jack Draper, to see if he can back up a breakthrough run in New York. Making the semi-finals last year was a huge moment for the British number one, who was the form player in the world in the spring after lifting the title in Indian Wells. Things have tailed off since, with a disappointing grass-court swing followed by an arm injury, but the 23-year-old feels at home on the hard courts of Queens and his fifth seeding protects him from big-name opponents until the second week. A potential quarter-final against Sinner looms large in his draw, though.
Sinner-Alcaraz part 3?
It was overdue when Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz first met in a grand slam final at the French Open this year but after an all-time classic in Paris and Sinner’s revenge at Wimbledon, the stage is set perfectly for a potential third title decider in a row. Alcaraz had had the better of the rivalry until Sinner turned the tables at the All England Club, and the Italian goes into the tournament as the favourite on his best surface. You have to go back to the Australian Open to find a tournament that both men played where they did not end up meeting in the final. Good luck to the rest of the field.
Slam solace for Sabalenka?
Sabalenka is far and away the world number one, has won three titles and 50 of her 60 matches this season, yet will she count it as a success if she does not collect a grand slam crown? So far at the majors, the Belarusian has suffered heartbreaking final losses to Madison Keys in Australia and Coco Gauff in Paris – where she earned heavy criticism for ungracious comments in defeat – and a semi-final defeat to Amanda Anisimova at Wimbledon. Having seemed to have got a handle on her big-stage emotions when she won three majors in two years, the balance has tipped the other way again.
Contenders ready
If not Sinner, Alcaraz or Sabalenka, then who? Wimbledon champion Swiatek is the form player in the women’s field having built on her dominant success at the All England Club by winning another big title in Cincinnati this week. After cutting such a troubled figure on clay in the spring, the contrast could not be greater now. Coco Gauff has shaken up her coaching team amid serving troubles and seems an outsider, while in the men’s draw Novak Djokovic takes his latest shot at slam title number 25 without having played any warm-up events.
