By Dominique Olaleye
As the US Open draws to a close, we crown two new champions in the form of Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka! Week 2 of the Championships came with high quality tennis as the draw continued and we were welcomed with epic encounters between compatriots and competitors. Sinner and Sabalenka can claim King and Queen of the hard court with both winning at the Australian, Cincinnati, and US Open!
The WTA Event
Week 2 of this event saw exciting match ups in the fourth round between many of the current top players in the game. Iga Swiatek [1] dominated against Liudmila Samsonova [16] in straight sets as Pegula [6] did similarly against Schnaider [18]. Haddad Maia [22] took on former world number 1 Wozniacki in a close and exciting match up. The match stretched to three sets and saw the Brazilian come out on top in a near three-hour battle. World number 2 Aryna Sabalenka [2] saw off Elise Mertens [33] 6-2, 6-4 while Badosa [26] defeated Yang 6-1, 6-2. Paolini [5] was unable to get to the quarters as she lost to Muchova who was the more skilful and consistent player on the day. Although predicted to be quite a close match, the score was a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 to the Czech player. The final matches of this round were repeat matches from earlier in the season and interestingly, the results remained the same. Olympic gold medallist Zheng [7] took on Vekic [24] for a second time and unlike the first match on clay, this was a far more closely contested match that went to three sets and lasted 2h50. Unfortunately for Vekic, Zheng once again came out on top to reach a place in the quarter finals. The second match repeat came in the All-American matchup between defending champion Coco Gauff [3] and up-comer Emma Navarro [13]. This was a gruelling battle from both players that had many swings in momentum and nail-biting moments for the players, spectators and everyone in between. Navarro came out on top repeating her success from Wimbledon and extending her good form. Gauff however; who hit a total of 19 double faults, will have to go back to the practice courts and work out what went wrong. Despite hitting a surplus of unforced errors, she should still be commended for reaching this stage of the grand slam despite her dip in consistency.
The top half of the quarter final draw created a couple of upsets. Haddad Maia [22] was beaten by Muchova in straight sets. Muchova is coming back from a wrist injury that she sustained at last year’s championships and didn’t make her return to the tour until Eastbourne this year. Despite this, she has slotted back nicely into her form of last year where she reached the semi-finals, and her game style has once again proven very effective. Iga Swiatek [1] faced Jessica Pegula [6] in another semi but could not get more than six games from the American. Pegula’s ball striking was impressive and clean, and she saw off the Pole in under 90 minutes. Sabalenka [2] took on Zheng [7] in a repeat of the Australian Open final from earlier this year. Sabalenka once again powered Zheng off the court and comfortably won 6-1, 6-2 to book a place in the semi-finals. The last quarter final took place between Paula Badosa [26] and Emma Navarro [13]. Navarro dominated in the first set and won that comfortably 6-2, but the second set saw Badosa eliminate her errors take a strong 5-1 lead. Navarro though, never losing her composure, stayed in the game and fought back with a home crowd to win the second set 7-5. Reaching the semi-finals secured Navarro’s spot in the top 10 for the first time in her career – a more than well-deserved feat!
Semi-finals day saw an American in both matches which guaranteed an American in the final for a second consecutive year. Pegula took on Muchova as Navarro took on Sabalenka. Navarro could not keep up with the ball striking ability of Sabalenka and although she fought until the end, she lost 6-2, 7-6 (2). This win meant that Sabalenka was through to her second consecutive final after winning in Cincinnati and second consecutive US Open final. The second semi-final was a three-set battle between the American and Czech and lasted over two hours. Muchova won the first set comfortably 6-1 and led the second set by a break with an opportunity to make it a double break. Pegula pulled off an almighty comeback; battling back to save the break point, win the set and go on to win the match. The final was played under the lights of New York and drew out a full stadium and many of the biggest stars both inside and outside of sport. Both sets went back and forth with some spectacular tennis on display from both players. Pegula had the home crowd advantage and that worked in her favour quite significantly with her clawing back to level the first set after being 5-2 down. Sabalenka was too strong however, and closed out the set 7-5. The second seed made a speedy start to the second set and gave herself a 3-0 lead in no time. Pegula – like in her semi-final match – was a break down and faced a break point that would result in her being a double break down at 0-3, however, she fought back to not only level the score but take a 5-3 lead. At this point, Sabalenka showed why she is a grand slam champion and found a way to battle both Pegula and the crowd to win four straight games to win the championship. Sabalenka was a worthy winner and played stunning tennis throughout the tournament, having won both the Australian Open and US Open, she has confirmed that she is the hardcourt queen of 2024.
The ATP Event
R4 of the men’s event saw comfortable wins for Sinner [1] against Paul [14], Medvedev [5] against Borges and Draper [25] against Machac. Alex de Minaur [10] beat his Australian compatriot Jordan Thompson in four sets as Alex Zverev [4] beat Brandon Nakashima in a similar fashion. The remaining American men in the draw in the form of Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz advanced to the quarter finals after their impressive wins. Tiafoe [20] beat Popyrin [28] in four sets and just over three hours whilst Fritz [12] beat Ruud [8] after dropping the first set. Fritz has been in consistent form throughout this season, and it didn’t slip against the Norwegian player; he was able to raise his game and claim his first win against the former world number 2. The real popcorn match of this round, however, came from Andrey Rublev [6] and Grigor Dimitrov [9]. Dimitrov took the opening first two sets, just edging this battle between the heavy forehand hitters. The next two sets saw Rublev cut out his mistakes and start making his targets and he was rewarded with a fifth and final set opportunity to decide the match. Dimitrov just nudged ahead to win the match and book his spot in the quarter finals, his form has returned this season, and he returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2018, proving at 33, that age is just a number.
Jannik Sinner [1] showed why he is currently the best in the world, beating Daniil Medvedev [5] in four sets. On paper, this match was perhaps the most exciting quarter final in the draw, especially as like on the women’s side of the draw, it was a rematch of the Australian Open final and Wimbledon quarter final. There was a constant switch in momentum throughout the match and was arguably the lowest quality in the three matches they have played this year. However, Sinner was able to play the bigger points better and secured the victory. Draper [25] came out on top against De Minaur [10] in straight sets to book a place in the semi-finals for the first time in a grand slam and even more impressively, without dropping a set. The last British player to make it to a grand slam semi-final in this way was Emma Raducanu in 2021 before she lifted the trophy. Fritz [12] stunned Zverev [4] in four sets to reach his first semi-final. He has often come close, but in the past, has been unable to secure the victory and advance to the latter stages of slams. On this occasion, his good form alongside Zverev’s inconsistent backhand booked him a place in the last four. Dimitrov led in head-to-head wins against Tiafoe 3-1 but trailing 1-4 in the fourth set, he was forced to retire. It seems he was feeling the effects of his marathon match with Rublev and could not keep up with Tiafoe. Tiafoe’s win set him up with another All-American match up.
The All-American match up guaranteed that an American would feature in the final like in the women’s draw. Tiafoe took on Fritz in a headliner event and the match lived up to expectations. Fritz was the favourite entering the match, but Tiafoe proved he was willing to fight and compete clawing back to win the first set after being 0-3 down. Fritz won the second set breaking serve at the right time, but Tiafoe used the crowd to get him over the line in the third set. Set 4 was a similar story with Fritz breaking serve at the right time but the fifth set was full of breaks. Fritz dominated with his serving and returning and fought to grab a place in the final with both hands. The second semi-final was played between friends Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner. Although the match was won in straight sets, Draper put up a hard-fought battle against Sinner and was sick on several occasions during the match. Despite physically struggling at times, Draper was able to produce great tennis which contributed to Sinner’s level of tennis improving. Sinner’s win secured his place in his first US Open final.
The final was played on Sunday night with both players vying to win their first US Open title; however, Fritz was never truly within a proper grasp of Sinner. Sinner produced beautiful tennis and continued his confident form from Cincinnati. The crowd support was not enough to help Fritz against his Italian opponent and although he broke Sinner on occasion during the match, he was unable to gain and maintain a big enough lead.
Sinner won the match in three convincing sets to win his second major of the year. Both Sinner and Sabalenka have demonstrated impressive form over the hard-court season and now have several titles to defend next season.
