The US Open is drawing to a close this weekend, with both the men’s and women’s tours ready to crown their final Grand Slam winners of the 2024 season. Here’s what you might’ve missed and what you need to know about the big matches to come.
Favorites Out Early
This year’s tournament came just three weeks after the completion of the Olympic tennis event at the Stade Roland Garros complex in Paris, and the quick transition between playing surfaces clearly hampered some of the biggest favorites. All three men’s medalists – World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 18 Lorenzo Musetti – were eliminated before the fourth round.
The women’s medalists didn’t fare much better, with gold medalist Qinwen Zheng and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek making it the furthest, but both fell in the quarterfinals. Defending champion Coco Gauff fell in the fourth round to fellow American Emma Navarro. The match was a serving disaster-class from Gauff, who hit 19 double faults throughout the match including three in the deciding game of the third set.
Women’s Semifinals
[13] Emma Navarro vs. [2] Aryna Sabalenka
Emma Navarro continued her run in after eliminating Gauff with a strong win over Spaniard Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. Navarro, who went out in the first round of the US Open last year, now makes her first Grand Slam semi-final appearance.
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is the two-time defending Australian Open champion and just last year had a comfortable lead against Gauff in the US Open final before falling apart in the second and third sets to lose the match. She’s cruised back to the semifinals of the Open this year, comfortably beating Zheng in the quarterfinals – a match that was a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final.
[6] Jessica Pegula vs. Karolína Muchová
This semifinal has been a long time in the making for Jessica Pegula. The American has consistently been near the top of the rankings, but six consecutive quarterfinal defeats meant she’s never even had a chance at claiming a major title. That all changed on Wednesday night when she completely outplayed world No. 1 Swiatek to earn her first semifinal berth.
Czechia has become something of a force in women’s tennis, with Czech players Markéta Vondroušová and Barbora Krejčíková claiming the two most recent women’s Wimbledon titles, and Kateřina Siniaková also claiming two women’s doubles slams this year. Next up to win a slam for Czechia could be Karolína Muchová, who has spent most of the season on the sidelines due to a wrist injury, but has reached the semifinals without losing a set.
Men’s Semifinals
[12] Taylor Fritz vs. [20] Frances Tiafoe
When Frances Tiafoe defeated Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov Tuesday night, he had already secured a historic moment for United States tennis. Matched against fellow American Taylor Fritz in the semifinals, there is guaranteed to be an American man in a Grand Slam final for the first time in 15 years.
Fritz has been the leading American man on tour for a while, with his world ranking reaching as high as fifth. His success in smaller tournaments hadn’t yet translated to Grand Slam success, as he had lost all four of his previous Grand Slam quarterfinals. After defeating Alexander Zverev in four sets on Tuesday, Fritz will be hoping that he’ll only need one chance to etch his name in history.
Tiafoe would not have been many people’s choice for an American Grand Slam contender this season. It’s been a turbulent season for the Maryland native which saw his record floating around .500 for most of the year, a disappointing marker for a top player. However, Tiafoe has found his best tennis at the perfect time. This will be Tiafoe’s second major semifinal on Arthur Ashe Stadium after he was defeated by Alcaraz in 2022. He’ll be looking to go one step further today.
[1] Jannik Sinner vs. [25] Jack Draper
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner entered this tournament under a cloud of uncertainty, after it was revealed that he had received a “No Fault” ruling for two failed drug tests at the Indian Wells tournament in March. Despite vigorous clamoring from pundits and players alike, Sinner has continued his strong season. He defeated No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday night to earn a chance to win his second Major of the year.
When Andy Murray retired this year at the Olympics, there was concern that the void in British men’s tennis would be unfillable. With 22-year-old Jack Draper, Britain may have already found their answer. Draper has ripped through the early rounds, winning 15 out of 15 sets en route to his first major semifinal.
This article reflects matches completed at the time of printing on Thursday afternoon.
