The US Open kicks off this Monday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, with the grand final to be played on Sunday, September 8.
Arthur Ashe, the world’s largest tennis stadium, opens the action at noon for the clash between American No. 13 seed Ben Shelton and Austrian Dominic Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion who announced his retirement at the end of this year and received an invitation to bid farewell to the American tournament.
Next up on the women’s list is defending champion and No. 3 seed Coco Gauff of the United States against Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva.
Gauff is showing some flaws this season. Her double-fault percentage is almost double what it was a year ago, making it hard to see her as a favorite today. Gracheva, for her part, took a set off world number one Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati, has shown she is capable of playing at a fairly high level and is generally a very resourceful player.
In the evening session, starting at 7 a.m., also in the women’s category at Ashe Stadium, American Sloane Stephens will face Frenchwoman Clara Burel.
Djokovic in search of more glory
In the main match, the No. 2 seed, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, faces the Moldovan Radu Albot, who comes from the qualifying phase.
Djokovic, who has been crowned US Open champion four times (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023), declared in New York that he remains thirsty for victory and to continue making history, he is going for his 25th Grand Slam.
After winning gold at the Paris Olympics, the Serbian has not competed on hard courts, but as things stand he will be able to advance relatively comfortably to the second week of the US Open.
“I want that [los aficionados] Know that everything is possible, even if you come from a country where you don’t have as many opportunities in life, or as many chances… You can still make it to the Grand Tour,” he said on his behalf.
Albot before his first-round clash with Novak Djokovic at the US Open.
Record in prizes
The US Open is the final Grand Slam event of the season. This year it will pay out a tournament-record $75 million, an increase of almost 15% from last season. The champions, both men and women, will earn $3.6 million. In comparison, in 2023 they took home $3 million.
Matches to watch today
Grandstand
Starting at 11:00 AM.
German Alexander Zverev vs. Finnish Emil Ruuusuvouri
Frenchman Gael Monfils vs. the Argentine Diego Schwartzman
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Starting at 11:00 AM.
American Taylor Fritz vs. Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli
Starting at 7:00 PM.
French-American Tiafoe vs. American Aleksandar Kovasevic
Court 4
Starting at 11:00 AM.
Argentine Francisco Comesana vs. Swiss Dominic Striker
The Argentine Sebastián Báez vs. the Italian Luciano Darderi
Court 5
Starting at 11:00 AM.
Russian Andrey Rublev vs. Brazilian Thiago Seyboth
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov vs. the Frenchman Quyrian Jacquet
Court 7
Starting at 11:00 AM.
Spaniard Alberto Ramos vs. Italian Mateo Berrettini
American Reilly Opelka vs. Italian Lorenzo Musetti
Court 8
Starting at 11:00 AM.
The Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta vs. the Frenchman Arthur Cazaux
