Who will take home the US Open title this year?

The last five editions of both the men's and women's US Open tournaments have seen no fewer than five different winners. This is quite unique for a Grand Slam tournament, where the same names often end up rising. Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff held the trophy in previous editions, and both top tennis players are ready to defend their titles in New York this year. However, they face stiff competition. Who are the favorites to win the 2024 US Open? Which Dutch players have qualified for the final tournament, and do they have a favorable draw for this edition of the US Open Cup? Sjeng Sports has a comprehensive preview of the 2024 US Open, giving you a front-row seat from the very first minute! 

Complete world top twenty present 

The competition for Djokovic, who undoubtedly wants to defend his title in New York, can rightly be called fierce. The entire world's top twenty is in America, vying for victory at the final Grand Slam of the year. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz , ranked number one and three in the world respectively, want to make things as difficult as possible for the Serb, as do strong challengers like Alexander Zverev and former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev . 

But it doesn't stop there. The preparatory tournaments on hard courts have shown that there's room for surprises even on this surface. While Sinner may have been the best in Cincinnati , the winners in Washington ( Sebastian Korda ), Toronto ( Alexei Popyrin ), and Winston-Salem ( Lorenzo Sonego ) can truly be called surprising. This indicates that the elite of tennis is expanding, and a whole laundry list of outsiders could be made for this title. Especially for the US Open, where for the past five years, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic have each had a different winner. 

Many contenders among the women 

The women's field also features almost the entire world's elite. Only Ons Jabeur , who reached the US Open final in 2022, is absent due to injury. This means defending champion Coco Gauff is still in the field, as are world-class players Iga Swiatek , Aryna Sabalenka , and Elena Rybakina . Former champions Bianca Andreescu , Naomi Osaka , Sloane Stephens , and Emma Raducanu are also on the field, and Qinwen Zheng is back. The Chinese woman won gold at the Olympic Games , reached the Australian Open final, and is now aiming to build on her potential by winning her first Grand Slam title. 

Jessica Pegula is also someone to definitely keep an eye on . Pegula won the Toronto tournament and shortly after reached the final in Cincinnati. Pegula is therefore doing well in her home country and will be aiming to make a splash by reaching at least the US Open final. Incidentally, she lost the final in Cincinnati to Sabalenka, who also showed she was in good form. The Belarusian didn't drop a set in Cincinnati and will face Australian Priscilla Hon in her first round in New York , who qualified for the US Open through qualifying. Linda Noskova is also worth mentioning. She won the tournament in Monterrey, the final preparation tournament for the US Open. On her way to victory, she defeated Xiyu Wang , Elina Svitolina, and Emma Navarro , among others . Definitely a woman to keep an eye on! 

Which Dutch players are participating in the US Open? 

Three Dutch players are competing in the US Open this year. Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp qualified for the men's tournament, while Arantxa Rus is the only Dutch player in the women's tournament. Jesper de Jong, Gijs Brouwer, Tim van Rijthoven, Suzan Lamens, and Arianne Hartono had the opportunity to try and qualify for the main draw through qualifying, but their attempts ended unsuccessfully. 

Griekspoor, who had an unlucky pre-season, will face Sumit Nagal in the first round . If he wins this match, she will face the winner of the match between Sebastian Baez and Luciano Darderi . Van de Zandschulp will cross swords with Denis Shapovalov and will most likely face none other than Alcaraz if he manages to defeat the Canadian. Rus will play Romanian Ana Bogdan in her first round . If our compatriot wins her match, she will play Anna Blinkova or Emma Navarro in the next round .

The US Open starts on Monday, August 26 and runs through September 9. 

Latest US Open winners
2019: Rafael Nadal (m) and Bianca Andreescu (f)
2020: Dominic Thiem (m) and Naomi Osaka (f)
2021: Daniil Medvedev (m) and Emma Raducanu (f)
2022: Carlos Alcaraz (m) and Iga Swiatek (f)
2023: Novak Djokovic (m) and Coco Gauff (f)