CEBU, Philippines — Despite a late season heat wave at last year’s US Open, a record 502,385 spectators trooped to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens during the first week of the tournament. The US Tennis Association hopes to ride on the momentum from last year, which was held at the same venue since 1978.
128 men as well as an equal number of women are playing in the qualifiers that are still ongoing which began on Monday and ends tomorrow. Official competition begins this Sunday, PH time. The tournament ends on September 7.
Standard tickets for the first day typically sell for $200 but on the Finals, nosebleed seats at the Arthur Ashe Stadium sells for at least $550 but if you have the money to flaunt, courtside seats go between $15,000 to $20,000.
4-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal, at 38, pulled out of the tournament citing fitness issues. This is the second straight year that he has skipped the final tennis Grand Slam event of the year. “I will miss those electric and special night sessions in NYC at Ashe, but I don’t think I will be able to give my 100% this time”, Nadal said in a post on X. The former world number one is now ranked 159th, mainly due to a two-year struggle with injury.
Defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic will be back to defend his title but three other title favorites Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Italian Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev of Russia will crowd him for the crown.
Djokovic and Alcaraz dominated the past two Grand Slam seasons, each of them winning three major titles. They had battled in the last two Wimbledon finals, both won by Alcaraz. At the Paris Olympics, the Serbian won in the gold medal match over the younger Spanish sensation. Head-to-head, Djokovic leads 4-3.
Missing the Olympics because of illness, Sinner is currently one of the most consistent hardcourt players. He has won five titles this year which includes the Australian Open in Melbourne and the recently concluded Cincinnati Masters.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion and last year’s runner-up to Novak, has a strong hardcourt track record and can take down the above-mentioned players. He had a slump after the 2021 US Open title run but regained his momentum in 2023 and reached two major finals (2023 US Open and 2024 Australian Open).
Coco Gauf will defend the women’s title against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Paris Olympic bronze medalist and currently ranked number 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the come backing Naomi Osaka and 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu.