Welcome to the latest edition of "Hot Shots," a USOpen.org-curated look at what you may have missed on social media this past week. The eyes of the tennis world begin to shift squarely to the United States, with WTA Tour events in San Diego and Austin before the women's and men's tours come together in Indian Wells and Miami.
Novak Djokovic was a perfect 12-0 in the U.S. last season, with consecutive title runs in Cincinnati and at the US Open helping him secure a return to world No. 1. While he starred at both of those prestigious summer events, the Serbian has not competed at the ATP Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami since 2019.
The Sunshine Swing will welcome back the 36-year-old this season, with Djokovic set to compete on both coasts for the first time in five years. As part of his preparations, Djokovic (who was on the same commercial flight as Rafael Nadal en route to the U.S.) stopped by the UCLA campus in Los Angeles hit the practice court—and the football field.
Djokovic snapped photos with members of UCLA's men's and women's tennis teams, and also met some of the school's star football players after running drills on the practice field.
The Serbian's session on the tennis court was watched by a growing crowd of students, and he pulled out a few trick shots to keep them on the edge of their seats.
Elsewhere in the U.S., Jessica Pegula is competing in her first event since the Australian Open at the San Diego WTA 500. The top-seeded American, who is now working with a new coaching team of Mark Merklein and Mark Knowles, made a strong start to her return with a 6-0, 6-4 win against Jule Niemeier.
In Austin, Danielle Collins' farewell season continues. The third seed is through to her second quarterfinal of 2024 after a tough, three-set win against countrywoman Katie Volynets.
Beginning this week with the action in San Diego and Austin, the WTA Tour will call the U.S. its exclusive home through the end of the Sunshine Swing.
Read more on USTA.com: WTA Tour exclusively on U.S. soil through end of March
There's also plenty of sun in Acapulco, the site of one of three ATP Tour events this week in addition to Dubai and Santiago.
Stefanos Tsitsipas pledged to donate $1,000 to hurricane relief efforts in the Mexican city for each ace he hit this week. The fifth seed was knocked out by defending champion Alex de Minaur in Thursday's quarterfinals, but not before he racked up 15 aces, good for a $15,000 donation.
In Santiago, Alejandro Tabilo joins top seed Nicolas Jarry to make it two Chileans into the quarterfinals on home soil. But the fourth-seeded Tabilo's path to the last eight was briefly interrupted by a mid-match phone call on Thursday night...
With do-not-disturb activated, he would go on to wrap up a 6-2, 7-5 victory against countryman Tomas Barrios Vera.
Finally, we celebrate International Wheelchair Day on this Friday, March 1. Long a staple on the Grand Slam calendar, the US Open Wheelchair Championships presented by Deloitte have continued to grow in recent years, with the 2022 event including junior tournaments for the first time in major history and also marking the expansion of the men's and women's singles draws to 16-player fields.
In 2023, the quad divison expanded to a historic 16 competitors in longtime wheelchair tennis volunteer and administrator Jennifer Edmonson's first year as US Open wheelchair tournament director.
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