The Paris 2024 Olympics may have shortened the summer hard-court season for many of the world's biggest tennis stars, but there is no shortage of storylines on the surface entering the US Open.
As we close in on main-draw action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where singles play begins on Aug. 26, USOpen.org digs into five of the biggest themes from the past month of hard-court play.
Americans Pegula, Anisimova peaking at the right time
Few expected Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova to make the Toronto final earlier this month. Defending champion Pegula was having a mediocre season by her lofty standards, following her first title of the year in Berlin with three early exits before returning to the North American hard courts. Anisimova was ranked No. 132 and entered the event with a protected ranking, still working her way into form after taking a mental-health break from professional tennis for eight months in 2023.
A two-hour drive from her native Buffalo, Pegula found her best tennis in a dominant week in front of family and friends. The world No. 6 did not lose a set en route to the final, then beat compatriot Anisimova, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, for her third WTA 1000 crown.
Read more on USTA.com: Pegula beats Anisimova in all-American Toronto final
"It's kind of funny, I keep saying it looks like a bad year, but I've won a 500 and a 1000," Pegula said before Cincinnati, where she has extended her winning streak to nine matches to reach Monday's final.
"I think I know that the level is still there, obviously. I just need to stay healthy and try and do my best for the rest of the year. But yeah, it's turned around a little bit."
Anisimova's path to the final was arguably even more impressive, as the 22-year-old picked up four straight Top 20 wins—including a quarterfinal upset of 2023 US Open finalist Aryna Sabalenka. Her performance this summer, which also included a quarterfinal run as a qualifier in Washington, D.C., earned her a spot in the New York main draw via the US Open Wild Card Challenge.
Now back inside the WTA's Top 50 behind her Toronto run, it's safe to say Anisimova won't need any more wild cards as she closes out the 2024 season.
Taylor Townsend has also had a strong summer across three hard-court events. After winning the D.C. doubles title with Asia Muhammad, she knocked off two seeded players—Dayana Yastremska and Jelena Ostapenko—to reach the Toronto quarters. (American Emma Navarro ended her run to progress to her first WTA 1000 semifinal.) The following week, Townsend beat ninth seed Daria Kasatkina to advance to the Cincinnati last 16.
Korda, Shelton, Tiafoe surging
Five American men will be seeded at the US Open, but only three will enter New York with multiple singles wins on the hard courts this summer.
Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, who teamed to win the men's doubles bronze medal for Team USA at the Olympics, both posted 1-2 records across the ATP Masters 1000s in Montreal and Cincinnati. But Sebastian Korda, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe all made deep hard-court runs in the buildup to their home Slam. Korda won his second career title in Washington, D.C., then backed it up with a semifinal showing in Montreal. Shelton, a returning New York semifinalist, reached the D.C. semis and the Cincinnati quarters. Tiafoe reached semis at D.C. before following that up with his first Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati, with wins against Andrey Rublev, Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti, and Holger Rune.
Read more on USTA.com: Korda matches father by winning Washington singles title
The four highest-ranked Americans currently four consecutive spots in the ATP rankings from No. 12-15, with Fritz immediately followed by Paul, Shelton and Korda. Tiafoe will also come into the US Open inside the Top 25, with the fan favorite set to move up from No. 27 behind his Cincinnati run.
Badosa's resurgence, Tsitsipas' swoon
Spain's Paula Badosa, who was born in Manhattan, missed last year's US Open with a back injury. After returning to competition this January, she has slowly been working her way back to the level that helped her rise to world No. 2 in 2022.
After mixed results to begin the season, she secured two of her best results of the year on the U.S. hard courts. She won her first title since January 2022 in Washington, beating former major champions Sofia Kenin and Emma Raducanu along the way, and is now through to the semis in Cincinnati.
She notched two Top 20 wins in that stretch, beating Liudmila Samsonova in D.C. (the third seed retired after losing a 6-2 first set) and Anna Kalinskaya in Cincinnati.
While Badosa is rounding into form, her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas has not found his footing on the hard floors, picking up just one win across Montreal and Cincinnati. The Greek will hope to break out of that mini-slump by snapping out of a career-long struggle at the US Open, where he has yet to advance beyond the third round. Tsitsipas' 6-6 record in New York is his worst at the Slams both in terms of total wins and winning percentage.
Checking in on a few other tennis power couples: Jannik Sinner reached the Montreal quarterfinals but lost to Andrey Rublev while struggling with a hip injury that has bothered him for much of the season. He was no worse for the wear in reaching the Cincinnati semifinals. His girlfriend, Top 20 WTA star Kalinskaya, went 2-1 across Toronto and Cincinnati.
Alex de Minaur has not competed since a hip problem forced him to pull out of Wimbledon before his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic, but he confirmed on social media that he plans to play in New York. Girlfriend Katie Boulter reached the Toronto third round, losing to Sabalenka, but was knocked out in her Cincinnati opener.
Elena Svitolina went 3-2 at the two WTA 1000s, while husband Gael Monfils made waves in Cincinnati by upsetting Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, to make the last 16.
Popyrin, Cobolli spring surprises
Australia's Alexei Popyrin delivered the biggest shock of the hard-court summer by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 as an unseeded upstart in Montreal. The 25-year-old's third and biggest tour-level title helped lift him to a new career-high of world No. 23, earning him a seed at the US Open.
The big server knocked out four seeded opponents in his six Montreal wins, beating Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Rublev.
Italy's Flavio Cobolli was a surprise package in D.C., where the 22-year-old reached his first ATP Tour final. Facing Americans in each of the last three rounds, he beat Alex Michelsen and Shelton before a three-set defeat to Korda in the final.
Mixed fortunes for recent US Open champs
Returning men's singles champion Novak Djokovic will enter New York on the heels of an Olympic gold medal that completed his career Golden Slam. The Serb has not competed since his triumph on the Paris clay, but has proven time and again he can play his way into form on a new surface at the Slams.
Women's champ Coco Gauff competed in singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the Olympics but scored just four wins across the three disciplines. Back on the North American courts, she went 1-2 across Toronto and Cincinnati. The 20-year-old will hope a return to the site of her maiden Grand Slam triumph will spark a return to form.
2022 US Open singles champions Iga Swiatek and Alcaraz both competed in Cincinnati as their only hard-court event in the leadup to New York. Swiatek advanced to the semifinals, where she lost in straight sets to Sabalenka, while Alcaraz was out of sorts in his opening-round defeat to Monfils.
2021 men's winner Daniil Medvedev is a former champion in both Montreal and Cincinnati, but he went 0-2 this year at the Masters 1000s. Dominic Thiem, the 2020 titlist, has not competed on hard courts since January. The Austrian, who will retire after this season, was granted a wild card for his farewell US Open along with 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka.
Emma Raducanu, the 2021 women's champ, has only competed in one tournament since Wimbledon, reaching the Washington quarterfinals. The 21-year-old, who missed last year's US Open after ankle and wrist surgeries, returned to London for a training block to prepare for New York.
Past champions Naomi Osaka (2018, 2020) and Biance Andreescu (2019) received wild cards into the main draw. Both competed in Toronto and Cincinnati, but Osaka was the only one to record a main-draw win, beating 2022 US Open finalist Ons Jabeur in Canada.
