The curtain goes up on the 2024 US Open on Monday, as defending US Open champions Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic headline a star-studded cast of tennis’ top talents, each looking to take a formidable first step into the Flushing fortnight. The theme of this year’s US Open is “Celebrating the Power of Tennis,” and Day 1’s luminous lineup promises enough wattage to illuminate your average city skyline.
Among those joining last year’s Open champs in opening-day action are this year’s women’s Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova, three-time major finalist Casper Ruud, Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng, two-time Aussie Open titlist Aryna Sabalenka, former US Open champions Sloane Stephens and Dominic Thiem, and an American contingent led by Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton Taylor Fritz Madison Keys, and Emma Navarro. Just for good measure, throw in a scintillating head-to-head featuring Flushing fan favorites Gael Monfilsand Diego Schwartzman.
You want power? This one goes to 11.
Gauff, who turned the 2023 US Open into her own personal coming-out party, emphatically capturing the first major singles title of her career at her home Slam, has yet to repeat the feat of stringing seven matches together on the game’s biggest stages. This year, the 20-year-old American reached the semis at both the Aussie Open and Roland Garros, but was dismissed early at Wimbledon, losing in the fourth round to compatriot Emma Navarro. Shortly thereafter, she lost in the third round of the Paris Olympics to Coatia’s Donna Vekic. And unlike last year, when Gauff came to Flushing having won two of the three hard-court events she’d played leading in, she arrives this year having won just one match in two events on the summer cement circuit. Five times a semifinalist this season, her one tournament title in 2024 came back in January at the hard-court Auckland event.
The defending champ and No. 3 seed will look to rediscover her hard-court footing tonight as she takes on France’s Varvara Gracheva who scored her best career Slam showing this year at Roland Garros, reaching the fourth round on the red clay of Paris. The 24-year-old has twice advanced as far as the third round here—in 2020 and 2021—but has lost in the first round in each of the last two years. This year, her best finish was a run to the quarterfinals of Auckland—where she lost to Gauff in two quick sets.
Gracheva could offer something of a test for Gauff; she did take women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek to the limit earlier this month in Cincinnati before dropping a tough three-setter in the second round there. But coming back to Flushing figures to be just the thing to spark a comeback for Gauff. The court, the crowd, the show—every single factor figures to favor the champ. This remains her place until someone proves otherwise. Gracheva doesn’t figure to be that someone. In two, Gauff advances.
Like his fellow first-place finisher in Flushing last year, men’s second seed Djokovic has yet to secure a Slam title in 2024, reaching the semis in Melbourne and the quarters at Roland Garros before finishing runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon. That said, the 37-year-old Serb brilliantly turned the tables on Alcaraz in the final of the Paris Olympics, his 7-6(3), 7-6(2) triumph the picture of perfection, earning Djokovic the one prize that had eluded him in his Hall-of-Fame career—an Olympic gold medal.
In winning his fourth career US Open crown last September, Djokovic tied the all-time mark for major titles with 24. If he can find a way to stand alone at the end of these two weeks, he will find himself standing alone atop that particular page of the record book with 25 Slam singles crowns. That would be three more than Rafael Nadal’s 22 and five more than Roger Federer’s 20 on the men’s side, which would even more securely ensconce the Serb as the largest talent of the sport’s legendary Big Three. A fifth Flushing title would also tie Djokovic with Federer, Jimmy Connors, and Pete Sampras for most US Open men’s titles in the Open Era and give the Serb 100 career singles crowns, joining Connors and Sampras as the only men in the Open Era to reach the century mark in tour-level titles.
Djokovic will open his title defense tonight against qualifier Radu Albot of Moldova, who toughed his way through qualifying into his 10th career US Open main draw appearance. The 34-year-old has made it as far as the third round here just once—in 2017—and has likewise played his way to that point at both Wimbledon (2018) and the Aussie Open (2021 and 2022). His one career singles crown (Delray Beach, 2019) puts him 98 behind his opponent today, but Albot owns a slew of firsts for a player from his country, including being the first Moldovan to win an ATP title and the first to play in the main draw of a Slam. Currently ranked No. 138, Albot has ranked as high as No. 39, and earlier this year, took Tiafoe to two tiebreak sets in Delray, losing 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in round two.
The two men have never met across a net, and today’s first meeting figures to be a brief one. The defending champ has not played a match since his Olympic triumph, and he’s played just two hard court matches this year since losing in the Aussie semis. But like Gauff, the second seed feels right at home on the hard floors of Flushing, so getting up to speed shouldn’t take very long. The Serb is 88-13 all-time here, winning 265 of the 344 sets he’s played in Flushing. Those are the sort of numbers that add up to greatness. In a quick three, Djokovic is on to round two.
