On championship weekend at the 2024 US Open, the yacht-rock classic “Feels Like the First Time” was blasting over the broadcast system. However you feel about the song, Foreigner’s syrupy 1970s hit captured what happened in Flushing this fortnight. In short, a whole lot of firsts.
Here are some of the more memorable “ones.”
Jannik Sinner became Italy's first US Open men's singles champion
For his home country of Italy, Jannik Sinner has authored an entire history book of firsts this year. Specific to the US Open, he was the first Italian man to enter the event as the No. 1 seed and, 14 days later, the first to win the men's singles championship in tournament history.
Speaking of history, Sinner is also the first man in 27 years to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same year. He joins Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who did so in 1977.
While on the subject of all things Italian, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori became the first all-Italian team to secure a mixed doubles Grand Slam title in tennis history.
For the first time in more than a half-century, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeded men failed to reach the QFs
This was the first year the No. 2 and No. 3 seeded men failed to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open since 1973. And the early exits of No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz opened up the draw enough for two of the eventual semifinalists (see below) to achieve that status for the first time.
But before that, two more firsts: Djokovic crashing out in the third round ensured this year’s mens’ single champ would be someone outside the Big 3, which also includes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, for the first time in more than two decades.
A new generation of Americans and Brits broke through
Taylor Fritz was the first American men's singles finalist at the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2006 and the first at any major since Roddick reached the 2009 Wimbledon final.
Fritz’s semifinal match, against Frances Tiafoe, made for the first all-American contest in that round since 2005. In the other semifinal match, Jack Draper was the first Englishman to reach that round since Andy Murray in 2016.
Jessica Pegula was the oldest first-time finalist in nearly a decade
At age 30, Jessica Pegula was the oldest first-time US Open women’s finalist since Italy’s Flavia Pennetta took the title here in 2015 at the age of 33. Pegula’s prior two matches were firsts for her, as well. She had never before won a women’s singles quarterfinal or semifinal contest at any Grand Slam event.
An American triumphed in the junior boys' wheelchair singles
Another proud first among Americans: 16-year-old Charlie Cooper was the first from the home country to win the junior boys’ singles wheelchair title since the event debuted at the US Open three years ago.
Aryna Sabalenka (finally) won her first US Open singles title
On championship Saturday, the 26-year-old Aryna Sabalenka won her first singles’ title here, avenging last year’s heartbreaking loss to (first-time) champion Coco Gauff. In doing so, Sabalenka became the first woman to claim both hard-court majors in a single season since 2016, when Germany’s Angelique Kerber took both the Australian Open and US Open titles.
More proof of Sabalenka’s dominance on cement: Across both those Slams, Sabalenka gave up just one set—in New York, to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
More than a million fans attended the US Open for the first time
At the 2023 US Open, the three-week attendance tally topped seven figures for the first time. The 2024 total attendance tally was a staggering 1,048,669 fans—an 8% increase over last year.
