Last tennis Grand Slam of the season: US Open

Tomorrow the 2023 United States Open Tennis Tournament will begin, in which Novak Djokovic will also participate, who was unable to enter the United States last year due to lack of a vaccine for the new type of coronavirus (Kovid-19).

The US Open, one of the four biggest events of the tennis season, along with the Australian Open, French Open (Roland Garros) and Wimbledon, will be staged for the 143rd time this year from August 28 to 10. of September.

The last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, which was first held in 1881, will kick off tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in New York City.

Total prize money for the 2023 US Open reached the highest level in the organization’s history at $65 million. The US Open thus improved its record for the tennis tournament with the highest prize money in history (60 million dollars).

The prize money awarded to the women’s and men’s singles champions increased from $2.6 million to $3 million.

FOR DJOKOVIC 24 GRAND SLAM…

Novak Djokovic, who has 3 championships in men’s singles (2011, 2015, 2018), will participate this year in the US Open, which he could not play in 2022, since vaccination is required for foreigners who want to enter the country.

Returning to Flushing Meadows Park, where the tournament was held, after a one-year hiatus, Djokovic will add a new one to his championships and attempt to increase his own record for Grand Slam tournament victories to 24.

The 36-year-old Serbian racket also wants to catch up with Margaret Court, who has won the title of “the tennis player who has won the most Grand Slam tournaments in history” with 24 championships.

The biggest obstacle facing Djokovic (second seed) will be the world number 1, Carlos Alcaraz, who was defeated after 5 sets in the Wimbledon final. The 20-year-old Alcaraz, who won the first Grand Slam title of his career at the 2022 US Open, will also be on court to defend his title.

Rafael Nadal, away from tennis since January due to his injury, will miss the US Open, which he won 4 times. Nadal, 37, is expected to return to the courts at the Davis Cup finals in September or at next year’s Australian Open.

Djokovic’s half of the main draw features Holger Rune (4), Casper Ruud (5), Stefanos Tsitsipas (7), Taylor Fritz (9), Frances Tiafoe (10) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (15).

In the other half of the main draw, led by Alcaraz, who triumphed last year in Dkojovic’s absence, the 2021 champions Daniil Medvedev (3), Jannik Sinner (6), Andrey Rublev (8), Karen Khachanov (11), Alexander Zverev (12) There are important names.

WOMEN HAVE A BIG CONFLICT

Although Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, who are in the top 2 places in the world rankings, seem to be the women’s favorites for the US Open, it is worth remembering that the two names were in form after the French Open and 8 of the last one. Nine US Opens were won by different names.

Pre-US Open WTA 1000 Tournaments Canadian Open winner Jessica Pegula (3) and Cincinnati Open winner Coco Gauff (6), as well as last year’s finalists Ons Jabeur (5) and Elena Rybakina (4), should also not be overlooked

Rybakina, Maria Sakkari (8), Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova (10), Victoria Azarenka, who played three times at the US Open, and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens are among Swiatek’s potential quarterfinal opponents. final, they are likely to match Gauff in the semis.

In the other half of the main table, with Sabalenka, Pegula and Jabeur, Caroline García (7), Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova (9), Elina Svitolina (26), who played in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the Wimbledon semifinals. this season, when she returned to the courts after becoming a mother) and she draws attention to the 2021 finalist, Leylah Fernández.

MANY APPLICATIONS INITIATED IN THE US ARE OPENED FOR THE FIRST TIME

The tournament was first held on grass courts in Newport, Rhode Island, in August 1881.

Richards Sears, who won the first tournament in which only members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Federation (USNLTA) could participate, left the next 6 championships in the hands of no one. The championship, in which tennis players have been able to compete since 1887, was played on grass courts in 1975-1977.

The US Open has been achieved by laying layers of acrylic, rubber and silicone on an asphalt or concrete floor since 1978, when the US Tennis Federation (USTA) moved to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. , built in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York City. It takes place on courts called “DecoTurf”.

On the DecoTurf court, where friction is very low, the balls rise less off the ground than on other hard floors. The soil at the US Open, where the ball reaches the greatest speed after the grass surface, gives an advantage to players who use a hard serve and strong kicks.

The 1970 US Open, where sets that ended in a tie (6-6) ended with a tie break instead of a tennis player that lasted up to two differences, and in 1973 the men’s and women’s singles champions received equal prize money (The 1973 champions John Newcombe and Margaret Court, awarded $25,000 each) also has the distinction of being the first Grand Slam tournament.

Another feature of the tournament is the use of the computer system called “Hawk’s Eye”, which allows tennis players to challenge the decisions of the referees, for the first time in 2006. Hawkeye was used for the first time on Center Court Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong in 2006.

Another feature that sets the US Open apart from other Grand Slam tournaments is that it features a 23,771-capacity tennis court, which is used as center court and is named after African-American tennis player Arthur Ashe. The Arthur Ashe roof system, the world’s largest capacity pitch, can be closed in 6.5 minutes.

THE “BEST” OF THE US OPEN

​The outstanding statistics of the US Open Tennis Tournament, in which Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles and Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles won the championship last year, are as follows:

Most individual winners

Men:

*Richard Sears (USA), *Bill Tilden (USA), *Bill Larned (USA) – 7 times

Jimmy Connors (USA), Pete Sampras (USA), Roger Federer (Switzerland) – 5

*Robert Wrenn (USA), John McEnroe (USA), Rafael Nadal (Spain) – 4

Women:

*Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway/USA) – 8 times

*Helen Wills (USA) – 7

Chris Evert (USA), Serena Williams (USA) – 6

Most consecutive winners

Men:

*Richard Sears (USA) – 7 times

*Bill Tilden (United States) – 6

Roger Federer (Switzerland) – 5

Women:

Chris Evert (USA) – 4 times

*Helen Jacobs (USA) – 4

*Mullah Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway/USA) – 4

Winners of the last 10 years.

Men:

2022 – Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)

2021 – Daniil Medvedev (Russia)

2020 – Dominic Thiem (Austria)

2019 – Rafael Nadal (Spain)

2018 – Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

2017 – Rafael Nadal (Spain)

2016 – Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)

2015 – Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

2014 – Marin Cilic (Croatia)

2013 – Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Women:

2022 – Iga Swiatek (Poland)

2021 – Emma Raducanu (Great Britain)

2020 – Naomi Osaka (Japan)

2019 – Bianca Andreescu (Canada)

2018 – Naomi Osaka (Japan)

2017 – Sloane Stephens (United States)

2016 – Angelique Kerber (Germany)

2015 – Flavia Pennetta (Italy)

2014 – Serena Williams (United States)

2013 – Serena Williams (United States)

younger winners

Men: Pete Sampras (USA) (1990) – 19 years, 1 month

Women: Tracy Austin (USA) (1979) – 16 years, 8 months

oldest winners

Men: *William Larned (USA) (1911) – 38 years, 8 months

Women: *Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway, USA) (1926) – 42 years, 5 months

NOTE: *Including championships won before the open period (in 1968, when professional tennis players were allowed to play amateur players). (AA)