The US National Championships, known since 1968 as the US Open Tennis Championships, is the second-oldest of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments after Wimbledon, and the only one to have been played each year since its inception in 1881. This is the 136th staging of the event.

This is the 49th US Open and the 195th Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era. The tournament has been held on hard court at Flushing Meadows since moving from Forest Hills in 1978. For the second year in a row, this year’s championship match will be played on a Sunday after seven straight years on a Monday.

This year’s event will feature a number of major enhancements, including a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, a new Grandstand Stadium, and a completely redesigned southern campus to ease accessibility and crowding throughout the site.

US OPEN FAST FACTS 

Former Champions (5): Novak Djokovic (2015, 2011), Marin Cilic (2014), Rafael Nadal (2010, 2013),

Andy Murray (2012), Juan Martin del Potro (2009)

Former Finalists (4): Kei Nishikori (2014), Novak Djokovic (2007, 2010, 2012-13), Rafael Nadal (2011),

Andy Murray (2008)

Wild Cards (8): Juan Martin del Potro, James Duckworth, Ernesto Escobedo, Bjorn Fratangelo, Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh, Rajeev Ram, Frances Tiafoe

Qualifiers (16): Guido Andreozzi, Marco Chiudinelli, Guilherme Clezar, Steve Darcis, Jared Donaldson, Thomas Fabbiano, Marton Fucsovics, Alessandro Giannessi, Christian Harrison, Ryan Harrison, Ilya Ivashka, Karen Khachanov, Saketh Myneni, Jan Satral, Radek Stepanek, Mischa Zverev

Lucky Losers (2): Daniel Brands, Jozef Kovalik

Youngest in Draw: Frances Tiafoe (18 yrs, 7 mos.)      

Total Teenagers: 6 (from youngest to oldest): Frances Tiafoe (18), Michael Mmoh (18), Taylor Fritz (18), Alexander Zverev (19), Borna Coric (19), Jared Donaldson (19)

Oldest in Draw: Radek Stepanek (37 yrs, 9 mos.)        

Total 30-and-Over: 49 – US Open record (up from 40 in 2015).

Included among 49 players 30-and-over are two who turn 30 during US Open (Gael Monfils and Denis Istomin)

Players by Country: 40 countries (down from 44 in 2015): USA (17), France (13), Spain (11), Argentina (9), Germany (8)

EMIRATES AIRLINE US OPEN SERIES: The 2016 US Open is the culmination of the Emirates Airline US Open Series, the North American summer season of ATP World Tour events in Toronto, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Winston-Salem. To be eligible for bonus money, players needed to compete at two or more two Emirates Airlines US Open Series events. Kei Nishikori won the series after reaching the Rogers Cup final and Western & Southern Open Round of 16. The Japanese superstar will now attempt to set a record for the largest payout in tennis history at the US Open – $4.5 million; $3.5 million for winning the US Open and a $1 million bonus. Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic, who both advanced to the Rogers Cup quarter-finals and Western & Southern Open semi-finals, finished second and third respectively. Dimitrov will compete for a bonus payout of $500,000, while Raonic is bidding for $250,000 in bonus money.

THREE OF BIG FOUR LEAD THE WAY: Since 2005 Roland Garros, when Rafael Nadal won his first Grand Slam title, the Big 4 of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray has won 42 of the past 46 Grand Slam titles. The only exceptions occurred at the 2009 US Open (Juan Martin del Potro), 2014 Australian Open (Stan Wawrinka), 2014 US Open (Marin Cilic) and 2015 Roland Garros (Wawrinka). It’s the most dominant era in the history of tennis. During the current stretch, Nadal has won 14 titles, Federer 13, Djokovic 12 and Murray three.

NO. 1 RANKING UPDATE: Novak Djokovic has held the No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking each week since July 7, 2014 after winning the Wimbledon title (113 consecutive weeks as of August 29, 2016). Djokovic is guaranteed to retain the No. 1 spot regardless of his result. When the start of the US Open, Djokovic will celebrate his 214^th week as World No. 1, fifth all-time behind Roger Federer (302), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270) and Jimmy Connors (268).

LAST AMERICAN GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Andy Roddick is the last American man to win a Grand Slam tournament at the 2003 US Open. The 2016 US Open is the 52nd major since Roddick’s triumph, the longest gap between Grand Slam titles for US men in the Open Era. The previous longest American drought in the Open Era ended at Roland Garros in 1989, when Michael Chang won the Roland Garros title 18 majors after John McEnroe won the 1984 US Open. Roddick and Andre Agassi, who was runner-up at the 2005 US Open, are the only Americans to reach a Grand Slam final since Roddick’s 2003 US Open title. They lost to Roger Federer in all five of their combined Grand Slam final appearances following the 2003 US Open. Roddick was runner-up at the 2006 US Open and Wimbledon in 2004-05 and 2009.

LEFT-HANDED CHAMPIONS (Open Era): Six different left-handed players have won the US Open title in the Open Era. In all, left-handers have won 14 US Open singles titles:

Jimmy Connors (5) – 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982-83

John McEnroe (4) – 1979-81, 1984

Rafael Nadal (2) – 2010, 2013

Guillermo Vilas (1) – 1977

Manuel Orantes (1) – 1975

Rod Laver (1) – 1969

YOUNGEST / OLDEST US OPEN RECORDS (Open Era):

Youngest Singles Champion: Pete Sampras (19 years, 28 days) in 1990 (d. Agassi)

Youngest Male to Compete: Tommy Ho (15 years, 2 months, 14 days) in 1988 (l. to Kriek)

Youngest Male to Win A Match: Michael Chang (15 years, 6 months, 10 days) in 1987 (d. McNamee)

Oldest Singles Champion: Ken Rosewall (35 years, 10 months, 11 days) in 1970 (d. Roche)

WILD CARDS: Americans were awarded six of the eight wild cards: NCAA champion Mackenzie McDonald, USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge winner Ernesto Escobedo, USTA Boys’ 18s champion Michael Mmoh, Bjorn Fratangelo, Rajeev Ram and Frances Tiafoe. The other wild cards are 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Australia’s James Duckworth.

FIRST TIMERS: There are 16 players making their US Open debut this year (down from 18 in 2015):

Inigo Cervantes, Guilherme Clezar, Gastao Elias, Ernesto Escobedo, Taylor Fritz, Marton Fucsovics, Alessandro Giannessi, Christian Harrison, Ilya Ivashka, Karen Khachanov, Jozef Kovalik, Mackenzie McDonald, Michael Mmoh, Saketh Myneni, Jan Satral and Jordan Thompson. In the Open Era, no man has won the US Open title in his debut. The last Grand Slam champion to win a title in his debut at that event was Rafael Nadal at 2005 Roland Garros.

In Case You Missed It

Pablo Carreno Busta captures his first ATP World Tour title in Winston-Salem. Read

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Henri Kontinen save five match points to capture the Winston-Salem doubles title. Read

Ryan Harrison and brother Christian Harrison qualify for the US Open. Read

Here are seven things you may not know about the US Open’s new roof. Read

Who will be the breakthrough stars at the US Open? Read

Ranking Movers

+10 Pablo Carreno Busta (39)

+3 Daniel Evans (64)

+3 Viktor Troicki (32)

+2 Robin Haase (62)

+2 Mikhail Youzhny (61)

Milestones

US Open Singles

Richard Gasquet – 447 wins

Milos Raonic – 249 wins

Viktor Troicki – 247 wins

Grigor Dimitrov – 196 wins

Dustin Brown – 48 wins

US Open Doubles

Julian Knowle – 396 wins

Jonathan Erlich – 346 wins

Jurgen Melzer – 297 wins

Marc Lopez – 249 wins

Birthdays

30 August – Ernests Gulbis (28)

1 September – Gael Monfils (30)

3 September – Dominic Thiem (23)

7 September – Denis Istomin (30)

They say a picture can speak a thousand words, but if you ask Steve Darcis, he would illustrate it with one. “Unbelievable” the emotional Belgian said after marching through qualifying at the US Open on Friday.

“Unbelievable” describes the 32-year-old’s three-set marathon victory over Enrique Lopez-Perez, saving a match point in a 10-8 deciding tie-break. It represents his dominance of #NextGen stars Tommy Paul and Duckhee Lee in the opening rounds, refusing to drop a set en route to qualifying in New York for the second time in three years. But more importantly, it aptly chronicles his journey back to the Grand Slam stage – and near-return to the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings – after shoulder and knee injuries sidelined the former World No. 44.

“You take every win when you’re out for six or seven months,” he added. Having posted a 21-4 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, the 5’10” right-hander has carried a strong run of form into the US Open. Titles in Lyon, France and earlier this month in Trnava, Slovakia, have vaulted him to World No. 108.

While Darcis will be making his eighth main draw appearance in New York, other qualifiers have surged into the field of 128 for the first time following breakthrough performances on the Challenger circuit this year.

“This is why you play tennis,” #NextGen star Karen Khachanov told ATPWorldTour.com. Inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings following a title run at the Challenger in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and plotting his ascent towards stardom, the 20-year-old qualified for his first Grand Slam in his sixth attempt, defeating Noah Rubin.

“You want to play in these big events. It feels great to me to be in the main draw. I’m just very happy. Even though I didn’t play my best tennis, I passed through qualies, dealt with my emotions and I’m happy to be in my first Grand Slam. I know Noah pretty well. He’s a fighter. He’s the same age as me and he beat me one time in juniors, so it means a lot to get through.”

Indeed, Khachanov has already become a household name on the ATP World Tour, but the quartet of Ilya Ivashka, Jan Satral, Marton Fucsovics and Saketh Myneni are reveling in their first moments in the spotlight and first experiences on one of the biggest stages in the game.

“I’m very happy that I qualified,” said 22-year-old Ilya Ivashka, who is the third player representing Belarus to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam, joining Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov. “I played very good tennis, which is even more important. It’s amazing because Voltchkov is coaching me now and I know Max very well. They are helping me a lot.”

With his Emirates ATP Ranking vascillating near the Top 300, Ivashka owned a 15-15 record on the ATP Challenger Tour when he stepped on the clay of Recanati, Italy, in mid-July, and battled to his first career final. Despite falling to Illya Marchenko, he believes it was the week that changed everything.

“It gave me all the confidence, because I beat a Top 100 player there,” Ivashka said of his comeback victory over top seed Evgeny Donskoy in the semis. “I played great tennis. Three of the matches went three sets. It gave me the belief that I can beat the good players and it helped a lot. I want to win every match that I play.”

One of 20 first-time winners on the Challenger circuit this year, Ivashka has since risen to a career-high World No. 181 and is slated to open his tour-level career against Winston-Salem Open champion Pablo Carreno Busta.

All it takes is one win. One win can change the trajectory of a season and often a career. For some, the springboard to the bigger stages and bright lights is swift and immediate. Just ask Jan Satral. It was the first round of €42,500 event in Marburg, Germany in late June. The 26-year-old Czech was sitting at No. 272 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and in search of confidence as his 2016 campaign reached the halfway mark. One win over former Top 100 stalwart Tobias Kamke changed everything.

“It did a lot for me,” Satral told ATPWorldTour.com. “I wasn’t in good shape at the beginning of the season and then I won a round of qualifying at Wimbledon and went to Marburg as a last-minute decision. When I beat Tobias Kamke in the first round, it gave me the most confidence to beat the good players. After that, every match I played pretty well and I started to feel good again.”

Satral would storm to his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Marburg, dropping a combined 10 games in the semis and final. But the Czech wasn’t done. Victory on the German clay propelled him to qualify for his first ATP World Tour main draw in Hamburg just one week later, stealing a set from former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro in the first round. Satral has since carried the momentum into the Big Apple, where he cruised to his first Grand Slam qualification without dropping a set. He awaits fellow major newcomer and American collegiate star Mackenzie McDonald, with a potential date with 10th seed Gael Monfils on the line.

“Kamke was the most important win of the year and after that I played great. I’m happy that I’m staying like this.”

Ivashka, Satral, Fucsovics and Myneni might be Grand Slam debutants, but they are certainly no strangers to high-pressure moments. Ivashka, Satral and Fucsovics each reached an ATP Challenger Tour final while residing outside the Top 200 this year, while Myneni finished runner-up on home soil in New Delhi as World No. 166. Dedicated and focused on taking their breakout campaigns to an even higher level at the US Open, the foursome have earned the opportunity.

“In all my dreams, this is one of best thing that’s ever happened to me in tennis,” said Myneni, who lives in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut. “Qualifying is great, but you still have to stay focused. If it’s the Challenger Tour or tour-level events, it’s the same goal in keeping your ranking up there and always improving. This is my home Grand Slam, being one hour away, and it’s especially nice having the support of my family being here.”

In addition, for India’s Myneni, Belarus’s Ivashka and Hungary’s Fucsovics, qualifying for a first Grand Slam main draw is not only an individual achievement, rather a source of great national pride.

“I hope it helps,” added Myneni, who is just the second player from India to compete in singles at the US Open since 2002, along with Somdev Devvarman. “Tennis has improved a lot in the last 10 years. I think there is a long way to go for the sport to develop further and get better and better, but it’s a good thing for them to see a guy from India competing in such a big stage.”

Brilliant effort by Saki for qualifying for the main draw @usopen @SakethMyneni #SakiBomb #SakiSquad

— Rohan Bopanna (@rohanbopanna) August 27, 2016

Fucsovics is part of an even more exclusive club, as just the fourth Hungarian man to appear in a Grand Slam main draw and first outside of Roland Garros. It was his 15th attempt in total.

“I’m very happy to be on the list, but hopefully I can win some matches in the main draw as well and play even better the rest of the year,” said Fucsovics, who opens with a stern test against a resurgent Nicolas Almagro. “I changed my coach recently to Attila Savolt and he has helped me a lot to get to this level.”

The 24-year-old is on course to surpass his career-high World No. 135 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having streaked to the final at the prestigious ATP Challenger Tour event in Prostejov, Czech Republic, in early June. It was the first final in nearly two years for the former Wimbledon junior champ.

“I reached the final in Prostejov as a qualifier, which is one of the biggest Challengers. It was a big result after a long time, since I had won two Challengers many years ago. It gave me a lot of confidence and for sure led to this result.”

Fucsovics, Ivashka, Khachanov, Myneni and Satral aren’t the only players to qualify at a Grand Slam for the first time. In fact, there are eight in total, with 22-year-old Christian Harrison, 23-year-old Brazilian Guilherme Clezar and 26-year-old Italian Alessandro Giannessi also making their debuts after prevailing on Friday. Clezar, runner-up at the 2014 ATP Challenger Tour Finals, qualified in his 14th attempt.

Watch Harrison Interview

Steve Johnson continued the recent American tennis theme at Citi Field, throwing out the first pitch on Friday evening. The top-ranked American made the ceremonial toss with WTA player Bethanie Mattek-Sands before the New York Mets took on the archrival Philadelphia Phillies.

It was a long-awaited experience for the American, marking the first time he had thrown out a first pitch in a Major League Baseball game. Earlier this month, former World No. 1 and New York native John McEnroe launched a perfect strike.

“It’s been great,” Johnson, a fan of the Los Angeles Angels, told ATPWorldTour.com at the game. “Any time you get to do something new and see a stadium like this is pretty awesome. I’ve been a baseball fan my whole life. To finally get the opportunity to come here and do this, it’s pretty beautiful.

“I feel like I was more nervous walking out at Centre Court in Wimbledon this year than throwing out the first pitch, but I hit him right in the chest and that’s all that matters. I was no Reilly Opelka and did not airmail it. It wasn’t as fast as Johnny Mac, but I got it done.”

Last month, Vasek Pospisil threw out the first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game, during the Rogers Cup, followed by Reilly Opelka at a Cincinnati Reds game during the Western & Southern Open.

Johnson, who is in the midst of a breakout campaign on the ATP World Tour, is up to a career-high World No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The California native reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final two weeks ago in Cincinnati, having claimed his maiden tour-level title on the grass of Nottingham in late June. Seeded 19th at the US Open, he is slated to open against Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy, with a potential second round clash against 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in the cards.