Sabalenka looks for 'things which bring joy' at US Open
Aryna Sabalenka says she has been finding “things which bring joy” as she aims to end a challenging year with her first US Open title.
Aryna Sabalenka says she has been finding “things which bring joy” as she aims to end a challenging year with her first US Open title.
At the year’s final Grand Slam, Novak Djokovic will bid to back up his first Olympic gold medal with his first major title of 2024. The defending US Open champion must fend off competition from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have combined to win each of the year’s first three majors.
Apart from the top three players in the PIF ATP Rankings, other New York contenders include 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev and 2020 finalist Alexander Zverev. A host of Americans will also threaten on home soil, led by Top 20 stars Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda and Frances Tiafoe.
ATPTour.com breaks down 10 things to watch at the hard-court Grand Slam.
[ATP APP]1. Djokovic’s title defence: Djokovic enters the US Open on the heels of winning his first Olympic gold medal in Paris — a feat that completed a career Golden Slam for the Serbian. The 37-year-old has not competed since he beat Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the Olympic final and will return to hard courts for the first time since Indian Wells in New York.
If he wins his record-extending 25th Grand Slam men’s singles title, Djokovic will also extend his streak to seven years with at least one major crown. From 2011-23, he was shut out at the Slams just once (2017).
2. Alcaraz seeks third straight Slam: The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion brings a 14-match major winning streak to New York. The 21-year-old has never been knocked out before the quarter-finals in three US Opens, winning his maiden Grand Slam title in 2022 and advancing to the semis last year.
A surprise opening-round upset to Gael Monfils in Cincinnati means the Spaniard has played just one hard-court match in the lead-up to the year’s final major. In his two most recent hard-court events prior to Cincinnati, he won the Indian Wells title and reached the Miami quarter-finals.
3. Sinner seeks to back up Cincinnati surge: After withdrawing from the Paris Olympics due to illness, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings hit the hard courts in Montreal. At the ATP Masters 1000, the Italian suffered a quarter-final defeat to Andrey Rublev in which he appeared to struggle with his hip — an injury that has affected him for much of the 2024 season.
But Sinner was no worse for the wear in Cincinnati, where he beat Rublev and Alexander Zverev in consecutive three-setters before sprinting to the title with a lights-out second set against Tiafoe. Can the reigning Australian Open champ sweep the hard-court Slams after winning his second hard-court ATP Masters 1000 of the season?
4. Zverev strives for final Slam step: A US Open finalist in 2020 (l. to Thiem), Zverev reached his second major title match this year at Roland Garros, where he again suffered a heartbreaking five-set defeat. After a five-set loss to Taylor Fritz in the Wimbledon fourth round, the Rome champion reached his third final of 2024 on home soil in Hamburg.
On the heels of a quarter-final run in Montreal and a semi-final showing in Cincinnati, Zverev could be primed for another deep major run.
5. Medvedev seeks turnaround at most successful Slam: Medvedev was beaten in his opening matches at both Montreal (l. to Davidovich Fokina) and Cincinnati (l. to Lehecka), leaving him in search of his first hard-court win since he reached the Miami semi-finals in March. Despite the recent mini-slump, Medvedev is always a title contender on his favoured surface — particularly in New York, where he won his maiden major title in 2021 and reached finals in 2019 and 2023.
Medvedev’s 29-6 record at the US Open is his best among the majors in terms of total wins and win percentage (83%).
The players bring a whole lot of fun and laughter to the social team, so we had to tell them what they mean to us 🥰 pic.twitter.com/6LRVaptUpt
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 16, 2024
6. Top 10 talents: World No. 6 Rublev split a pair of meetings with Sinner in consecutive weeks, beating the Italian en route to the Montreal final before losing to the World No. 1 in Cincinnati. He was beaten for the Montreal trophy by Alexei Popyrin, who made huge strides toward joining the Top 10 himself by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 crown — which lifted him to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of World No. 23.
Hubert Hurkacz successfully returned from knee surgery after tearing the meniscus in his right knee at Wimbledon to reach the quarter-finals in both of the recent hard-court ATP Masters 1000s. World No. 10 Alex de Minaur will hope to make his own winning return form injury when he competes for the first time since a hip injury forced him to withdraw ahead of his Wimbledon quarter-final clash against Novak Djokovic.
2022 US Open finalist Casper Ruud and 2019 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov will both seek New York turnarounds after early exits at both Montreal and Cincinnati. The same can be said for World No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has never been beyond the third round at the US Open.
7. Top 20 Americans: For the first time since 1997, five Americans are in the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings — just in time for their home Slam. Tiafoe’s run to the Cincinanti final lifted him to World No. 20, behind No. 12 Fritz, No. 13 Shelton, No. 14 Paul and No. 16 Korda.
While Fritz and Paul — who teamed to win the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics— both went 1-2 across Montreal and Cincinnati, Tiafoe, Shelton and Korda all made deep hard-court runs in recent weeks. Korda won his second tour-level title in Washington before reaching the Montreal semis, while Shelton reached the D.C. semis and the Cincinnati quarters. Tiafoe progressed to the Washington semi-finals in addition to reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati.
8. Thiem, Wawrinka among wild cards: Dominic Thiem was awarded a wild card for his farewell US Open, with the 2020 New York champ set to retire after this season. Stan Wawrinka also received a wild card for what will be his 72nd Grand Slam singles appearance, which will put him at fifth on the all-time men’s list.
9. #NextGenATP stars: France’s Arthur Fils enters the US Open as the runaway leader in the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah, followed by Alex Michelsen, Shang Juncheng and Jakub Mensik. All four earned direct entry into the US Open main draw. Fils, will look to build on a fourth-round run at Wimbledon, his best performance in six previous Grand Slam main draw appearances.
10. Four score for Ram/Salisbury?: American Rajeev Ram and Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury completed a three-peat of US Open men’s doubles title last year, coming from behind to beat Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in the final. The two-time reigning Nitto ATP Finals champions will seek a fourth straight New York crown and fifth Grand Slam title together, with their first coming at the 2020 Australian Open.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner says he is no longer working with physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi and fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara following the investigation into his positive tests for a banned substance.
Carlos Alcaraz will begin his quest for a fifth major trophy Tuesday at the US Open, where the Spaniard kickstarts the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium, not before 7 p.m., against Australian Li Tu.
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner is aiming to sweep this year’s hard-court Slams. The Italian, No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, meets American Mackenzie McDonald during the Ashe day session, second match from 11 a.m. following the WTA match between Iga Swiatek and Kamilla Rakhimova. Sinner leads McDonald 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
[ATP APP]Top seed Sinner and 2022 champion Alcaraz are on a semi-final collision course. Their 2022 quarter-final at Flushing Meadows featured five sets of thrilling exchanges that is largely considered one of the greatest matches in recent memory.
Also on Tuesday’s card, 2020 Nitto ATP Finals titlist and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev starts against Serbian Dusan Lajovic on Louis Armstrong Stadium, where later home favourite Tommy Paul faces Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Fans awaiting word on what time Novak Djokovic will play his first-round match Monday at the US Open now have their answer. The defending champion will play Radu Albot under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, second match from 7:00 p.m. following the WTA match between Sloane Stephens and Clara Burel.
Djokovic, aiming for his fifth trophy at the American slam, has not competed since capturing the Paris Olympics gold medal, which completed the 37-year-old’s ‘Career Golden Slam’. Monday will mark Djokovic’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with tour-veteran Albot, World No. 138 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
[ATP APP]Kickstarting the two-week tournament on Ashe will be a first-round blockbuster between 13th seed Ben Shelton and 2020 titlist Dominic Thiem. Last year’s semi-finalist Shelton is on a fourth-round collision course with Djokovic, who ended the American’s dream run a year ago.
Two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, seeded fourth, will also be first on at 11 a.m. local time against Finn Emil Ruusuvuori. Sixth seed Andrey Rublev meets Thiago Seyboth Wild. Other Top 10 seeds in action include 2022 finalist Casper Ruud against China’s Buyunchaokete and Grigor Dimitrov, who starts versus Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet.
American No. 1 Taylor Fritz meets Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Louis Armstrong Stadium, where later 20th seed Frances Tiafoe faces Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Fan favourite Gael Monfils clashes against Diego Schwartzman, who is competing in his farewell US Open.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]First-serve statistics have always been split into two categories. Would it provide greater clarity to blend first-serves made and first-serves won into one match metric called first-serve rating?
An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the two traditional first-serve statistics identifies that they tell a good story in their own right, but an improved narrative emerges once they are blended as one. A breakdown of the current Top 10 over the past 52 weeks sheds light on what a Serve Rating actually looks like.
Alexander Zverev is the peak performer with first-serves made over the past 52 weeks at an astonishing 72.4 per cent. He is about six percentage points clear of his closest rival Carlos Alcaraz (66.6 per cent), and well clear of the Top 10 average of 63.8 per cent. Zverev is on a first-serve planet all on his own.
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| Top 10 Player | In % | Win % | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Zverev | 72.4 | 75.2 | 54.4 |
| H. Hurkacz | 63.9 | 78.5 | 50.2 |
| N. Djokovic | 64.4 | 76.2 | 49.1 |
| G. Dimitrov | 62.7 | 78.1 | 49.0 |
| J. Sinner | 62.1 | 78.3 | 48.6 |
| C. Alcaraz | 66.6 | 71.9 | 47.9 |
| A. Rublev | 62.5 | 76.0 | 47.5 |
| C. Ruud | 65.0 | 72.6 | 47.2 |
| D. Medvedev | 62.9 | 74.0 | 46.5 |
| A. De Minaur | 55.2 | 72.7 | 40.1 |
| AVERAGE | 63.8 | 75.4 | 48.1 |
But Zverev only comes in sixth place in the data set when you examine points won behind his first serve, at 75.2 per cent. Hubert Hurkacz, at 78.5 per cent, was the leader in this specific category. Also ahead of Zverev were Jannik Sinner (78.3 per cent), Grigor Dimitrov (78.1 per cent), Novak Djokovic (76.2 per cent) and Andrey Rublev (76.0 per cent).
It’s impossible to figure out if Zverev is genuinely the best performer behind his first serve, from first place with first-serves made to just sixth place with first-serves won. That’s where the value of a Serve Rating comes to life.
Here’s how it works. You start by taking the first-serve made percentage and turn it into a whole number (72% to 72). You then take the first-serve won percentage and turn it into a decimal (75% to 0.75), and then multiply the two to get a rating out of 100.
Zverev’s First-Serve Rating
• 72.4% made / 75.2% won
• First-Serve Rating: 72.4 (made) x 0.752 (won) = 54.4
Hurkacz’s First-Serve Rating
• 63.9% made / 78.5% won
•First-Serve Rating: 63.9 (made) x 0.785 (won) = 50.2
Simple math blends two statistics that have always been evaluated separately and turns them into a new match metric that provides more precise insight into the specifics of player performance.
Zverev emerges as the peak performer in the Top 10 with his first serve over the past 52 weeks with a 54.4 rating. Hurkacz (50.2) was the only other player to clear the benchmark of 50, while Djokovic (49.1), Dimitrov (49.0), and Sinner (48.6) were all above the Top 10 average of 48.1.
The beauty of a first-serve rating is that it includes four outcomes of the first serve:
•1st-Serves In
•1st-Serve Faults
•Won the point
•Lost the point
A serve rating also provides valuable insight for players looking for specific areas to take their game to the next level. For example, Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev were the only Top 10 players to appear below the average with first-serves made and first-serves won. Improving their first-serve rating to the Top 10 average of 48.1 would be an obvious goal. Getting more in and winning more will both move the needle in the right direction.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The tennis world mourns the loss of former World No. 25 Peter Lundgren, who has passed away at the age of 59. In the 1980s golden era for Swedish tennis, Lundgren was one of seven Swedes ranked in the Top 25.
Lundgren notably coached Roger Federer in the Swiss icon’s early career. It was a successful three-year partnership that featured Federer’s first of 20 major triumphs at Wimbledon in 2003.
Lundgren’s countryman Magnus Norman, former World No. 2 wrote on social media: “R.I.P Peter Lundgren. A fantastic warm and positive person and on top of that a magical coach has left us way to early. A very sad day.”
Darren Cahill added: “A good man with a kind soul. A helluva coach also.”
[ATP APP]As a player, Lundgren collected three tour-level singles titles and as many in doubles. He won 119 singles matches with his maiden title coming in 1985 in Cologne. Two years later, Lundgren lifted trophies in Rye Brook and San Francisco. He was voted the ATP Tour’s Most Improved Player that year. In 1988, Lundgren reached the Australian Open doubles final alongside Briton Jeremy Bates.
When Lundgren retired aged 30, he first worked with Marcelo Rios in 1996 and helped the Chilean into the Top 10. The following year, Lundgren began working with juniors at the Swiss Tennis Federation.
From November 2000 until the end of 2003, Lundgren travelled full-time with Federer. Lundgren was an essential part in Federer’s young breakthrough, guiding him to his first 11 tour-level titles.
Lundgren was in Marat Safin’s corner when the former No. 1 clinched the 2005 Australian Open title. Lundgren also coached stars such as Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka.
Hall of fame tennis writer Richard Evans wrote on X: “Tragic that #Swedish coach Peter Lundgren has died so young at 59. He was very popular on the tour & admired as a coach. The memory of a breakfast we had at Hotel Diana in #Milan remains with me. The 3rd person at the table was @rogerfederer who, that day, would go on to win his 1st ever @ATPTour title – the 1st of over 100. Peter was his coach in Roger’s vital formative years. That’s a great legacy.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/08/23/17/34/lundgren-coach-federer.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Peter Lundgren.” />
Credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
The following is an excerpt from Elements of Coaching Professional Tennis, available on Amazon, written by Robert Davis.
Lundgren first encountered greatness at the age of 18 years old when he was invited to practise with Björn Borg in Stockholm. Though Borg had recently retired from professional tennis, he was still one of the best players in the world. As one of Sweden’s top juniors, Lundgren got the call to practise from Borg.
“Being around Björn (Borg) was so good for me,” admits Lundgren. “I could see how professional he was with his preparation. When it was time to warm up, we had only four balls and Björn would never miss once. Then we just played sets. He only wanted to play sets, no drills, no talking, only play.”
How Lundgren got from the small, sparsely populated city of Sundsvall in northeastern Sweden, which means the city of stone, to Stockholm is a testament to the “Swedish Tennis Miracle”. That was what the Swedish government called the incredible success of men’s tennis following Björn Borg’s rise to the top of the tennis world. In the 1980s, Sweden had seven players ranked in the world’s top 25.
“As a child, I played ice hockey in the winter and tennis in the summer until I was 13 years old,” remembers Lundgren. “Then I stopped hockey and focused just on tennis. I may have had four hours per week of supervised practice, the rest was just playing sets. However, in the beginning, when I was learning to play my club teacher was very good at teaching technique. So, my strokes were always solid and I never really had to change as I got older. When I turned seventeen, I had to move to Stockholm if I wanted to play professionally.”
Lundgren became a professional in 1983 and rose up the world rankings very quickly. He won his first ATP Tour event in Cologne in 1985. In 1987, he was voted the ATP Tour Most Improved Player. Lundgren achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 25 and won three ATP Tour singles titles.
“Besides all the great Swedish players,” Lundgren says. “I was able to play some of the legends like; McEnroe, Connors, and Lendl. I believe that helped me tremendously as a coach. I had seen a lot of good tennis, and I knew what it took to be great. So, I was not in awe of the talent of Marcelo (Rios), Roger (Federer), or Marat (Safin). And the same with Marcos (Baghdatis) and Grigor (Dmitrov). It was more like, right, yes, you are a very good player, but we need to do this and that to get to the next step higher.”
One mistake that often happens with the coach-player relationship, is when they become overly familiar and confuse kindness with weakness.
“There comes a time in every coach and player relationship where the coach has to make a stand,” claims Lundgren. “Are you going to keep quiet and take the money? Once, I asked Marat (Safin), ‘Why did you hire me? Just to throw balls at you in practice? Or to tell you what you need to do to improve?’ Either the player listens to me or I walk. The players knew that if it got to the point that I said that I would walk, I meant it. In a strange way that gave me more credibility with them. I believe they appreciated the honesty and the fact that I was just not riding their backs for a better lifestyle.”
Peter Lundgren, a former Swedish tennis star and one of the key figures in Roger Federer’s rise as his early-career coach, has died at 59. Very sad to hear this. Peter was great company and gave so much to the game. I personally am very thankful for the help he gave me on my… pic.twitter.com/ldjx4DYjnp
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 23, 2024
R.I.P Peter Lundgren. A fantastic warm and positive person and on top of that a magical coach has left us way to early 💔 A very sad day
— Magnus Norman (@normansweden) August 23, 2024
Indeed a very sad day for tennis 🎾!
Peter Lundgren, one of the best coaches in tennis has passed away …
My condolences to his 2 kids and family!
RIP Peter https://t.co/COhirk3krz— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) August 23, 2024
RIP Peter 😔
A good man with a kind soul.
A helluva coach also. #PeterLundgren 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/mnQNz8Wh5S— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) August 23, 2024
Twenty years since he became the US Open boys’ champion, Andy Murray is giving New York a miss and beginning retired life with a holiday in Spain.
Thursday was one of the most special days of Eliot Spizzirri’s life. The 22-year-old American defeated #NextGenATP star Joao Fonseca in a three-set thriller to qualify for the US Open main draw for the first time.
After the match, Spizzirri was cooling down in the gym by himself and going through his post-match stretching routine when he received a pleasant surprise. Actor Matthew McConaughey had posted a message congratulating him on his success.
“Longhorn @espizz11 onto the @usopen main draw. #hookem” McConaughey wrote.
Longhorn @espizz11 onto the @usopen main draw. #hookem
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) August 22, 2024
The celebrity earned a film degree from the University of Texas, where Spizzirri was a standout on the university’s tennis team.
“I just opened up Twitter, and I saw that, and I just started smiling,” Spizzirri told ATPTour.com. “It’s crazy to think about. He’s obviously one of my favourite actors, but also just a huge staple for UT, and a guy that everyone looks up to, obviously being the Minister of Culture and doing a lot for Texas sports. To see him tweet about me is super special.”
McConaughey is not only an alumnus of UT, but a professor at the school and has dubbed himself “Minister of Culture”. He consistently supports members of the school’s community, and Spizzirri is just the latest example.
[ATP APP]“It’s crazy to fathom that he’s checking in on qualifying at the US Open,” Spizzirri said. “But I just can’t appreciate it enough, and it just shows how tightly knit the Texas community is. So yeah, I was ecstatic when I saw it.”
The American, who grew up training at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, said his favourite movie featuring the actor is The Wolf of Wall Street. Spizzirri will hope to have as much success at Flushing Meadows as the movie did in theatres. He plays #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen in the first round.
It is safe to say McConaughey will be watching. As he would say, “Alright, alright, alright!”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]When Christopher Eubanks captured his maiden ATP Tour title in Mallorca last year, the American needed to escape an opening round three-setter against Alex Michelsen before eventually lifting the trophy. The 19-year-old Michelsen avenged that loss Thursday at the Winston-Salem Open with a narrow 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) win as he continues his own quest for his first tour-level crown.
Will Michelsen’s tight victory in North Carolina also prove the springboard to his first ATP Tour title?
Celebrating his 20th birthday on Sunday, Michelsen was two points from victory at 6/6 in the second-set tie-break, but was forced to a decider. Producing clean hitting and several acute angle passing shots by the 6’7″ Eubanks, the teen held his nerve to advance after two hours, 29 minutes.
“I thought we both played pretty well, it was a high-quality match,” Michelsen said. “When he was coming up with no-look volley winners, it wasn’t that fun for me, but I’m sure it was fun for everybody else. It was a battle.
“I was just going to keep going after my shots and I’m glad it paid off. In the second-set tie-break, I missed a couple shots that were a little bit regrettable. In the third-set breaker, I felt like I didn’t miss too many shots.”
[ATP APP]Michelsen has appeared in two tour-level finals, both of which came in Newport (2024, 2023). The California native is hoping to go one step further this week as he continues his quest for a Top 50 breakthrough. Michelsen is competing this week at a career-high No. 52 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
Up next for the 11th seed, second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, is close friend Learner Tien or 2016 champion Pablo Carreno Busta. Michelsen is aiming for a return trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December. Last year he did not advance beyond the round-robin stage.
In the top half of the draw, David Goffin and 10th seed Lorenzo Sonego will meet in the semi-finals after they each earned a straight-sets win. The Belgian Goffin cruised past Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-3 to reach his first semi-final since 2022 Marrakech, where the 33-year-old won his most recent trophy of six tour-level titles.
Sonego produced a heavy-hitting performance to oust Pavel Kotov 6-3, 7-5. The first Italian semi-finalist in Winston-Salem tournament history, the 29-year-old created 16 break chances, converting three of them, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Friday will be Sonego’s first tour-level semi-final of 2024.
Goffin leads Sonego 1-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Their previous meeting came in 2021 at the ATP 250 in Montpellier, an event that Goffin went on to win.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]