Jannik Sinner could not have asked for a better birthday present. Just four days after turning 18, the surging Italian star made the most of his Grand Slam qualifying debut.

Sinner was dominant in dismissing countryman Matteo Viola 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes in the first round of US Open qualifying. The youngest player in the draw, he converted an impressive six of seven break points to prevail.

Sinner has been a force on the ATP Challenger Tour this year, claiming his maiden title in Bergamo in February and following that with a second victory in Lexington last month. Up to No. 131 in the ATP Rankings and 12th in the ATP Race To Milan, he is making a strong push to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

In other action, Tallon Griekspoor continued his strong run of form, as the No. 2 Dutchman earned a first US Open qualifying win of his own. He defeated Elias Ymer 7-5, 6-2 under the lights on Court 9. Griekspoor – the World No. 194 – enters on the heels of a final appearance at the Tampere Challenger and a straight-set win over Steve Johnson last week in Vancouver.

“It feels good,” the 23-year-old told ATPTour.com. “It was very tough at the start. I was struggling with the court a bit under the lights. I didn’t start really well, going down a break, but I’m happy to get back from 5-2 down in the first set. I served pretty well.

“I love New York. Everybody loves New York. My parents are here, so it’s nice. They came over. I hope to keep it going.”

Meanwhile, Noah Rubin and Mitchell Krueger were the lone Americans to advance on Day 2 of qualifying. Rubin routed Gianluca Mager 6-2, 6-3 in just 53 minutes, while Krueger earned a hard-fought win over Jay Clarke, battling from a set down to triumph 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4. A year ago, the Dallas native successfully qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw in New York.

On Court 11, Jason Jung survived a stern test from Donald Young, prevailing 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5 in two hours and 20 minutes. Trailing 1-3 in the deciding set, Jung reeled off six of the next eight games to move into the second round. The 30-year-old is coming off a final appearance at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Vancouver on Sunday. After taking a red-eye flight to New York, he overcame jet lag and fatigue to earn his fifth win in seven days.

Other winners on Tuesday include sixth seed Salvatore Caruso, Brazil’s Joao Menezes and Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi. Menezes is coming off a final appearance at the Binghamton Challenger and a gold medal victory at the Pan American Games in Lima. The 37-year-old Lorenzi is hoping to punch his ticket to an eighth straight main draw at Flushing Meadows. He reached the Round of 16 in 2017.

Fans have been captivated by Duckhee Lee’s incredible story throughout the week at the Winston-Salem Open. The South Korean became the first deaf player to win an ATP Tour main draw match with his victory over Swiss Henri Laaksonen 

After a competitive three-set loss to third-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz on Tuesday, ATP Tour held an exclusive interview with Lee in the form of a Twitter Q&A. The 21-year-old took time to answer some of the many questions that fans had for him.

Do you have special routines before the match? Or are you superstitious?
I will wear the same clothes I win in and not wear the same clothes I lose in. When I’m angry or frustrated, I try to close my eyes and breathe deeply. I try to talk to myself and say that I can do it.

Is it difficult to be coached? Is it difficult to understand the chair umpire?
I think that we can read each other’s minds. But when my team is not around, we text each other. I don’t usually need to communicate with the umpire except for ‘in’ and ‘out’ calls, so that can be frustrating.

Who’s your favourite player?
I have to pick just one? I started playing because I wanted to be like Roger Federer and love his playing style. I also admire Rafael Nadal’s passion, Novak Djokovic’s fairness, Andy Murray’s effort & Kei Nishikori for how he represents Asia.

What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to play online games and watch cartoons, but also like to play games offline as well like bingo and baseball.

Do you think your disability can help you concentrate more on the game?
I think not being able to hear actually helps me. It means I have to concentrate more and try harder.

Is it difficult travelling and forming friendships on tour?
I don’t think I have trouble making friends. There are a lot of other Korean players that I’m friends with, so I don’t ever feel lonely.

Of the four Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open has the most diverse list of champions over the past decade, featuring six different champions since 2009. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lead the way with three titles each during that time period, while Juan Martin del Potro (2009), Andy Murray (2012), Marin Cilic (2014) and Stan Wawrinka (2016) have all won the hard-court major once.

In comparison, only five players total — Djokovic, Nadal, Wawrinka, Roger Federer and Andy Murray ⁠— have combined to win the other three majors — the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon — over the past decade.  

Defending champion Djokovic and Nadal are set to be the top two seeds at the 2019 edition, followed by Federer, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev. The 38-year-old Federer, who will be making his 19th appearance at Flushing Meadows, claimed a record straight five straight US Open titles from 2004-08 and has since finished runner-up on two other occasions (2009, 2015). 

Medvedev has dominated the month of August, reaching three straight finals at the Citi Open and back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, the Coupe Rogers and Western & Southern Open. The 23-year-old Russian, who upset Djokovic in the Cincinnati semi-finals en route to his first Masters 1000 title, enters the US Open at a career-high No. 5 ATP Ranking.

Here’s all you need to know about the US Open: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more.  

Established: 1881

Tournament Dates: 26 August – 8 September 2019

Director: David Brewer

Draw Ceremony: Thursday, 22 August, at noon ET at the Fan Week Center Stage

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Monday, 19 August – Friday, 23 August from 11:00am
* Main draw: Monday, 26 August – Wednesday, 4 September at 11:00am and 7:00pm; Thursday, 5 September at 12:00pm.
* Doubles final: Friday, 6 September at 12:00pm
* Singles semi-finals: Friday, 6 September not before 4:00pm and 5:30pm
* Mixed doubles final: Saturday, 7 September at 12:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 8 September at 4:00pm

How To Watch
View TV Schedule

Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Main Court Seating: 23,700

Prize Money: US $ 28,619,350

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Archived Draws

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras (5)
Most Titles, Doubles: Mike Bryan (6)
Oldest Champion: Ken Rosewall, 35, in 1970
Youngest Champion: Pete Sampras, 19, in 1990
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 20 Andre Agassi in 1994
Most Match Wins: Jimmy Connors (98)

2018 Finals
Singles: [6] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d [3] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 63 76(4) 63  Read More
Doubles: [3] Mike Bryan (USA) / Jack Sock (USA) d [7] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) 63 61  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #USOpen
Facebook: @usopentennis
Twitter: @usopen
Instagram: @usopen

Did You Know… The US Open bears little resemblance to the tournament started in 1881. It has evolved from an exclusive men’s singles and doubles tournament in Newport, R.I., to a two-week sports and entertainment extravaganza held in Flushing, N.Y. More than 700,000 fans enter the gates annually at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center..

Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who reached No. 8 in the ATP Rankings and won four ATP Tour titles, will retire in November. The 35-year-old Belgrade native turned professional in 2002 and wrote in an Instagram post that it’s time for him to focus on other priorities in his life.

“It has been a great 16 years. After a lot of soul searching and thinking what is important to me in this stage of my life and what does make me happy, I have decided to retire from professional tennis,” he wrote.

Tipsarevic has seen limited action this year, going 5-8 from eight tour-level events. His best seasons came in 2011, when he won half of his ATP Tour titles and debuted at the Nitto ATP Finals, and in 2012, when Tipsarevic reached his best ATP Ranking and again qualified for the season-ending championships in London.

The right-hander first scaled to No. 8 in April 2012, following his quarter-final run at the Miami Open presented by Itau, an ATP Masters 1000 event. But the Serbian has also endured numerous injuries that have required seven surgeries.

He plans to play at next week’s US Open and a few ATP Tour tournaments before playing his final event at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.

What a way to celebrate cracking the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime is featured in Vogue’s September 2019 issue, which is on newsstands throughout the U.S. starting Tuesday. The 19-year-old climbed to a new career-high of No. 19 on Monday when the new ATP Rankings were released.

Auger-Aliassime has risen 89 spots since the start of the season and will go for his first US Open main-draw win next week when the season’s final Grand Slam begins on 26 August.

Below is an excerpt from the story, which is titled, “Félix Auger-Aliassime Is Taking Tennis by Storm”. The full story can be read here.

By Sarah Crompton/Vogue

Auger-Aliassime began playing tennis at the age of four at the suggestion of his father, Sam, a tennis coach, originally from Togo. (His mother, Marie, is a teacher, and his older sister Malika plays college tennis.) “He just transmitted his passion to us,” Auger-Aliassime says, grinning broadly, revealing the gap in his front teeth. “I don’t really have a memory of not playing. And at a very young age, I told him, ‘I want to be a professional tennis player.’ What I like most about the game is its competitive side. It’s a duel—like chess or like gladiators. It’s two players confronting each other and finding solutions, and I really like that.”