Scouting Report: Can Anyone Stop Alcaraz & Djokovic At US Open?

The final major of the season commences on Monday at the US Open, where top seed Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion.

Novak Djokovic will aim to win a record-extending 24th Grand Slam title, while third seed Daniil Medvedev holds fond memories in New York, having lifted the trophy in 2021.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at the hard-court major.

1) Defending Champion Alcaraz: Twelve months ago, Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed his breakthrough moment in New York, where he captured his maiden major title to climb to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. The 20-year-old Spaniard returns to the hard-court Slam as the top seed and with two major titles, having defeated Novak Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon final in July.

Alcaraz, who opens against Dominik Koepfer, arrives in New York off the back of a run to the final in Cincinnati, where he lost to Djokovic in an epic three-set battle.

2) Djokovic Chasing 24th Major: After falling one match short of capturing a record-extending 24th Slam at Wimbledon, Djokovic will look to extend his major tally when he competes at the US Open. The Serbian, who will reclaim the No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking if he wins his first-round match against Alexandre Muller, is a three-time titlist in New York (2011, ’15, ’18).

The 36-year-old reached the final in his previous appearance in 2021, when Daniil Medvedev stopped him from becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the Grand Slam, winning all four majors in the same season.

3) Former Titlist Medvedev: Third seed Medvedev holds fond memories in New York, having lifted his first major title at the event in 2021. The 27-year-old, who has captured five tour-level crowns this year, is chasing his second major and 19th hard-court title, starting against Attila Balazs. Medvedev went 3-2 at ATP Masters 100 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.

4) Sinner, Rune Threats: The 20-year-old Holger Rune and 22-year-old Jannik Sinner arrive in New York fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Rune reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, but will be eager to rediscover his best form, having lost in the second round in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Sinner is 41-12 on the season and arrives high in confidence after capturing his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto earlier this month. The Italian advanced to the quarter-finals at the US Open last season, losing to Alcaraz in one of the best matches of the year. Sinner is seeded to face the top seed at the same stage this fortnight.

With both chasing their first major title, fourth seed Rune opens against Roberto Carballes Baena, while sixth seed Sinner meets Yannick Hanfmann.

5) Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Heats Up: As the third quarter of the season continues, the quest to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals continues. Alexander Zverev, who reached the final in New York in 2020, is in eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (2,670 points), while ninth-placed Taylor Fritz (2,650 points) will look to banish memories of a first-round defeat at the major last year when he meets Steve Johnson.

Last year’s finalist Casper Ruud, who also advanced to the title match in Turin in 2022, is 10th (2,580 points) and plays American qualifier Emilio Nava first. The Norwegian could meet Rune in the quarter-finals. Australian Alex de Minaur is 11th (2,325 points) after reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Toronto. De Minaur is aiming to make his debut at the prestigious year-end event this season.

Twelve-placed Tommy Paul (2,255), who plays Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia in the first round, reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open this year. With just 415 points between eighth-placed Zverev and 12th-placed Paul, the opportunity to climb in the Live Race To Turin is high in New York.

6) American Charge: Alongside Fritz and Paul, 10th seed Frances Tiafoe carries home hopes in the United States. The 25-year-old advanced to the last four in New York in 2022, defeating Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. There are 18 Americans in the draw. For John Isner, the major will be his final tour-level event. The 38-year-old, who announced this week he will retire after the US Open, reached the quarter-finals in 2011 and 2018.

7) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: Arthur Fils and Ben Shelton lead a group of five #NextGenATP contenders at this year’s US Open, where the young stars will aim to earn standout wins to boost their chances of qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals as Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, prepares to host the event for the first time.

Fils, fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah (908 points), makes his US Open debut against Tallon Griekspoor, while fifth-placed American Shelton (735 points) meets Pedro Cachin. Shelton is making his second appearance at the major.

Shelton’s countryman Alex Michelsen, seventh in the Live Race To Jeddah (447 points), meets Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Frenchman Luca Van Assche, currently sixth (587 points), plays 23rd seed Nicolas Jarry. Dominic Stricker, 10th (406 points), advanced through qualifying. The Swiss will play Alexei Popyrin on his main draw debut.

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8) Tsitsipas, Rublev Chasing Best Level: Stefanos Tsitsipas is making his sixth appearance in New York, with his best result being a third-round run in 2020 and 2021. The Greek captured his first tour-level title of the season in Los Cabos earlier this month, but went 1-2 at the Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati. The seventh seed faces a tricky opening test in New York against former World No. 3 Milos Raonic.

Rublev enjoyed a strong opening to the season, clinching his first Masters 1000 title on clay in Monte-Carlo. After winning his second trophy of the year in Bastad in July, he failed to win consecutive matches at events in Hamburg, Toronto and Cincinnati. The 25-year-old will be looking to re-find his best level at the US Open, where he is a three-time quarter-finalist (2017, ’19, ’22).

9) Former Champions In Action: Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka all return to New York as former champions. Murray, 36, lifted the trophy in 2012, while former World No. 3 Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the 2016 final. Austrian Thiem clinched his only major at the event in 2020. All three will hope to roll back the years and enjoy deep runs this fortnight. Murray’s best result this season was a final run in Doha. Wawrinka reached the title match in Umag last month, and Thiem advanced to the final in Kitzbühel three weeks ago.

10) Ram/Salisbury Reigning Champs: Defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury arrive in New York seeking just their second title of the season (Lyon). The American-British tandem will face stiff competition from top seeds Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski and Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek. Singles star Stefanos Tsitsipas teams with brother Petros Tsitsipas.