The fourth and final Tennis Grand Slam event of the year – the US Open – starts at the end of August for the 138th time. The outdoor tournament, taking place on hard courts, will be held at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in New York City.
The 2018 event is to be the last Grand Slam event with a 32 player seed, tournaments from 2019 onwards will revert back to 16 players. This will reverse the 2001 decision that was designed to give more exposure to players, seen as a positive move by broadcasters and sponsors alike.
The US Open promises to deliver plenty of action in 2018, with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer tipped as joint-favourites this year, along with several other contenders that have a chance for the top spot. The eyes of the world’s tennis fans will be fixed on the 22 courts contained within the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre’s 3 stadiums for the two week tournament.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal and the United States’ Sloane Stephens are defending Men’s and Women’s Singles Champions following their success in 2017. Other big names seeded for the singles tournaments include Venus and Serena Williams, Madison Keys, and Kevin Anderson. Other events include:
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
- Wheelchair Men’s & Women’s Singles
- Wheelchair Quad Singles
- Wheelchair Men’s & Women’s Doubles
- Wheelchair Quad Doubles
Who to Look Out For
The “Big Four” (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) will be playing together at the US Open for the first time in 3 years. However, like at any Grand Slam tournament there will be a lot more going on at the US Open 2018. No doubt matches involving the following players will be high on most fans lists:
Roger Federer
Ranked the World Number 2, Roger Federer recently pulled out from the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Federer suffered a surprising loss in the quarter final at Wimbledon to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, but is looking to win his sixth US Open title in September.
Sloane Stephens
25 year old Sloane Stephens is ranked World Number 3 by the Women’s Tennis Association, and is the US Open Women’s Singles winner from 2017. Stephens’ career really took off after she beat Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open Quarter Finals. She has also made it to the Final of the French Open in 2018, meaning she’ll be one to watch this Autumn.
Maria Sharapova
31 year old Russian player, Maria Sharapova, has won every single Grand Slam at least once. She last won the US Open in 2006, when she beat Justine Henin in the final. Sharapova has had less success in the US Open in comparison to the other three Grand Slam tournaments, but she’ll be looking to turn that around in 2018.
Denis Shapovalov
Born in Tel Aviv, to a Russian family (but with Canadian citizenship, and now living in the Bahamas), Denis Shapovalov is the youngest player within the ATP top 100 rankings. His rise to prominence came when he reached a Masters semi final at the 2017 Canadian Open after defeating Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro. Shapovalov made it to the fourth round in the 2017 US Open, and will be looking to better this record this year. Whilst not a household name yet, it most likely won’t be long before he is.
