2024 US Open Men’s Favorites

The US Open will kick off on the 26th of August – providing the tennis stars an opportunity to grab the last Grand Slam title of the year. The most successful player in men’s game in terms of slam titles, Novak Djokovic will look to successfully defend his trophy that he won last year. Things haven’t been smooth sailing for him though as he is yet to register a big trophy this year. Carlos Alcaraz is posing to be a huge contender as World no 1 Jannik Sinner is in a marathon to claim top honors. Let’s take a look at men’s favorites. 

Jannik Sinner

It has been an astonishing year for Jannik Sinner. He became the first Italian player to be ranked number one after capturing a maiden Australian Open title at the beginning of the season. The 23-year-old enters the main draw as the highest-seed player and will want to put his bad record in the tournament behind him. He hasn’t gone past the Quarter-finals round and last year he lost in the fourth round to Alexander Zverev in an epic five-match thriller. In building up to the competition, Sinner clinched Cincinnati Masters, which was his fifth title of the year, to indicate the great form. But the news surrounding testing positive for steroids in which he was later cleared to compete will have a small impact on his emotional challenges in preparing for the competition. It remains to be seen if he can be able to overcome those. 

Novak Djokovic

The last time Novak Djokovic ended a year without a Grand Slam was back in 2017. He is in danger of achieving similar results this year too. The 37-year-old Serb has gone from achieving three Grand Slams last year to failing to register even one this year. The search for the 25th slam continues. Nevertheless, Djokovic, who skipped the Cincinnati Masters, after winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, to be fully fit for the US Open remains a huge threat to reign supreme. He will enter the draw as the second-seeded player. Last year, he managed to win another US Open title, and it will be encouraging for him to enter as the defending champion. For a player who has managed to be a champion four times in the United States then he won’t find it hard to find a way to do it again.

Carlos Alcaraz

Things have been unfolding nicely for Carlos Alcaraz this year. The 21-year-old Spaniard have accumulated two Grand Slam (French and Wimbledon Open) titles this year. So, he is chasing for the third one when entering the US Open main draw. In the past, he has managed to walk away as the champion in Flushing Meadows winning back in 2022. He will arrive in the competition with a bit of concern though as he suffered a shocking round of 32 defeat to Gael Monfils last week during Cincinnati Masters. But as the player has extraordinary talent, he can be able to swing things easily to his advantage. 

Alexander Zverev

Can he finally snatch a Grand Slam? That is the question many tennis fanatics are asking themselves across the globe. Over the years, Alexander Zverev has been tipped as one of the players poised to dominate the tennis circuit. The series of injuries and inconsistent and off-field problems have seemed to be standing in his way. The 27-year-old German will roll back into the year 2020 where he threw away two sets lead in the US Open final to end up losing in five against Dominic Thiem. That remains a wasted opportunity by him to get his hands into the major title. This year though he has been in good shape when participating in majors. At the beginning of the year, he lost in the Australian Open semi-final stage to Daniil Medvedev then that performance was followed by a French Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz. Then he crashed in the third round of the Wimbledon Open. In preparation for the last major, he made to Cincinnati Masters last week losing to the eventual winner Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals. 

Frances Tiafoe

The US Open has produced surprising champions over the years. The list includes Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic if you look at the recent years. Now, Frances Tiafoe will want to put his name inside that bracket. Known as one of the most exciting and skillful players on the court, Tiafoe will carry American hopes in the tournament. The 26-year-old is coming from a terrific week before the tournament. He reached the Cincinnati Masters final losing to Jannik Sinner in the straight set. That performance will serve as the ideal motivation as he intends to replicate or go further from his 2022 success in the competition. In that year, he reached the semi-finals losing to a champion Carlos Alcaraz.