The US Open actually began on Sunday, so I'm a bit late to getting this up. Below are my 10 things to look for at the 2025 US Open in New York. Click here to check out the draws in case you haven't yet seen them. Ok, let's dive in!
#1. How healthy is Jannik Sinner? No. 1 Jannik Sinner pulled out of the final in the Cincinnati Open due to an illness, handing the title to No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. A lot of questions have swirled around about how healthy Sinner is and whether or not he'd even compete. Well, he's in the main draw and will give it a go. But will he stay healthy the entire tournament or could he be in for an early exit? The first couple rounds will tell us a lot.
#2. Can Aryna Sabalenka defend her title? No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka comes in as the defending champion with many picking her to defend her title. However, she did lose to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final earlier this year, unable to defend her title there. Sabalenka will be eager to not have that happen again and this time defend her crown. If she does, she'll be sending a message that she truly is the top hard court player in the game.
#3. Does Novak Djokovic have one more slam in him? No. 7 Novak Djokovic has won 24 grand slams and is gunning for his 25th. He cruised to a 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Learner Tien in the first round, so he's off to a good start. The key for Djokovic will be to make sure he takes care of business in straight sets through the first four rounds. The less tennis he has to play, especially on the hard courts, the better. Djokovic has to make sure in these early rounds he doesn't get pushed. Otherwise, fatigue will certainly catch up with him in the later rounds.
#4. Will Coco Gauff's coaching change pay off? No. 3 Coco Gauff fired her catch Matthew Daly just days before the US Open in a move that sent a bit of a shockwave through the tennis world. It's a bold move to make that only will look smart if she goes all the way. If she doesn't, it will look like a desperate move that should have at least waited until the end of the season. It certainly adds more pressure on Gauff to perform well at this tournament, but then again, maybe this will help her out mentally. Time will tell.
#5. Can Carlos Alcaraz build on his win at Cincinnati? After winning the Cincinnati Open, Carlos Alcaraz comes into the US Open with a lot of momentum. But will it ultimately matter? If Sinner is not able to play to his full strength, one has to like Alcaraz's chances of winning it all. The only reason to pause is he hasn't won the US Open since 2022. It's a bit of a dry spell in New York that Alcaraz would love to end.
#6. Can Iga Swiatek build on her win at Cincinnati? No. 2 Iga Swiatek defeated No. 7 Jasmine Paolini to win the Cincinnati Open. Just like Alcaraz, Swiatek is eager to build on the momentum she has coming into the tournament. Also like Alcaraz, she hasn't won the US Open since 2022. Will this be the year she wins it all again in New York? It should be interesting to see.
#7. Can Alexander Zverev contend? No. 3 Alexander Zverev is still seeking his first grand slam title. He only reached the US Open final once in his career (2020), but he did reach the Australian Open final earlier this year. If Sinner is unable to go deep in the tournament, Zverev in theory should be the guy to take advantage as the number three guy in the world. But can he actually do it? That's the question.
#8. Can Madison Keys threaten? After winning the Australian Open, No. 6 Madison Keys will look to wrap up the 2025 season how she started it: winning a hard court grand slam. Keys should have a lot more confidence in her US Open chances after the way she performed Down Under, but as a word of caution, she has only reached one US Open final in her career and that was back in 2017. If Keys does go the distance this year, that would be quite a story.
#9. Can Taylor Fritz go the distance? If there's an American man to threaten to win it all this year, it would be No. 4 Taylor Fritz. Fritz reached the final last year and really fed off the American crowd. While not the same level of pressure that was on Andy Murray to win Wimbledon as a Brit, it has been 22 years since an American man won a grand slam (Andy Roddick, 2003 US Open). Fritz is the best chance the United States has to end that drought. It would be cool if he did.
#10. Can Jessica Pegula go the distance? The number four seed on the women's side is also an American in Jessica Pegula. She reached the final last year just like Fritz did and is also in search of her first grand slam. It'll be interesting to see how she does and whether or not she can once again feed off the energy from the New York crowd.
Prediction: I'm gonna pick both Cincinnati winners to win the US Open. I got Carlos Alcaraz winning on the men's side and Iga Swiatek winning on the women's side. They're both playing great tennis right now and seem eager to win a second US Open title.
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