Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz after winning medals at the Olympics
Alexei Popyrin and Botic van de Zandschulp have made the race for the men’s singles title even more interesting by pulling off the biggest upsets at the US Open 2024. Popyrin stunned title favourite Novak Djokovic in the third round and Botic made things interesting in the last major of the season by beating world number three Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.
Sinner has a chance to win the US Open
Alcaraz, winner of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon this year, lost 1-6, 5-7, 6-7 to world number 74 Botic. Alcaraz’s exit had boosted Djokovic’s chances of reaching a record 25 Grand Slam titles, but the Serbian legend also suffered a defeat on Saturday. With both Djokovic and Alcaraz out, the race for the men’s singles title is wide open, with Jannik Sinner emerging as the clear favourite. World number 1 Sinner has registered two dominant wins in his first two matches and will have an easy match against unseeded Australian Christopher O’Connell in the third round.
Sinner won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2024 and also reached the semi-finals of the French Open 2024. The Italian star also won the Cincinnati Open title earlier this month, raising his hopes of winning the title at the US Open. World number four Daniil Medvedev is the second favorite for the title and is also the biggest contender to stop Sinner. The Russian player will be looking to avenge his Australian Open final loss to Sinner earlier this year.
These two players are also in the race
Medvedev defeated Sinner in the Wimbledon quarterfinals to end a five-match winning streak against the Italian. Medvedev also leads the head-to-head record against Sinner in men’s singles with seven wins out of 12 meetings. Medvedev, 28, won his only Grand Slam at the US Open in 2021. He reached the Australian Open final and the Roland-Garros semi-finals this year, making him a top contender for the US Open title in the absence of Djokovic and Alcaraz.
The third favourite after Sinner and Medvedev is world number four Alexander Zverev. The German star has been in great form in the 2024 season and will look to end his long wait for his first Grand Slam title in the coming week. Zverev reached the French Open 2024 final and the Australian Open semi-final this year. He lost at the 2020 US Open, where he lost 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 on a tiebreaker in the final against Dominic Thiem. Zverev leads the head-to-head battle against Sinner with four wins in six singles matches, including two wins in the US Open round of 16 matches.
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