Every active player with three or more Major singles titles is in New York: Serena, Roger, Rafa, Novak, Venus, Maria, Andy, Stan, and Angelique. In total, 109 Major singles titles are represented in the men’s and women’s draws.
On the men’s side, the “Big Five” have hoarded 53 of the last 55 Major titles. And as Brad Gilbert recently highlighted, with Juan Martin Del Potro and Marin Cilic both turning 30 in a few weeks, we’ll soon have no male Major singles champions under the age of 30. Will we finally see a younger player breakthrough during this fortnight? Judging by recent results inside and outside of the Majors, the domination of the “Big Five” may continue for a bit longer.
The women’s side has been much more unpredictable, with eight different women prevailing at the last 12 Grand Slam events. Unlike the men’s side, it’s easy to imagine upwards of 15-20 women leaving New York with this title. Angelique Kerber has won 25% of the Grand Slam events over the last three years, but she’s never won back-to-back Majors. World No.1 Simona Halep and No.2 Caroline Wozniacki both arrive at less than 100%, and Serena Williams is yet to regain her top form as she fights for her 24th Major title. The air of volatility surrounding the women’s draw should make for a compelling 14 days.
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Stan Wawrinka
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This will be the first match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium. This year, the US Open’s biggest court has a revised start time of 12:00pm, with only two matches scheduled for the day session. It’s been a rough season for Grigor Dimitrov, who is just 22-15 on the year with no titles. And he hasn’t had much luck as of late with his draw at the Majors, as he’s drawn Stan Wawrinka as his first round opponent for the second straight time. Stan defeated Grigor at Wimbledon, and Wawrinka has only gotten better as the summer has progressed. Stan played his best tennis in over a year against both of the top two players in the world, Nadal and Federer, at his last two tournaments. And Wawrinka also has a much better record in New York than Dimitrov. Prior to Wimbledon, Grigor had won his last four meetings with Stan, but it appears Wawrinka is poised to start a streak of his own against Dimitrov.
Venus Williams vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
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Next up on Ashe will be another blockbuster first round matchup, between two former US Open champions. Neither player comes into New York with much momentum, as both have struggled in 2018. Coming off a stellar 2017, Venus is only 15-10 on the year. Meanwhile Kuznetsova is 10-11 this season, as she battled a wrist injury earlier this year. Svetlana though impressed by winning the title this summer in Washington, DC, while Venus only secured three wins on the summer hard courts before withdrawing from Cincinnati due to an ongoing knee injury. Their career head-to-head is even at 5-5 apiece. A semifinalist at last year’s US Open, Venus has a lot of points to defend, and will surely feel more pressure than Svetlana. A Kuznetsova victory seems more than likely on Monday.
Denis Shapovalov vs. Felix Auger-Aliassame
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The draw gods gifted us another extremely intriguing opening round here, with two young off-court best friends in an on-court all-Canadian battle. The 19-year-old Shapovalov came into his own a year ago, with his semifinal run in Montreal, and coming through qualifying to make the fourth round in New York. The 18-year-old Auger-Aliassame got his first tour-level win earlier this year in Indian Wells, and upset Lucas Pouille at this year’s Rogers Cup in Toronto. He qualified for this tournament without dropping a set. It’s hard not to favor the older and more experienced Shapovalov, but facing a fellow countryman, much less someone you’re so close with, can certainly complicate matters. If both play their best, this could be an extremely fun match to close out the day’s schedule on Grandstand, and could be the beginning of a Next Gen rivalry to play out for many years to come.
Serena Williams vs. Magda Linette
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This will be the first match of the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Following her run to the finals at Wimbledon, Serena did not get much match play this summer. She had the worst loss of her career in San Jose, winning just one game against Johanna Konta, though her level was understandably affected by news of her sister’s killer being released from jail. Williams opted not to play the Rogers Cup, and got one win under her belt before losing to Petra Kvitova in Cincinnati. The good news is Serena played pretty well in that defeat, and she has a very winnable opening round draw here. Linette has more losses than wins on the year, and the 26-year-old has never been ranked higher than 55th in the world. Serena should prevail, but just how comfortably she prevails may give us some insight as to her title chances.
Rafael Nadal vs. David Ferrer
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The night session on Ashe will conclude with the 31st meeting between these countrymen and friends. Nadal holds a 24-6 record over Ferrer, with David’s last victory coming on clay over four years ago. The 36-year-old Ferrer has hinted at retiring from the sport sometime next year, so this very well may be his swan song in New York. Now ranked 148th in the world, with semifinalist points from last year in Cincinnati coming off his ranking, this could be the last Major of Ferrer’s career. David is only 9-17 in 2018, and it’s hard to imagine he’ll give Nadal a true test on Monday evening. But much like Nadal, you can rest assured he’ll give his all on every point. If this does turn out to be Ferrer’s last match at a Major, going out against one of the all-time greats on Arthur Ashe Stadium is a pretty good last stand.
Other notable matches on Day 1:
- World No.1 Simona Halep vs. Kaia Kanepi, a US Open quarterfinalist last year
- In just his eighth match of 2018, Andy Murray vs. James Duckworth
- 2017 US Open Champion Sloane Stephens vs. Evgeniya Rodina
Full order of play (All times local, -5 hours from BST)
Arthur Ashe Stadium
12pm
S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs. G. Dimitrov (BUL) [8]
S. Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. V. Williams (USA) [16]
7pm
S. Williams (USA) [17] vs.M. Linette (POL)
R. Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. D. Ferrer (ESP)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
11am
S. Halep (ROU) [1] vs. K. Kanepi (EST)
A. Murray (GBR) vs. J. Duckworth (AUS)
S. Stephens (USA) [3] vs. E. Rodina (RUS)
7pm
V. Azarenka (BLR) vs. V. Kuzmova (SVK)
J. Del Potro (ARG) [3] vs. D. Young (USA)
Grandstand
11am
S. Vickery (USA) vs. E. Svitolina (UKR) [7]
J. Isner (USA) [11] vs. B. Klahn (USA)
Z. Diyas (KAZ) vs. Ka. Pliskova (CZE) [8]
5pm
D. Shapovalov (CAN) [28] vs. F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
Court 17
J. Sock (USA) [18] vs. G. Andreozzi (ARG)
G. Muguruza (ESP) [12] vs. S. Zhang (CHN)
D. Vekic (CRO) vs. A. Sevastova (LAT) [19]
R. Harrison (USA) vs. K. Anderson (RSA) [5]
Court 5
M. Raonic (CAN) [25] vs. C. Berlocq (ARG)
O. Jabeur (TUN) vs. A. Barty (AUS) [18]
S. Querrey (USA) vs. A. Seppi (ITA)
M. Sakkari (GRE) [32] vs. A. Muhammad (USA)
Court 10
K. Nara (CAN) [25] vs.C. Berlocq (ARG)
O. Jabeur (TUN) vs. A. Barty (AUS) [18]
S. Querrey (USA) vs. A. Seppi (ITA)
M. Sakkari (GRE) [32] vs. A. Muhammad (USA)
Court 13
P. Lorenzi (ITA) vs. K. Edmund (GBR) [16]
A. Radwanska (POL) vs. T. Maria (GER)
C. Norrie (GBR) vs. J. Thompson (AUS)
C. Dolehide (USA) vs. C. Witthoeft (GER)
Court 4
V. Lapko (BLR) vs. K. Bondarenko (UKR)
H. Watson (GBR) vs. E. Makarova (RUS)
D. Lajovic (SRB) vs. D. Dzumhur (BIH) [24]
V. Pospisil (CAN) vs. L. Lacko (SVK)
