The US Open’s first spherical begins on Sunday with defending ladies’s champion Aryna Sabalenka trying to recapture high kind, whereas former males’s champion Daniil Medvedev faces a well-known foe whom he has did not beat in earlier conferences.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: ARYNA SABALENKA V REBEKA MASAROVA
Sabalenka lastly received the US Open final yr, after two semi-final exits then loss within the 2023 ultimate. However defending the crown has confirmed powerful for many, with the ladies’s singles match producing 10 champions within the final 11 years.
The world primary’s quest for a fourth Grand Slam win has additionally been suffering from disappointment as she misplaced within the finals of the Australian Open and the French Open this yr, earlier than bowing out from the semis in Wimbledon.
“I feel it is quite a lot of stress, undoubtedly. Simply because this place is so massive, and it feels larger than the opposite slams in some methods,” mentioned the 27-year-old, aiming to grow to be the primary participant to defend the title in a decade.
Sabalenka will search for a fast win over Rebeka Masarova on Sunday, however could also be in for a struggle as her Swiss opponent compelled a tiebreaker within the second set earlier than taking place of their first assembly in June.
The Belarusian mentioned she was conscious of the chances towards her.
“I’d love to complete the season with a Grand Slam and world primary. But when this objective is to not be, I am going to nonetheless suppose this season has been actually wonderful,” she mentioned.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: DANIIL MEDVEDEV V BENJAMIN BONZI
The US Open has been the Grand Slam of selection for Medvedev, with the three-time finalist profitable his solely main in New York in 2021.
However the 29-year-old Russian has struggled this yr, shedding within the first spherical on the French Open and Wimbledon after a second-round exit from the Australian Open.
The thirteenth seed faces a tricky check within the very first spherical at Flushing Meadows this yr, towards Benjamin Bonzi, the identical opponent who knocked him out at Wimbledon.
Medvedev has did not beat the Frenchman in each their conferences, having retired throughout their first match at Roland Garros in 2017.
“I used to be shocked by his stage,” Medvedev mentioned after his loss to Bonzi in June. “No matter I did on the court docket, it was not bothering him an excessive amount of. The whole lot he did was powerful for me to play.”
Bonzi, ranked 51st, has by no means gone past the third spherical in a Grand Slam, however picked up wins over some notable opponents within the final yr, together with Casper Ruud and Lorenzo Musetti.
PEGULA SEEKS GRAND SLAM GLORY AT HOME
Final yr’s finalist Jessica Pegula is hoping to win her first main within the state the place she was born and believes the New York crowd might help her.
The 31-year-old, who faces Egypt’s Mayar Sherif within the first spherical, mentioned the spectators on the US Open can have an impact in contrast to another Grand Slam.
“I consider the group type of taking individuals and carrying them via in no matter manner you type of embrace them,” Pegula mentioned on Friday.
“It is simply very electrical, rowdy, enjoyable, a little bit bit chaotic. However I really feel prefer it’s simply New York type of in a nutshell.”
Pegula has been a crowd favorite on the US Open since her Grand Slam fundamental draw debut at Flushing Meadows in 2015.
“I feel you understand that if you happen to can play properly and discover methods to win, you possibly can go deep right here and something can occur,” she added.
—Reuters
