Who can stop Alcaraz? Will Gauff defend her title? US Open contenders

This season’s grand-slam action comes to an end over the next fortnight as the world’s best players gather in New York for the US Open. Here are the main contenders on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
Novak DjokovicIt will be a tough ask for the 37-year-old Serb to fire on full cylinders after the emotional high of ending his long wait for a Olympic gold medal in Paris this month, but this remarkable athlete should never be counted out. Physically, he should be fresh after opting not to a play a warm-up match on the North American hard courts, but the mental challenge will be difficult after everything he put into peaking at the right time in a quadrennial event. He will not lack for motivation here as this is an opportunity to claim the final piece of the jigsaw by winning a record 25th grand-slam singles title, moving him one clear of Australia’s Margaret Court.
Carlos Alcaraz
There was a brief scare for Alcaraz on Saturday when he turned his right ankle on the practice court and cut short his session. A few hours later, he delivered relief for his supporters by revealing that there was no damage. With that considered, the 21-year-old Spaniard remains the marginal tournament favourite as he bids for a third consecutive grand-slam singles title — and fifth overall — after winning the French Open and Wimbledon this summer. The disappointment of losing to Djokovic in the Olympic final lingered on to Cincinnati, where he uncharacteristically smashed his racket during a second-round defeat by Gaël Monfils, but he appears in better spirits now.
Jannik Sinner
It has been a tumultuous few days for the world No 1 after the announcement last week that he had been found by an independent tribunal to bear “no fault or negligence” for two failed drugs tests in March. Since then his case has been the subject of much debate and scrutiny while he has tried his best to focus on his preparations for a grand-slam tournament. If he can put this behind him and settle in by safely coming through the early rounds, he should fancy his chances of going all the way, given that he won his first major title on hard courts at the Australian Open. He also has momentum on the court after winning the recent Cincinnati Open.
The othersAlexander Zverev, the No 4 seed from Germany, came close to a first grand-slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2020, when he finished runner-up, and has plenty of wins under his belt on the tour this summer. Andrey Rublev, the No 6 seed, has finally shown signs that he is beginning to control his volatile temper by finishing runner-up at the Canadian Open this month, beating Sinner in the quarter-finals. And two years after reaching the semi-finals here, the No 20 seed Frances Tiafoe has stirred hopes of a first home men’s singles champion since Andy Roddick in 2003 by rediscovering his form to reach the final in Cincinnati.
Aryna Sabalenka
The 26-year-old may be the No 2 seed, but she arrives in New York as the outright favourite after storming her way to the title in Cincinnati without dropping a set. A 6-3, 6-3 win over Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals will have made for a significant confidence boost after losing her last three matches against the world No 1. Two consecutive triumphs at the Australian Open last year and this year show that hard courts are best for her powerful ground strokes and she now bids to go one step further than her runner-up finish here 12 months ago.
Iga Swiatek
Swiatek has established herself as the “Queen of Clay” by winning four of her five grand-slam titles at the French Open. The other came here at Flushing Meadows two years ago when she defeated Ons Jabeur in the final. Since winning at Roland Garros in June, her summer has not gone to plan with defeats in the third round of Wimbledon and the semi-finals of the Olympics, although she did manage to claim a bronze medal. The 23-year-old now arrives here with lower expectations of herself, which is often when she plays her best tennis without any extra weight on the shoulders.
Coco GauffThe 20-year-old’s US Open victory last year was a memorable moment as she delivered on the promise she had long shown as a teenager. Now she experiences the feeling of being a defending grand-slam champion for the first time after a challenging summer in which she has struggled for consistency since a semi-final defeat at the French Open. One win in three matches across Toronto and Cincinnati was a poor return but the No 3 seed has been encouraged by her practice sessions on site over the past week.
The othersJessica Pegula, the No 6 seed from the United States, has high hopes of going further than the quarter-finals of a grand-slam event for the first time after a strong build-up, winning in Toronto and finishing as runner-up in Cincinnati. Mirra Andreeva, the No 21 seed, is one of the sport’s best young prospects at the age of 17 and ran Swiatek close in a three-set quarter-final defeat in Cincinnati. Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed from Spain who was ranked No 2 a couple of years ago, is working her way back up the rankings after winning the Washington Open last month.