The scenes at Flushing Meadows looked all too familiar, as the winners of this year’s US Open also happen to be the winners of the Australian Open in January.
Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka continue their dominance in the United States, as both players have won in Cincinnati and now in Queens, New York.
Their US Open 2024 results also had huge implications in the ATP and WTA rankings, as Sinner remains at the top with a bigger cushion, while Sabalenka drew closer to Iga Swiatek.
Sinner now has 11,180 points, which is 4,105 points over world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, while Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic dropped to third and fourth.
Sabalenka still has a long way to go since she is trailing by 2,169 points behind Swiatek, but at least she has qualified for the inaugural WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Major bounceback for Sabalenka
More than the additional points in the WTA rankings, Aryna Sabalenka’s recent US Open victory is particularly sweet, given what she has been through these past few months.
A few weeks after winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka was heartbroken because her ex-boyfriend, Belarusian pro hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, died due to an apparent suicide.
Sabalenka was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros with no thanks to a stomach bug, and she was unable to participate in this year’s Wimbledon because of a shoulder injury.
After another quarter-finals loss in the Canadian Open, things started to turn around for Sabalenka when she flew to the United States. She won the Cincinnati Masters in dominant fashion, as she didn’t lose a single set, and her superb form continued in the Flushing Meadows.
Against Jessica Pegula in the final, Aryna Sabalenka lost her composure only once after she served at double fault at 5-5. However, the world No. 2 player immediately responded with a powerful backhand volley to save the break point, and she never looked back.
The Belarusian international now has three major championships in her resume and has established herself as arguably the best hard court player in the world right now.
Sinner haunted by doping controversy amid latest win
Jannik Sinner won his second career Grand Slam after beating Taylor Fritz on Sunday to extend his winning streak to 12 straight matches.
The young Italian looked particularly dominant in the first two sets, but his levels dropped a bit in the third set, allowing Fritz to jump to a 5-3 lead.
However, Fritz’s run didn’t last because he was unable to serve out the set, and Sinner went on to win the next four games to become the first Italian to win the US Open men’s singles title.
Many believe that we have reached the end of the Big 3 era, as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal didn’t win a single Grand Slam this year for the first time in more than two decades.
In the Flushing Meadows, Djokovic was upset in the third round by Alexei Popyrin, while Nadal withdrew from the tournament.
The SBOTOP US Open 2024 odds further swung into Sinner’s favour after Carlos Alcaraz, who was supposed to challenge the Italian, was also upset in the second round by Botic van de Zandschulp.
Sinner’s latest win comes against the backdrop of his recent doping case last month after testing positive for Clostebol (a banned substance) twice.
Sinner was not suspended for this (and was heavily criticised for it), and he has repeatedly said he hasn’t done anything wrong because he believes that the positive tests stemmed from “inadvertent contamination” through treatment by his former physio.
History denied for Fritz
Taylor Fritz already achieved a huge milestone by becoming the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Andy Roddick was defeated by Roger Federer at 2009 Wimbledon. He defeated compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals to make it this far.
However, Jannik Sinner proved to be too good for Fritz, and the 26-year-old home favourite apologised to the partisan crowd in New York.
“Being an American, at the US Open, it’s just incredible feeling the love all week,” Fritz said. “Thank you so much. I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time, so I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time. But I’m going to keep working, and hopefully I’ll get it the next time.” If there’s any consolation for Fritz, his recent run in the US Open has moved him up five spots in the ATP rankings, as he’s now in seventh place.
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