The US Open is well underway with Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic both successfully starting their title defences on Monday.
The US Open has already seen two high-profile seeds fall early, with Holger Rune dumped out by Brandon Nakashima, and Maria Sakkari being forced to retire after losing the first set.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff experienced no such wobble, with the American shaking off her horrific form of the last month to progress at the expense of just three games.
Djokovic similarly breezed through without any bother with Moldovan opponent Radu Albot unable to provide any sort of meaningful challenge.
With Djokovic on his quest for a 25th major title, he will also be keen to extend a record he’s maintained since 2010, having won at least one grand slam every year for the last 13 seasons.
The two youngsters Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the two who’ve stopped him so far, with the pair taking the three titles so far in 2024.
Rennae Stubbs picks Jannik Sinner as her 2024 US Open winner
The former coach of Serena Williams, albeit only for a short time, Rennae Stubbs has managed to correctly pick out the winner of the last two grand slams, tipping Alcaraz both times.
With the men’s draw quite open this year after Sinner’s Cincinnati win and Alcaraz and Djokovic’s Wimbledon and Olympic success, the trio certainly lead the line.
On Stubbs’ tennis podcast, she suggested that Sinner was her favorite to win the title in Flushing.
“For me he [Jannik Sinner] is my favorite to win the US Open, I said that months ago,” she said.
I said that Alcaraz would win the two natural surfaces on clay and grass, because I feel like he moves so well on a natural surface, he can adapt better with his body.
“Whereas on a hard court, Jannik is so tall and aggressive with his movement, it’s so much easier for him to move on hard court, so I think that the court suits him.”
Sinner will be desperate to build on his mediocre showing last year which saw him bow out in the last 16.
Who does Jannik Sinner play in his opening US Open match?
Sinner has been recently facing criticism after news emerged that he had failed two doping tests earlier in the year.
Having since been cleared of any wrongdoing, Sinner will be keen to block out the noise and continue his momentum from his title win in Cincinnati.
He opens his account against America’s Mackenzie McDonald who he’s beaten in all three contests they have had so far.
However, Sinner has never managed to beat the American in straight sets, with McDonald always providing a sterner test than many would’ve expected.
Despite this, you’d expect the number one seed to come through this one rather easily, and with Stubbs’ recent prediction success, perhaps he will be crowed champion in two weeks time.
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