First round singles action continues on Tuesday in New York.
2018 and 2020 US Open champion Naomi Osaka returns to this tournament for the first time in two years, but has drawn fellow Major champ Jelena Ostapenko in a blockbuster first round matchup. Day 2 also features another battle between Major champions, as 2021 champ Emma Raducanu takes on Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin. And 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu faces the runner-up from the last two Majors, Jasmine Paolini, while five-time Major champ Iga Swiatek plays a qualifier.
Tuesday’s ATP lineup sees top-seeded Jannik Sinner play his first match since the controversial news regarding his failed drug tests from earlier this year. Plus, the winner of the last two Majors, Carlos Alcaraz, looks to keep his Grand Slam winning streak alive. And former champions Daniil Medvedev and Stan Wawrinka are also featured.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Jelena Ostapenko (10) vs. Naomi Osaka (WC) – Second on Louis Armstrong Stadium
After being one point away from upsetting Iga Swiatek three months ago at Roland Garros, I expected some strong results from Osaka this summer, especially on hard courts where all four of her Major titles have come. However, Naomi’s form has instead dipped, as she’s now lost six of her last nine matches, and went just 2-2 between Toronto and Cincinnati. The last time Osaka played the US Open, in 2022, she lost in the opening round to Danielle Collins.
Ostapenko was a quarterfinalist here a year ago, when she upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek, before falling to eventual champion Coco Gauff. Jelena is 29-16 in 2024, and is coming off another Major quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon, where she also lost to the eventual champion, Barbora Krejcikova. However, Ostapenko arrives in New York on a two-match losing streak.
Surprisingly, their only previous meeting occurred eight years ago in the first round of Roland Garros, when an 18-year-old Naomi defeated an 18-year-old Jelena in straight sets. Both players can dominate almost anyone with their power, but they can also spray errors all over the court when lacking in confidence, which both currently are. Considering how little winning Osaka has done of late, I give the slight edge to Ostapenko.
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Emma Raducanu vs. Sofia Kenin – Not Before 6:00pm on Grandstand
Both Sofia and Emma have endured mental, physical, and emotional turbulence since winning their first and only Major title to date. Kenin was the 2020 WTA Player of the Year, but is a dismal 8-20 in 2024 at all levels, and has won only one of her last seven matches. Yet the 2020 Australian Open champ has pulled off some impressive wins at some recent Majors, upsetting Caroline Garcia this year in Paris, as well as Coco Gauff a year ago in London.
Raducanu is 18-11 this season, and reached the second week of Wimbledon with some of the best tennis she’s played since her 2021 title here in New York. And outside of the Majors, she’s advanced to the quarterfinals or better at her last three tournaments. However, Emma hasn’t played a match in nearly a month, after not receiving wild cards for either Canada or Cincinnati.
In their first career meeting, I’m backing Raducanu to win her first US Open match since her title run. She’s been the much better performer of late, and her 2021 triumph here should certainly provide some positive mojo on these grounds.
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Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs. Li Tu (Q) – 7:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
After winning both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Alcaraz was just one match away claiming the gold medal in men’s singles at the Paris Olympics, yet Novak Djokovic was not to be denied, and made him settle for silver. Carlitos was distraught after that loss, much as he was after losing to Novak a year ago in the final of Cincinnati. Those remain the two biggest and emotional losses of the Spaniard’s young career. It took him about six months to recover from the Cincinnati defeat a year ago, and this year at the same tournament, he was very much not himself, losing his opening match to Gael Monfils, and even smashing his racket on the court, which I had never seen Alcaraz do before.
Li provided what was easily the most emotional moment of last week’s qualifying tournament, as the 28-year-old sobbed and repeatedly fell to his knees after saving two match points to qualify for the main draw at a Major for the first time. This ATP piece details how Tu’s late mother, who died in 2022 after a long battle with lung cancer, was the inspiration for the Australian to come back in that match, as he pictured her talking to him during a changeover and saying “we’ve got this.” Li won his sole Challenger title just a few weeks after her passing, dedicating the title in her honor. Now he’ll play on the sport’s biggest court, against a four-time Major champion.
Of course Alcaraz is a huge favorite in this first-time matchup. However, I am quite curious to observe Carlitos’s form and demeanor coming off such emotional highs and lows within the past three months. And after being lucky enough to watch the touching moment Li qualified for this event in person, I very much look forward to watching his Arthur Ashe Stadium debut.
Bianca Andreescu vs. Jasmine Paolini (5) – 7:00pm on Louis Armstrong Stadium
This will be the third consecutive Major where these two have met. In the third round of Roland Garros, Paolini won in three sets. In the third round of Wimbledon, Paolini won in two sets. Now they play in the first round of the US Open, an event Andreescu won just five years ago.
Much like the aforementioned one-time Major champions Kenin and Raducanu, Andreescu has endured a lot since her title run. She missed this event a year ago due to an injury that kept her off the court for nearly a full year. Since returning three months ago, Bianca has gone 9-7, though she’s now lost four of her last five matches.
Paolini’s two Major finals, her WTA 1000 title, and her Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles this year all came virtually out of nowhere, as the 28-year-old had never previously advanced beyond the second round of a Major. The Italian only owns one career main draw victory at this tournament, which came three years ago. But based on her results this year, as well as against Bianca, Jasmine is a solid favorite to be victorious on Monday.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Danielle Collins (11) vs. Caroline Dolehide – This will be the last Major of Collins’ career, and she’s accumulated 42 wins in what has been a great season. Dolehide was a surprise runner-up at last September’s WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara, but is just 13-21 this year. Danielle is 5-1 against Caroline at all levels, which includes a straight-set victory a few months ago at Roland Garros.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Kamila Rakhimova (LL) – Swiatek is a superb 55-7 on the year, yet outside her title run two years ago in New York, she’s failed to advance beyond the fourth round in her other four appearances. Rakhimova is a 22-year-old lucky loser who reached the third round of this event in 2021.
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Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Mackenzie McDonald – Sinner arrives with the Cincinnati title in hand, but has also faced much criticism regarding the recent announcement of his failed drug tests from earlier this year. This remains the only Major at which Jannik is yet to achieve a semifinal. He is 3-0 against McDonald, though all three contests have been very tight.
Dusan Lajovic vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – Medvedev has reached the US Open final in three of the last five years, but comes into this year’s tournament on a three-match losing streak. And he holds a losing record against Lajovic, who has claimed their last two encounters.
Mattia Bellucci (Q) vs. Stan Wawrinka (WC) – Wawrinka owns only five wins this season at tour level, none of which have come on a hard court. Bellucci is a 23-year-old Italian who has now qualified for the last three Majors, but is still looking for his first main draw win, having lost five-setters in the first round of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Shelby Rogers vs. Jessica Pegula (6) – Pegula won more singles matches between Canada and Cincinnati than any other player, taking the title in Toronto, and losing the final in Cincy to Sabalenka. This will be the last tournament in the career of Rogers, who is a two-time Major quarterfinalist, and upset then-World No.1 Ash Barty two years ago on Ashe Stadium in a thrilling contest.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
