Defending singles champions Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka come into the final Grand Slam of the year as world number ones, as the US Open gets underway tomorrow.
Both the men's and women's singles defending champions come into the final Grand Slam of the year as world number ones.
Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka triumphed at the US Open 12 months ago, while former world number one Andy Murray has chosen to sit out the Flushing Meadows tournament.
The Briton had hip surgery in January, and had planned to feature in the doubles tournament but has decided to focus on singles elsewhere.
British number ones Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund will lead British hopes, while Roger Federer and Serena Williams are on the hunt for records in New York.
38-year-old Federer is seeking a a record sixth men's singles title at the US Open, while doing so would also make him the oldest men's singles Grand Slam winner in the Open era.
Meanwhile 37-year-old American Williams will again be looking to equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, having lost in her last three finals in three of the last five Grand Slam tournaments since giving birth in September 2017.
Konta is the highest ranked Brit in the singles at the US Open at 16th in the world, and the 28-year-old will be seeking to continue her good form from earlier in the year for a first Grand Slam title.
But since making the French Open semi-final and Wimbledon quarter-final earlier in the year, Konta has suffered consecutive first round exits in her warm-up events.
Konta, the only British woman with direct entry to the draw, begins her campaign against Russia's Daria Kasatkina on Monday, while Harriet Dart came through qualifying to face Romanian Ana Bogdan in the first round.
Kyle Edmund will be looking to better his previous best of the fourth round at the US Open in 2016, he has male compatriots in the draw in Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie.
Edmund begins against Spaniard Pablo Andujar on Tuesday, with Evans and Norrie both taking on Frenchmen on Monday - the former plays Adrian Mannarino and the latter Gregoire Barrere.
Jamie Murray is competing in the doubles, the six-time Grand Slam champion with new partner and compatriot Neal Skupski.
His brother Andy will be playing a Challenger event in Mallorca - the Rafa Nadal Open - in an attempt to speed up his recovery and return to singles matches after career-saving hip surgery.
One of Williams' most memorable Grand Slam final defeats in recent memory came at last year's US Open, where she called chair umpire Carlos Ramos a 'thief', 'liar' after he had docked her a game before she accused him of 'sexism'.
The tournament organisers have made sure that Ramos will not officiate any of Williams' or sister Venus' matches at the tournaments.
Williams congratulated 21-year-old Osaka, but the events of the final overshadowed the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam, who finished the match in tears.
Williams has retired or withdrawn from all five of her non-Grand Slam events this year, prompting questions over her match fitness.
She missed the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month with a back problem that had forced her to pull out of the Rogers Cup a few days previously.
She faces Russian five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova in a tasty clash to open the first night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams' long-time rival Sharapova has played just six matches since January due to a shoulder injury.
Osaka followed up her maiden Grand Slam singles title with the Australian Open in January that launched her to the top of the world rankings.
But since then she has struggled with injuries and poor form ,saying she hasn't enjoyed tennis since triumphing in Melbourne.
She said of her third-round exit at the French Open that it was "probably the best thing that could have happened" and that she was suffering headaches due to the stress of being the top seed.
She briefly lost her world number one ranking to the woman who won the French Open, Australia's Ashleigh Barty, but has since regained it and will be looking to shake off her knee injury to prove she can handle the pressure of being the player to beat.
Karolina Pliskova will be waiting for Osaka to falter, the Czech could oust Osaka from the top spot with a good run in the tournament.
The 2016 runner-up has won three WTA titles this year and reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The victor in Cincinnati - Madison Keys - arrives at her home Grand Slam in good form, and will seek to improve on her runner-up finish two years ago.
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will be chasing her third Grand Slam title but her preparations have been hampered by an Achilles injury.
15-year-old Coco Gauff will be aiming to build on a stunning run to the last 16 at Wimbledon, which included a first-round victory over seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams.
The American became the youngest player to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open era, and her performances more than merited a wildcard at Flushing Meadows.
She begins her US Open campaign against world number 76 Russian Anastasia Potapova, and will come into the match with great confidence having won the Washington Open doubles with 17-year-old Catherine McNally.
Serbian Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to defend his title for his 17th Grand Slam singles crown, which would leave him one behind Spaniard Rafael Nadal and three behind Federer in the all-time list of men's champions.
The 32-year-old has won four of the last five Grand Slams - the one he didn't was won by king of clay Nadal at the French Open - and reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati.
Despite saying he loves the conditions out on centre court, he will surely hope that conditions are less humid than last year, when a number of players retured due to the heat, with Djokovic admitting he too had struggled.
You have to go back 12 Grand Slams before you find one that doesn't have one of the 'Big Three' as its champion (Stan Wawrinka, US Open 2016) and it doesn't look like that streak will end.
Time is increasingly against the oldest member in Federer - who turned 38 earlier this month - with the last of his five US Open titles coming 11 years ago.
He suffered a huge upset by 21-year-old Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in the third round at Cincinnati this month.
Let's not forget, however, he had two championship points at Wimbledon just six weeks ago, and will take confidence from the fact that he is by no means finished in the Grand Slams.
Nadal reached a personal milestone in his warm up to the US Open by defending his Rogers cup title - the first time he has retained a title that wasn't on clay.
The key for the 33-year-old will be to stay fit, having retired from his semi-final in New York a year ago with a knee problem that has caused issues throughout his career.
The fact that he withdrew from Cincinnati with fatigue could be seen as both a positive and a negative - hopefully he will be well rested for Flushing Meadows.
Last year's runner-up Juan Martin del Potro is absent, the big-serving Argentine re-fractured his kneecap at Queen's in June.
The next generation of male tennis players have never been able to answer the same question posed before each recent Grand Slam - who will be the one to break the dominance?
Germany's Alexander Zverev and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas have broken into the top 10 in their early 20s, but come into the US Open with no momentum to challenge the Big Three.
Zverev beat Djokovic to win ATP Finals in November, but since then has only managed one Grand Slam quarter-final, while Tsitsipas made the Australian Open semi-finals in January but suffered a first round defeat at Wimbledon.
Russian Daniil Medvedev is at a career-high number five in the world after winning in Cincinnati, the 23-year-old is the form player to watch having reached three finals this month.
Headline-maker Nick Kyrgios will be one to watch, the 24-year-old Aussie flits between brilliantly talented - enough to win the Washington title this month - and poor behaviour that cost him $113,000 in fines less than a fortnight later.
Men's Singles Draw
Section One
(1) N Djokovic (SRB) vs R Carballes Baena (SPN)
S Querrey (USA) vs JI Londero (ARG)
D Kudla (USA) vs J Tipsarevic (SRB)
S Darcis (BEL) vs (27) D Lajovic (SRB)
(23) S Wawrinka (SWI) vs J Sinner (ITA)
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| Photo from BBC Sport |
Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka triumphed at the US Open 12 months ago, while former world number one Andy Murray has chosen to sit out the Flushing Meadows tournament.
The Briton had hip surgery in January, and had planned to feature in the doubles tournament but has decided to focus on singles elsewhere.
British number ones Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund will lead British hopes, while Roger Federer and Serena Williams are on the hunt for records in New York.
38-year-old Federer is seeking a a record sixth men's singles title at the US Open, while doing so would also make him the oldest men's singles Grand Slam winner in the Open era.
Meanwhile 37-year-old American Williams will again be looking to equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, having lost in her last three finals in three of the last five Grand Slam tournaments since giving birth in September 2017.
Konta is the highest ranked Brit in the singles at the US Open at 16th in the world, and the 28-year-old will be seeking to continue her good form from earlier in the year for a first Grand Slam title.
But since making the French Open semi-final and Wimbledon quarter-final earlier in the year, Konta has suffered consecutive first round exits in her warm-up events.
Konta, the only British woman with direct entry to the draw, begins her campaign against Russia's Daria Kasatkina on Monday, while Harriet Dart came through qualifying to face Romanian Ana Bogdan in the first round.
Kyle Edmund will be looking to better his previous best of the fourth round at the US Open in 2016, he has male compatriots in the draw in Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie.
Edmund begins against Spaniard Pablo Andujar on Tuesday, with Evans and Norrie both taking on Frenchmen on Monday - the former plays Adrian Mannarino and the latter Gregoire Barrere.
Jamie Murray is competing in the doubles, the six-time Grand Slam champion with new partner and compatriot Neal Skupski.
His brother Andy will be playing a Challenger event in Mallorca - the Rafa Nadal Open - in an attempt to speed up his recovery and return to singles matches after career-saving hip surgery.
 |
| Photo from BBC Sport |
The tournament organisers have made sure that Ramos will not officiate any of Williams' or sister Venus' matches at the tournaments.
Williams congratulated 21-year-old Osaka, but the events of the final overshadowed the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam, who finished the match in tears.
Williams has retired or withdrawn from all five of her non-Grand Slam events this year, prompting questions over her match fitness.
She missed the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month with a back problem that had forced her to pull out of the Rogers Cup a few days previously.
She faces Russian five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova in a tasty clash to open the first night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams' long-time rival Sharapova has played just six matches since January due to a shoulder injury.
Osaka followed up her maiden Grand Slam singles title with the Australian Open in January that launched her to the top of the world rankings.
But since then she has struggled with injuries and poor form ,saying she hasn't enjoyed tennis since triumphing in Melbourne.
She said of her third-round exit at the French Open that it was "probably the best thing that could have happened" and that she was suffering headaches due to the stress of being the top seed.
She briefly lost her world number one ranking to the woman who won the French Open, Australia's Ashleigh Barty, but has since regained it and will be looking to shake off her knee injury to prove she can handle the pressure of being the player to beat.
Karolina Pliskova will be waiting for Osaka to falter, the Czech could oust Osaka from the top spot with a good run in the tournament.
The 2016 runner-up has won three WTA titles this year and reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The victor in Cincinnati - Madison Keys - arrives at her home Grand Slam in good form, and will seek to improve on her runner-up finish two years ago.
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will be chasing her third Grand Slam title but her preparations have been hampered by an Achilles injury.
 |
| Photo from CNN.com |
The American became the youngest player to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open era, and her performances more than merited a wildcard at Flushing Meadows.
She begins her US Open campaign against world number 76 Russian Anastasia Potapova, and will come into the match with great confidence having won the Washington Open doubles with 17-year-old Catherine McNally.
Serbian Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to defend his title for his 17th Grand Slam singles crown, which would leave him one behind Spaniard Rafael Nadal and three behind Federer in the all-time list of men's champions.
The 32-year-old has won four of the last five Grand Slams - the one he didn't was won by king of clay Nadal at the French Open - and reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati.
Despite saying he loves the conditions out on centre court, he will surely hope that conditions are less humid than last year, when a number of players retured due to the heat, with Djokovic admitting he too had struggled.
You have to go back 12 Grand Slams before you find one that doesn't have one of the 'Big Three' as its champion (Stan Wawrinka, US Open 2016) and it doesn't look like that streak will end.
Time is increasingly against the oldest member in Federer - who turned 38 earlier this month - with the last of his five US Open titles coming 11 years ago.
He suffered a huge upset by 21-year-old Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in the third round at Cincinnati this month.
Let's not forget, however, he had two championship points at Wimbledon just six weeks ago, and will take confidence from the fact that he is by no means finished in the Grand Slams.
Nadal reached a personal milestone in his warm up to the US Open by defending his Rogers cup title - the first time he has retained a title that wasn't on clay.
The key for the 33-year-old will be to stay fit, having retired from his semi-final in New York a year ago with a knee problem that has caused issues throughout his career.
The fact that he withdrew from Cincinnati with fatigue could be seen as both a positive and a negative - hopefully he will be well rested for Flushing Meadows.
Last year's runner-up Juan Martin del Potro is absent, the big-serving Argentine re-fractured his kneecap at Queen's in June.
The next generation of male tennis players have never been able to answer the same question posed before each recent Grand Slam - who will be the one to break the dominance?
Germany's Alexander Zverev and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas have broken into the top 10 in their early 20s, but come into the US Open with no momentum to challenge the Big Three.
Zverev beat Djokovic to win ATP Finals in November, but since then has only managed one Grand Slam quarter-final, while Tsitsipas made the Australian Open semi-finals in January but suffered a first round defeat at Wimbledon.
Russian Daniil Medvedev is at a career-high number five in the world after winning in Cincinnati, the 23-year-old is the form player to watch having reached three finals this month.
Headline-maker Nick Kyrgios will be one to watch, the 24-year-old Aussie flits between brilliantly talented - enough to win the Washington title this month - and poor behaviour that cost him $113,000 in fines less than a fortnight later.
Men's Singles Draw
Section One
(1) N Djokovic (SRB) vs R Carballes Baena (SPN)
S Querrey (USA) vs JI Londero (ARG)
D Kudla (USA) vs J Tipsarevic (SRB)
S Darcis (BEL) vs (27) D Lajovic (SRB)
(23) S Wawrinka (SWI) vs J Sinner (ITA)
H Hurkacz (POL) vs J Chardy (FRA)
L Dere (SRB) vs M Kecmanovic (SRB)
Z Svajda (USA) vs (16) K Anderson (SA)
Section Two
(11) F Fognini (ITA) vs R Opelka (USA)
D Kopfer (GER) vs J Munar (SPN)
T Berdych (CZE) vs J Brooksby (USA)
M Fucsovics (HUN) vs (17) N Basilashvili (GEO)
(26) T Fritz (USA) vs F Lopez (SPN)
Y Nishioka (JPN) vs M Giron (USA)
S-w Kwon (SK) vs H Dellien (BOL)
P Gunneswaran (IND) vs (5) D Medvedev (RUS)
Section Three
(3) R Federer (SWI) vs S Nagal (IND)
L Dere (SRB) vs M Kecmanovic (SRB)
Z Svajda (USA) vs (16) K Anderson (SA)
Section Two
(11) F Fognini (ITA) vs R Opelka (USA)
D Kopfer (GER) vs J Munar (SPN)
T Berdych (CZE) vs J Brooksby (USA)
M Fucsovics (HUN) vs (17) N Basilashvili (GEO)
(26) T Fritz (USA) vs F Lopez (SPN)
Y Nishioka (JPN) vs M Giron (USA)
S-w Kwon (SK) vs H Dellien (BOL)
P Gunneswaran (IND) vs (5) D Medvedev (RUS)
Section Three
(3) R Federer (SWI) vs S Nagal (IND)
E Benchetrit (FRA) vs D Dzumhur (BOS)
A Mannarino (FRA) vs D Evans (UK)
P Kohlschreiber (GER) vs (25) L Pouille (FRA)
(19) G Pella (ARG) vs P Carreño Busta (SPN)
R Berankis (LIT) vs J Vesely (CZE)
A Mannarino (FRA) vs D Evans (UK)
P Kohlschreiber (GER) vs (25) L Pouille (FRA)
(19) G Pella (ARG) vs P Carreño Busta (SPN)
R Berankis (LIT) vs J Vesely (CZE)
G Barrere (FRA) vs C Norrie (UK)
C Moutet (FRA) vs (15) D Goffin (BEL)
Section Four
(12) B Coric (CRO) vs E Donskoy (RUS)
A Seppi (ITA) vs G Dimitrov (BUL)
J Sock (USA) vs P Cuevas (URU)
N Jarry (CHL) vs (21) M Raonic (CAN)
(31) C Garin (CHL) vs C Eubanks (USA)
P-H Herbert (FRA) vs A de Minaur (AUS)
T Monteiro (BRZ) vs B Klahn (USA)
M Trungelliti (ARG) vs (7) K Nishikori (JPN)
Section Five
(8) S Tsitsipas (GRE) vs A Rublev (RUS)
B Fratangelo (USA) vs G Simon (FRA)
A Hoang (FRA) vs L Mayer (ARG)
S Johnson (USA) vs (28) N Kyrgios (AUS)
(24) M Berrettini (ITA) vs R Gasquet (FRA)
J Sousa (POR) vs J Thompson (AUS)
A Popyrin (AUS) vs F Delbonis (ARG)
M Kukushkin (KAZ) vs (10) R Bautista Agut (SPN)
Section Six
(13) G Monfils (FRA) vs A Ramos Vinolas (SPN)
U Humbert (FRA) vs M Copil (ROM)
H Laaksonen (SWI) vs M Cecchinato (ITA)
D Shapovalov (CAN) vs (18) F Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
(30) K Edmund (UK) vs P Andujar (SPN)
L Sonego (ITA) vs M Granollers (SPN)
A Bublik (KAZ) vs S Giraldo (COL)
T Fabbiano (ITA) vs (4) D Thiem (AUT)
Section Seven
(6) A Zverev (GER) vs R Albot (MOL)
I Karlović (CRO) vs F Tiafoe (USA)
J Kovalik (SVK) vs A Bedene (SLO)
B Schnur (CAN) vs (29) B Paire (FRA)
(20) D Schwartzman (ARG) vs R Haase (NED)
L Harris (SA) vs E Gerasimov (BLR)
J-W Tsonga (FRA) vs T Sandgren (USA)
V Pospisil (CAN) vs (9) K Khachanov (RUS)
Section Eight
(14) J Isner (USA) vs G Garcia Lopez (SPN)
J-L Struff (GER) vs C Ruud (NOR)
F Krajinovic (SRB) vs C-M Stebe (GER)
M Klizan (SVK) vs (22) M Cilic (CRO)
(32) F Verdasco (SPN) vs T Kamke (GER)
E Escobedo (USA) vs T Kokkinakis (AUS)
J Millman (AUS) vs (2) R Nadal (SPN)
Women's Singles Draw
Section One
(1) N Osaka (JPN) vs A Blinkova (RUS)
A Sharma (AUS) vs M Linette (POL)
A Potapova (RUS) vs C Gauff (USA)
T Babos (HUN) vs (28) C Suarez Navarro (SPN)
(21) A Kontaveit (EST) vs S Sorribes Tormo (SPN)
A Tomljanovic (AUS) vs M Bouzkova (CZE)
A Cornet (FRA) vs J Pegula (USA)
M Minella (LUX) vs (13) B Bencic (SWI)
Section Two
(9) A Sabalenka (BLR) vs V Azarenka (BLR)
Y Putintseva (KAZ) vs M Brengle (USA)
K Kanepi (EST) vs T Maria (GER)
R Hogenkamp (NED) vs (23) D Vekic (CRO)
(26) J Gorges (GER) vs N Vikhlyantseva (RUS)
F Di Lorenzo (USA) vs V Kudermetova (RUS)
P Parmentier (FRA) vs A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
P Badosa (SPN) vs (7) K Bertens (NED)
Section Three
(4) S Halep (ROM) vs N Gibbs (USA)
T Townsend (USA) vs K Kozlova (UKR)
S Cirstea (ROM) vs K Siniakova (CZE)
A Bolsova (SPN) vs (31) B Strycova (CZE)
(19) C Wozniacki (DEN) vs Y Wang (CHN)
D Collins (USA) vs P Hercog (SLO)
L Tsurenko (UKR) vs M Barthel (GER)
K Volynets (USA) vs (15) B Andreescu (CAN)
Section Four
(11) S Stephens (USA) vs A Kalinskaya (RUS)
K Ahn (USA) vs S Kuznetsova (RUS)
A Krunic (SRB) vs J Ostapenko (LTV)
A Riske (USA) vs (24) G Muguruza (SPN)
(25) E Mertens (BEL) vs J Teichmann (SWI)
Kr Pliskova (CZE) vs D Parry (FRA)
A Petkovic (GER) vs M Buzarnescu (ROM)
D Allertova (CZE) vs (6) P Kvitova (CZE)
Section Five
(5) E Svitolina (UKR) vs W Osuigwe (USA)
S Zheng (CHN) vs V Williams (USA)
M Puig (PUE) vs R Peterson (SWE)
M Niculescu (ROM) vs (32) D Yastremska (UKR)
(20) S Kenin (USA) vs C Vandeweghe (USA)
S Zhang (CHN) vs L Siegemund (GER)
L Zhu (CHN) vs Xin Wang (CHN)
M Doi (JPN) vs (10) M Keys (USA)
Section Six
(16) J Konta (UK) vs D Kasatkina (RUS)
M Gasparyan (RUS) vs P Hon (AUS)
E Alexandrova (RUS) vs S Stosur (AUS)
V Golubic (SWI) vs (17) M Vondrousova (CZE)
(27) C Garcia (FRA) vs O Jabeur (TUN)
A Sasnovich (BLR) vs J Brady (USA)
M Bolkvadze (GEO) vs B Pera (USA)
T Martincova (CZE) vs (3) Ka Pliskova (CZE)
Section Seven
(8) S Williams (USA) vs M Sharapova (RUS)
C McNally (USA) vs T Bacsinszky (SWI)
E Rybakina (KAZ) vs K Muchova (CZE)
J Cepelova (SVK) vs (29) S-w Hsieh (TAI)
(22) P Martic (CRO) vs T Zidansek (SLO)
A Bogdan (ROM) vs H Dart (UK)
I Jorovic (SRB) vs I Swiatek (POL)
E Bouchard (CAN) vs (12) A Sevastova (LTV)
Section Eight
(14) A Kerber (GER) vs K Mladenovic (FRA)
F Ferro (FRA) vs D Gavrilova (AUS)
V Kuzmova (SVK) vs A Van Uytvanck (BEL)
C Dolehide (USA) vs (18) Q Wang (CHN)
(30) M Sakkari (GRE) vs C Giorgi (ITA)
S Peng (CHN) vs V Lepchenko (CHN)
L Davis (USA) vs J Larsson (SWE)
Z Diyas (KAZ) vs (2) A Barty (AUS)
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