Flushing Meadows, and the tennis world, will bid farewell to Serena Williams at the 2022 US Open as the 23-time Grand Slam champion retires from the sport. Whether or not the 40-year-old can achieve a fairytale finale to her long, illustrious career is yet to be seen, but this will be the defining storyline no matter what happens in New York over the next two weeks.
Williams has won the US Open women’s singles title six times and she has tentatively revealed her ambition to make one final run at her home Grand Slam. A first round tie against Danka Kovinic should give the American the opportunity to get up and running, but her recent form suggests making the second week might be beyond her.
At Wimbledon, Williams suffered a first round exit to Harmony Tan, with early round defeats at the Canada Open and the Cincinnati Masters following. Nonetheless, the support of Arthur Ashe Stadium (which is sold out for Monday’s night session featuring Williams) could push the 40-year-old through the tournament.
It’s time.
Tennis’ stars are ready to answer the #USOpen call. pic.twitter.com/JkwHhMrUjh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 22, 2022
Emma Raducanu enters as the defending US Open champion after her sensational, and historic, run to the women’s singles title in 2021. The young Brit has since struggled to back up that achievement, but the North American hard courts suit her game and there have been some signs of life in her recent performances in Toronto and Cincinnati.
Raducanu and Williams are just two of six former champions to be included in the draw for the women’s singles. One Grand Slam winner who has yet to sample success in New York is Iga Swiatek who has fallen out of form after stringing together a 37-match winning run earlier in the year which included a title win at Roland Garros.
The world number one certainly can’t be discounted from contention, but Swiatek arrives at the 2022 US Open on the back of disappointing early round defeats at the Canada Open and Cincinnati Masters. A difficult second round match against Sloane Stephens could await Swiatek with Jessica Pegula, Garbine Muguruza and Jelena Ostapenko also in the Pole’s quarter of the draw.
Petra Kvitova could be one to watch with the Czech boasting a positive head-to-head record against all the top seeded players in her quarter of the draw with the exception of Swiatek, who she has only played once before. Kvitova was runner up at the Cincinnati Masters and has the experience to make a deep run in the only Grand Slam at which she has never made it past the quarter-finals.
Caroline Garcia (priced at 20/1) caused a shock by claiming the title at the Cincinnati Masters and is currently on an eight-match winning streak. If the number 17 seed can carry this form into the US Open, she will be a threat in the second week of the tournament. She will be a player few will want to face at Flushing Meadows this year.
Simona Halep has frequently struggled to produce her best tennis at the US Open, the only Grand Slam where she has failed to reach the final. The Romanian is seeded seventh and arrives in New York in good form after winning the Canada Open title in Toronto earlier this month. Halep has a favourable draw until the last eight and will fancy her chances of going far – she is priced at 41/5.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic will be missing due to the Serbian’s vaccination status. This will give hope to a number of contenders looking to lift the final Grand Slam trophy of the year. Rafael Nadal will be one of them, with the Spaniard aiming to extend his advantage at the top of the list for the most major titles.
Nadal has struggled with injury since his withdrawal from the Wimbledon semi-finals and there are lingering doubts over the 36-year-old’s ability to play seven best-of-five set matches in the space of just two weeks. However, Nadal has a higher pain threshold than most and arrived in New York early to aid his preparations for the US Open.
Daniil Medvedev (13/5 favourite) will play his first Grand Slam since the Australian Open in January – the Russian missed the French Open through injury and couldn’t play Wimbledon due to political reasons – and is the defending champion at this year’s US Open. Medvedev will start his defence against Stefan Kozlov, but could face Robert Bautista Agut or Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals.
Calm before the storm…. pic.twitter.com/qNMSU4d3lc
— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) August 23, 2022
Kyrgios is worth mentioning at 11/1 as a genuine contender to win his first Grand Slam title after reaching the Wimbledon final, where he took Djokovic to four sets. The Australian is in the form of his life at the moment and has a track record of playing his best tennis on North American hard courts. Kyrgios won the title at the Citi Open and backed that up by reaching the quarter-finals of the Canada Open in Montreal. A quarter-final between Kyrgios and Medvedev, who the Australian recently beat in Cincinnati, would be a blockbuster encounter.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (35/2 to win the US Open) has found form at the right time with the Greek making the final of the Cincinnati Masters following an impressive run of wins over Medvedev, John Isner and Diego Schwartzman. Some question whether Tsitsipas has the mentality to win a Grand Slam, but there have recently been signs of growth in this regard.
Carlos Alcarez rose to prominence at last year’s US Open and likes playing on hard courts, while Taylor Fritz looks to be America’s best hope of a homegrown champion. Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner could also be threats in the men’s singles, with Britain’s Cameron Norrie (45/1 to win) seeded inside the top 10 and a danger on this surface. On both the men’s and women’s side, the field is remarkably open.
