The US Open Tennis Championships, commonly called the US Open, served off on Monday (August 28) in Queens, New York, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, except for 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The other three, in chronological order, are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world — dating back to 1881 — and is the only Grand Slam that was not cancelled because of World War I and World War II or interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 instalment of the tournament features the traditional 128 women’s and men’s singles players competing across seven single-elimination rounds, with the notable absence of Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios and Emma Raducanu, who are all recovering from injury or surgery.

The total prize money for this year’s US Open is US$65,000,020 — up from US$57,462,000 last year — and is the largest package of all Grand Slams and the largest in tournament history, with the winners for the men’s and women’s singles title bagging US$3,000,000 each, and the respective runner-up pocketing US$1,500,000.

The main pull of the two-week tennis extravaganza is the potential collision of the first and second ranked players in the closing match of the tournament, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and three-time champion Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard, Alcaraz, won the title — his first Grand Slam — last year with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Norwegian Casper Ruud, and become the youngest ever world number one in the history of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) computerised men’s rankings (19 years and 4 months). Djokovic, who last lifted the title in 2018, lost in the final in 2021 and missed out on last year’s tournament due to his decision to remain unvaccinated during the COVID-19 period.

As fate would have it, Alcaraz was dealt a heavy hand in his quest for a repeat matchup of this year’s Wimbledon final. The top seed drew very stout competition in his half of the field, which included some of the best outsiders for the title: Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, as well as those who pose a legitimate threat, such as Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. Of course, sports is not played on paper and the only information that matters is the result that arises from game-play, but Alcaraz will need to be at his best from the start of the tournament if his fifth encounter with the Serbian is to happen on September 10.

Djokovic, for his part, received a less-challenging path to his fourth US Open title hunt. In his section of the draw, there are Ruud, the 2022 finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas and hard-court specialists such as Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and the up-and-coming youngster Holger Rune. Djokovic is officially the first man to win 23 Grand Slam titles, and he’s only one title away from matching Margaret Court for the most ever of any player in any era. He missed out on the Calendar Slam — the only accomplishment that has eluded him — when he lost the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz in July but is favoured by JustBet to emerge victorious in the next 10 days.

To say that this is a two-man race with less than a week of formal action played may seem peculiar, especially since the US Open has had six different finalists in the last three years and six different champions in the last seven, but it is clear that Alcaraz and Djokovic are currently leading the pack. Outside of three matches against each other, they’re a combined 120-15 over the last year, which indicates that a final between the Spaniard and the Serbian is almost inevitable. Alcaraz will be seeking to cement his place in the history books, while Djokovic will also be chasing history, but this year’s Wimbledon loss will provide added incentive.

The two have played each other a total of four times, with the spoils shared evenly. However, they have alternated the wins and since the Wimbledon victory, Djokovic came up triumphant at the ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 20 — if the history of alternating victories runs true to form, Alcaraz should take the next one. Alcaraz and Djokovic are lifetimes apart — in tennis years — as there are 16 years separating them, but that only adds to the intrigue of the matchup. The youngster is rising to his peak, while the veteran, at the age where most players lose their competitive edge, is matching his opposite number toe-to-toe.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz has been playing way beyond his years, with only 180 ATP matches played coming into the tournament, compared to the 1,280 of his 36-year-old counterpart. He has a long way to go before his 12 career titles can get close to the 95 that Djokovic boasts, but youth is on his side and his talent is unquestionable. If the predicted matchup occurs, it’s basically going to be a coin toss, but given the situation and the time, it is more likely the Serbian will bookend 2023 with a USA Grand Slam win.

While most are toggling between this ‘dynamic duo’, former British professional tennis player Tim Henman has chimed in on the picks and has gone completely against the grain — tipping world number six Jannik Sinner to come away with his first Grand Slam title. Sinner and Alcaraz played a nail-biter of a quarter-final over five sets at last year’s US Open and the Italian had match point, only to narrowly lose to the Spaniard. The 22-year-old has raised his game since then, reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon this year, and laid claim to a Masters 1000 title earlier this month at the Canadian Open.

There is really no glaring weakness to Sinner’s game, but with the top two playing the way they are, it’s hard to bet against them at this tournament. There is just over one week left before the men’s final, but there’s a lot of games until then, and any number can play — enjoy the action in anticipation of an epic showdown.

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