US Open: Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper lead British curiosity – causes to look at last Grand Slam of 2024

Will the Individuals lastly present one other male winner? Can Emma Raducanu replicate her gorgeous 2022 success? And Is Jack Draper able to take over the mantle from Andy Murray?…

We take a look at a few of the largest causes to tune into the US Open, dwell on Sky Sports activities from Monday August 26.

Will the US finish their run and not using a male winner?

In fact, the seemingly winner of the lads’s singles comes from certainly one of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, as has been the case for the final 9 Grand Slam finals… or may this lastly be the 12 months that an American upsets the percentages and comes via?

We’re not fairly but at Fred Perry ranges, and the 77-year lengthy look ahead to a British male Wimbledon winner earlier than Murray lastly scratched that itch, however it’s now as much as 21 years since America final received to have fun a male winner of their main championship (Andy Roddick, 2003).

Jimmy Connors’ 1974 success triggered a run of 17 American champions over the following 29 years, which included spells of dominance on the prime from himself, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. An excellent period for US males’s tennis.

Having gorged on such success then, the nation has been starved since… however, coming into 2024, they’ve 5 gamers ranked inside the highest 20, three of which reached the quarter-finals final 12 months – Taylor Fritz (twelfth), Ben Shelton (thirteenth) and Frances Tiafoe (twentieth) – and with Shelton going one stage additional. It was the primary time the USA had three males’s gamers within the final eight of their dwelling Slam in 18 years.

Residence favorite Coco Gauff ticked off her maiden Slam within the girls’s singles final 12 months… may 2024 be the flip of the lads?

Who will win wide-open girls’s singles?

The ladies’s singles additionally has its standout contenders within the type of world No 1 – and five-time Grand Slam champion – Iga Swiatek, plus Aryna Sabalenka, a hard-court specialist, as confirmed by her two Australian Open titles within the final two years and he or she can be in nice kind after successful the Cincinnati Open warm-up occasion.

However, actually since 2015 and Serena Williams’ run of three in a row (and 6 complete) was ended, the US Open, of all of the Slams, has not at all times gone the best way of the formbook.

There have been eight completely different winners of the final 9 tournaments, with Naomi Osaka the one one to have triumphed twice (in 2018 and 2020).

There was Italian Flavia Pennetta’s shock win in 2015. After a determined run of accidents, Sloane Stephens was ranked as little as 957th on the planet previous to the American’s storied run to the title in 2017, whereas Emma Raducanu took over her mantle because the lowest-ranked winner in 2021 as she turned the primary Grand Slam winner to return via qualifying. Two years earlier, Bianca Andreescu of Canada was additionally a teenage champion, stunning Serena within the last.

Basically, within the girls’s singles on the US Open, the winner may fairly actually come from wherever.

Raducanu’s quest for historic repeat title

It’s exactly why Raducanu stands an excellent probability of constructing it two historic runs to the Flushing Meadows title, doubling up on her outstanding 2021 triumph when simply 18 years outdated.

She has had her ups and downs within the intervening three years, however just lately spoke to Sky Sports activities of “playing a lot freer in the last month”, an evaluation borne out by the actual fact her fourth-round run at Wimbledon earlier this summer season was her finest at a Slam since her sudden US Open win.

“I just feel a real fire back and desire,” Raducanu added.

A primary-round draw with fellow former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin (Australian Open, 2020) is much from the best begin, whereas sixth seed Jessica Pegula probably lies in wait within the second spherical… albeit Pegula was certainly one of Raducanu’s first two top-10 profession wins achieved this summer season.

“I’m very, very confident,” Sky Sports activities’ Naomi Cavaday stated of Raducanu’s probabilities.

“The US Open is a place that she absolutely loves. She is beyond a superstar there, just like she is here. I could absolutely see her finding her best level.”

Fellow Sky Sports activities commentator Jonathan Overend added: “When she came through qualifying and won in 2021, it deemed all predictions irrelevant for pretty much the rest of time. Could she do it again? You have to say that absolutely she could.”

Who will step into Murray’s sizeable sneakers?

If not Raducanu, then what about Jack Draper?

Within the first Grand Slam sans Andy Murray for 19 years (aside from resulting from harm), will we instantly see the British baton ceremoniously handed on with a deep run for our latest males’s No 1?

Draper received his first ATP Tour title this 12 months, in Stuttgart in June, whereas he adopted that up mere days later with the highest-ranking win of his profession to this point, beating Alcaraz at Queen’s Membership – in straight units too – to drop the Spaniard down a spot from two to a few on the planet.

That got here in the course of the grass-court season, however Draper has additionally discovered some latest kind on the exhausting courts of the US, reaching the quarter-finals of Cincinnati within the lead-up to the US Open, whereas Flushing Meadows was dwelling to the 22-year-old’s two finest runs at Slams thus far, along with his third-round effort in 2022 solely bettered by a visit to the fourth final 12 months.

“I absolutely think Draper has got the ability to go very, very deep at the US Open,” Overend stated. “Every time I see him, I see some progress, and that’s all you can ask from a young player.

“And one factor I do know for positive is, he is feared within the locker room. Everybody else, in the event that they have been to level their finger at a high quality younger participant who has the flexibility to win huge tournaments and do lots of harm, lots of them will look to Draper.”

US Open sees expanded use of video replay

Sticking with Draper briefly, he booked a quarter-final place in Cincinnati in barely controversial style as know-how failed to return to Felix Auger-Aliassime’s help on match level of their contest.

The Canadian argued the ball had hit the body of Draper’s racket and gone onto the bottom earlier than looping up onto the web twine and over, however the umpire referred to as the purpose to the Brit and video replay was not in use to dispute the choice.

The same scenario will hopefully be prevented within the US Open, nevertheless. Having trialled video know-how on 5 courts finally 12 months’s match, it’s set to be rolled out on eight for 2024.

“It’s not necessarily the easiest call for the umpire,” Tim Henman instructed Sky Sports activities after Draper’s Cincinnati win. “We need to use the technology we have – I mean, I got sent a video clip of it 45 seconds later.

“I am glad that on the US Open, if there’s a repeat of that, then we can use the video replay. Fingers crossed this may pace us as much as be at a greater place inside the sport.”

Extra match selection than ever earlier than on Sky Sports activities

In addition to the unique dwell protection of the US Open every day on Sky Sports activities Tennis, Sky Sports activities+ now means you possibly can watch actually any match you need from Flushing Meadows over the course of the match.

Sky Sports activities+ is dwell and already built-in into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports activities app– supplying you with entry to over 50 per cent extra dwell sport this 12 months at no further price.

Sky Sports activities+ could be discovered on channel quantity 410 for Sky Glass prospects, 412 for Sky Q prospects and 416 for purchasers within the Republic of Eire.

Or you possibly can head to the ‘Watch’ part on the Sky Sports activities app to entry all Sky Sports activities+ dwell streams through the occasion centres.

You may as well stream the US Open on Sky Sports activities Tennis and extra dwell sport with a NOW Sports activities Month Membership. With no contract, you possibly can cancel anytime.

And throughout Sky Sports activities digital and social channels, you possibly can take pleasure in in depth protection of the ultimate grand slam of 2024 with every day dwell textual content commentary on the Sky Sports activities web site and app, in addition to dwell scores, stories, evaluation, options and movies.

Watch the US Open, from Monday August 26, dwell on Sky Sports activities Tennis and new channel Sky Sports activities+.