The US Open will take place in New York from 27 August to 9 September. Here you will find all important information about the transmission, the schedule, the draw and the record winners.
Last year Rafael Nadal won the title. He’s going into the race as the top favourite again this time.
Traditionally the US Open is the last of the four Grand Slams in the tennis calendar and takes place in August and September. Qualifying starts on August 21 before the main tournament starts six days later. The finals will then take place less than two weeks later on September 8 (women) and 9 (men).
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows has been the venue for the US Open since 1978. Arthur Ashe Stadium has been the Centre Court since its construction in 1997 and, with 22,547 seats, it is also the largest tennis complex in the world.
The broadcasting rights for the US Open 2018 will again be held by Eurosport this year. With the start of the main tournament, the channel broadcasts the most important games every day on the main channel Eurosport 1 and other games are shown on the substations Eurosport 2 and Eurosport 360.
This year, Boris Becker, who has extended his contract until 2020, and Barbara Rittner, former Fed Cup boss and current Head of Women’s Tennis at DTB, will start as experts.
Eurosport also offers a live stream on the Internet, but the Eurosport Player is subject to a fee.
Unlike Wimbledon or Roland Garros, the day in New York is divided into two sessions. In the day session, games are played on almost all courts in the north of the metropolis. The floodlight matches of the night sessions have so far only been held at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This year, however, there is an innovation. Evening matches will be played on the second largest tennis court in the complex, the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
A total of 15 German players will certainly participate in the US Open. In addition to world number four Alexander Zverev, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Peter Gojowczyk, Mischa Zverev, Maximilian Marterer, Jan-Lennard Struff, Florian Mayer, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Yannick Hanfmann will be among the men. Stebe makes use of his protected tanking.
Not quite as many Germans compete in the women’s singles. With Angelique Kerber, Julia Görges, Andrea Petkovic, Tatjana Maria, Carina Witthöft and Laura Siegemund only six German ladies play safely in New York. Siegemund also claims her Protected Ranking.
However, there is still the possibility of further German participants. In the qualification two men and six women try their luck, including Sabine Lisicki. To qualify, you must win three games in a row. You can find the men’s qualification tableau here, the ladies’ here.
Due to injury, triple Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka had slipped to 151st place in the ATP world rankings and would not have automatically qualified for the tournament. However, he was awarded one of eight Wild Cards and is therefore not allowed to qualify. In his last appearance in 2016, the Swiss won the final against Novak Djokovic. Last year he missed the US Open due to a knee injury.
The situation is similar for the 2004 women’s winner, Svetlana Kusnezowa. Although the Russian had improved to 88th place after a hipstroke, she was too poor in the ranking for a place in the main field as of mid-July. She also received a wild card.
As in every tennis tournament in recent years, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are of course the most promising candidates for the title. The Spaniard should have the best chances as defending champion and current number one in the world. Juan Martin del Potro (2009), Andy Murray (2012), Marin Cilic (2014) and Stan Wawrinka (2016) are four other former US Open winners in the field, with Murray and Wawrinka recently struggling with many injuries.
From a German point of view, the world’s No. 4, Alexander Zverev, is, of course, a candidate for the top spot. At major tournaments, however, his nerves have always been failing him: the quarter-finals at this year’s French Open were his best result so far in one of the four Grand Slams.
It is much more difficult to find a favourite in the women’s singles than in the men’s singles. Simona Halep, currently the world’s number one, recently showed the best form and has something to make up for last year. There, the Romanian lost to Maria Sharapova in the first round. Behind the form of Wimbledon finalist Serena Williams are small question marks after the tournaments in San Jose and Cincinnati.
Germany’s biggest hope is once again Angelique Kerber. The 2016 winner comes with the confidence of Wimbledon’s success and wants her fourth Grand Slam title in total. Julia Görges is also currently on the road to success and is ranked ninth in the world rankings, higher than ever before. However, there is only an outside chance of winning the title.