2024 US Open. What Surprises Await?

Men's Draw:

Sinner's Quarter:

Sinner vs. Wawrinka 3rd round: Not sure if Wawrinka can win his 2nd round match. But if he does, Sinner in 3 vs. him in the 3rd round.

Tsitsipas vs. Medvedev 4th round: Tsitsipas is dangerous, but Medvedev most likely wins in 3.

Sinner vs. Medvedev QF: Medvedev in 4.

Alcaraz Quarter:

Weird that Alcaraz is the 3rd seed, and not better.

Alcaraz to the SF.

Zverev's Quarter:

Taylor Fritz vs. Zverev QF: Fritz beats him for the 2nd major in a row. Fritz in 3.

Djokovic's Quarter:

Thiem vs. Shelton 1st round: I'd like Thiem to become a top player again. But it's rare for players to get back in the top 10 after such a drop off.

Shelton in 4.

Djokovic to the SF.

Medvedev vs. Alcaraz SF: Medvedev has a decent chance at winning, but can't go against Alcaraz right now. Alcaraz in 4.

Fritz vs. Djokovic SF: Djokovic is 9 - 0 against Fritz, although sometimes these matches are competitive. Djokovic in 3.

Alcaraz vs. Djokovic Finals: Alcaraz in 3.

Women's Draw:

Swiatek's Quarter:

Swiatek vs. Andreeva 4th round: This would be Swiatek's toughest opponent so far. I'll take Swiatek in 3.

Swiatek to the SF.

Rybakina's Quarter:

Rybakina vs. Wozniacki 3rd round: Not sure if Wozniacki has gotten a big win at a major since her comeback.

Until I see more, I can't pick her. Rybakina in 3.

Osaka vs. Ostapenko 1st round: Osaka can lose this in 2, but I'll pick her.

Rybakina vs. Osaka QF: Not sure if Osaka can really get this far. If she can, then I'll pick her to continue. Osaka in 2.

Gauff's Quarter:

Gauff vs. Svitolina 3rd round: Svitolina in 2. She's been really consistent the past few years.

Svitolina vs. Azarenka QF: Not sure if Azarenka can get this far. But if she does, I think she'll be the nice story of the tourney.

Azarenka in 2.

Swiatek vs. Rybakina SF: Rybakina usually wins this. But I'll take Swiatek in 2.

Osaka vs. Azarenka SF: Oddly enough, I'll take the player that has never won the USO, Azarenka. Azarenka in 3.

Swiatek vs. Azarenka Finals: Why not go bold. Azarenka wins her first US Open, and does it as a mom. Azarenka in 2.

Sinner with that doping incident clouding his psyche might not make it far, though I still think he can make it to the quarters. Azarenka in the finals and winning it? A bit a stretch but anything can happen. Osaka can sure make a nice run, and I wouldn't count out Zheng making it to the semis at least.

I screwed up my Womens Predictions, I forgot to look at Sabalenka's section.

And I had Osaka getting to the SF above, not Rybakina.

Correcting it now.

Sabalenka's Quarter:

Sabalenka to the SF.

Swiatek vs. Osaka SF: Osaka is going to go deep in a major again soon. Osaka in 2.

Azarenka vs. Sabalenka SF: Sabalenka is the better player, but I am just going with the surprise run by Azarenka. Azarenka in 2.

Osaka vs. Azarenka Finals: I still get the all mom Finals. Azarenka in 2.

Sinner with that doping incident clouding his psyche might not make it far, though I still think he can make it to the quarters. Azarenka in the finals and winning it? A bit a stretch but anything can happen. Osaka can sure make a nice run, and I wouldn't count out Zheng making it to the semis at least.

Zheng is really good. One of the better players in the past calendar year.

Kyrgios thinks Sinner should be suspended for 2 years. He says if any of it is in your system, it's an enhancement, and he should be banned just like anyone else.

I do believe the investigation that the trainer unintentionally transferred it to Sinner.

Sinner is hurt by people that don't believe him. But I think he'll still be able to play good tennis.

I feel like Azarenka has one more deep run in her, why not have it be at the site where she's made the Finals a few times?

I had no idea Kerber retired after the Olympics.

Too bad, because she had just came back this calendar year from being a mom.

I wanted to see if she could complete the career slam. She was fun to watch.

I'm also sad Thiem retired, as he was also fun to watch.

I had no idea Rybakina had withdrawn or retired from 8 events this year.

I hope she or her team figure out how to get her to get through these tourneys.

Azarenka is still playing very well, especially on hard court- can still go toe-to-toe with anyone from the baseline.

Kyrios likes to have the perspective that everything rigged against him lol. Not sure how fair it was that there was no suspension, but yeah it didn't seem intentional. Sinner was already playing so well- why would he need something like that. That'd make no sense.

But Sinner now has a great chance especially with Alcaraz out. That was a huge shock- one of the biggest grand slam upsets in recent memory. Carlos just making so many forehand errors. Seemed like there was something up with him mentally perhaps.

Those two were tremendous players. It was amazing to see Thiem win the US Open in 2020. Kerber was still doing pretty well after coming back to tennis. What a counter-puncher she was. It will be interesting to see what's next in store for them.

The straight sets part was surprising. I can't remember the last time he lost a best of 5 in straight sets.

Speaking of making errors, remember when Djokovic made 100 errors in an Australian Open match? I have no idea how he won that one.

Someone held up a sign with a 100 in the crowd, like Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-despite-100-unforced-errors-advances-to-quarterfinals.html

Yeah not something to be proud of lol but somehow still won. That's mental toughness. But seems like the Olympics wore Djokovic and Alcaraz down- pretty shocking to see them both out so early.

Fritz very impressive win over Zverev. He or Tiafoe will make it to the final which is a breath of fresh air. I'm guessing it'd come down to Fritz vs Sinner, and it'd be awesome for an American to win the US Open for once. It's been too long!

There was a funny stat where all of women Olympics medalists made the QF, and none of the men did.

I think I like Fritz more on grass than hard courts, but I think Fritz might be better at the net. Not sure that matters as much on hard courts.

Overall I doubted Tiafoe a lot the past few months. But perhaps the coaching change has helped.

But this is also his 2nd coaching change since December.

I wish Pegula wasn't 30.

If she was 28, I could see her being a strong player for 4 - 5 years.

But at age 30, I can't recall any man or woman who made multiple GS Finals starting at the age of 30.

Hope I'm wrong, but this might be the only GS final she makes. Just based on no one else making one so late in their career, then making multiple.

Yeah Pegula put up a good battle, but Sabalenka just too good. She reminds me of prime Serena with that dominating serve and powerful ground strokes. Pegula had her chances, but just couldn't serve well enough. Liked how she sliced more in the second set, but credit to Sabalenka who showed more variety to her game with some nice drop shots.

Fritz vs Sinner- should be a good one. Hope Taylor, with the help of the crowd, can bring it home.

Yeah the womens final ended up being good.

I don't know if this is a valid theory or not, but I think taller guys like Sinner have trouble keeping the ball in bounds, if it's hit in the middle of the court.

Because they then have smaller distances to hit and keep the ball in play.

So if there's any part of that theory that's true, maybe that can be a key for Fritz.

Otherwise, just battle like Pegula did and see what opportunities come.

It looked like Fritz was at least going to win the 3rd set.

But he didn't.