The US Open kicks off on Monday.
The final Grand Slam in the calendar year will see Carlos Alcaraz going for his third major title of 2024 and Coco Gauff vowing to retain the Women’s trophy she picked up last year.
Here are the main talking points for the tournament before proceedings at Flushing Meadows get going.
British tennis enters its post-Murray era
His litany of high profile injuries means that viewers have become accustomed to Andy Murray’s absence from major tournaments.
But this year’s US Open will be the first Grand Slam in nearly 20 years that the Scot is not a professional tennis player.
Murray decided to hang up his racket after the recent Olympics in Paris, where and doubles partner Dan Evans were knocked out in the third round of the men’s doubles.
The four-time Grand Slam champion leaves an enormous hole in British tennis, which, in the Men’s game, looks most likely to be filled by British number one Jack Draper.
The world number 25 goes into the tournament as the one male Brit likely to ‘go deep’, after Cameron Norrie, who beat Draper at Wimbledon, was forced to pull out because of a forearm injury.
In the women’s draw, Emma Raducanu, remains Britain’s biggest hope.
After a string of injuries hampered the 21-year-old’s progress, Raducanu looks to have found some of the spellbinding form that carried her to a remarkable victory at this tournament three years ago.
A decent run at this year’s Wimbledon, where she was knocked out in the fourth round, and several promising LTA event showings suggest this is her best opportunity at a major event since undergoing surgery on both wrists and her ankle last year.
Gauff, Osaka, Fritz and Shelton among US hopefuls
There are few sights and sounds in tennis like the Arthur Ashe stadium when a home grown player is on song.
Fans were spoiled last year when they got to see Coco Gauff become the first American tennis player to win a Grand Slam since Serena Williams.
But while Gauff had a disappointing Wimbledon – going out in the first week to American qualifier Navarro – she goes into the tournament as world number three and fourth favourite, behind Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina, according to the bookies.
Naomi Osaka – the American-Japanese four-time grand slam winner – also makes her return to the US Open after a fifteen-month break from the game, during which she gave birth to a daughter.
On the men’s side of the draw, the US can lay claim to several outside hopes of a win. Chief among them is Taylor Fritz, who sits just outside the world top 10 and world number 12.
Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda and Frances Tiafoe also find themselves ranked between 10 and 20 in the world; is the first time since 1997 the host nation has five players in the top 20.
Sinner shrugs off doping drama
The tournament will also be the first grand slam since world number one Jannik Sinner was cleared of a positive drugs test that has divided the tennis industry.
The Italian had twice tested positive for a banned substance in March but – before the positive tests had been made public – was cleared of wrongdoing after proving he had been contaminated by his physiotherapist.
Tennis’ governing body, the ATP, ruled that Sinner, who has only won one Grand Slam despite having spent much of 2024 at world number one, would lose any points and prize money earned during the Indian Wells hard court tournament where he tested positive.
The lenient punishment was slammed by controversial Aussie Nick Kyrgios, who called on him to be banned for two years in a post on X (below).
Former world number one Andy Roddick, who won the US Open in 2003, was also excoriating about the misstep from Sinner’s team, saying on his podcast Served with Andy Roddick: “I think it’s negligence by members of his team. I think it’s a gross mistake.”
Paralympics clash
For the first time in eight years, events at Flushing Meadows will clash with the Paralympics, meaning there will be no wheelchair tournament at this year’s US Open.
The scheduling decision, which has criticised by several high profile wheelchair players, means the likes of career Grand Slam winner Alfie Hewett will be denied a chance to win another major.
Fellow Brit Andy Lapthorne, who reached last year’s quad doubles final, called the situation “really disappointing” saying that major tournaments like the US Open provide an important income opportunity for wheelchair players.
How has the draw shaped up?
Announced on Friday, the draw for this year’s competition threw up some juicy ties.
Emma Raducanu is guaranteed to face two US players in the first two rounds, facing world number 55 Sofia Kennin before a likely fixutre against sixth seed Jessica Pegula in round two.
Should Raducanu and fellow Brit Katie Boulter both win their first two games, they pair will face each other in the third round. Boulter is seeded 31 for the tournament.
The pick of the first round in the women’s side of the draw is Osaka’s tricky looking opening game against world number 10 Jelena Ostapenko, whose aggressive style has won her a cult following among fans.
In the men’s draw, Jack Draper, is up against China’s Zhang Zhizhen in the first round, with the prospect of Carlos Alcaraz as soon as the third round, should the two progress through the early stages.
Alcaraz, Sinner, Wimbledon semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev and Draper are all in the same half of a tricky-looking draw.