US Open kicks off today
The defending women's singles champion Iga Swiatek will play the opening match at Arthur Ashe Center Stadium, meeting Rebecca Peterson at 23:00 on August 28, Hanoi time. In the men's singles event, Novak Djokovic will play his last match on the main court, meeting Alexandre Muller at about 8 am on August 29.
At the age of 26, Muller is having the most successful season of his career, rising nearly 100 places from the beginning of the year to rise to 76th in the world. The French tennis player played persistently, considered an unpredictable unknown to Djokovic in the first time the Serbian player returned to the US Open from 2021.
This season, Muller beat Lorenzo Musetti and Richard Gasquet on their way to the final in Marrakech. At Grand Slam, he always "gets" to face big opponents at the Center Court. At Roland Garros, Muller met Jannik Sinner, at Wimbledon it was Carlos Alcaraz and at the US Open it was Djokovic.
"Djokovic is the greatest tennis player in the history of tennis," Muller said of the senior. "He has the most Grand Slams and Masters 1000. We all know how great Nole is. I don't see any weakness in him, but I'll do my best."
Right before Djokovic's match, the hope that host Coco Gauff will face Laura Siegemund in women's singles. Gauff just won the Cincinnati tournament more than a week ago and is considered to be the best female tennis player.
The Louis Armstrong and Grandstand stadiums also witnessed many promising matches. At 22:00 on August 28, Hanoi time, 2020 champion Dominic Thiem played the opening match on Grandstand, meeting Alexander Bublik. Also on this field, fourth seed Elena Rybakina faced Marta Kostyuk in the third match.
On the Louis Armstrong court, 2017 champion Sloane Stephens faced Beatriz Haddad Maia, a semifinalist at Roland Garros this year. In the evening session New York time, ie from 6am on August 29, Hanoi time, Stefanos Tsitsipas met Milos Raonic before former world number one Caroline Wozniacki met Russian tennis player Tatiana Prozorova.
2023 is the 143rd tournament of the US Open. The main round matches are held on 17 different courts. The men's and women's singles champions received $3 million in prize money, the most in tournament history. The total prize money this year is $65 million, up 8% from last year. The players who were eliminated in the first round also pocketed $ 81,500.
