After 14 days of play across five different events, tennis has come to a conclusion at the 2024 US Open in New York. For those who are missing the action already, we’ve broken down all of the best bits from the US Open tennis into one easy to read summary.
From Jannik Sinner winning his second major and Aryna Sabalenka bagging her third, through to Aussies punching above their weight in the doubles, Carlos Alcaraz’s shock loss, Jack Draper spewing on court and Yulia Putintseva being sassy, we look at it all in our 2024 US Open summary.
Results Summary: Who Won the US Open 2024?
Before we look at some of the unforgettable moments from this year’s US Open, here’s a quick rundown of how each event unfolded.
Men’s Singles
Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz (6-3, 6-4, 7-5)
Sinner claimed a historic second major title on Sunday in New York, becoming the first-ever Italian player to win two Grand Slams in the Open Era. But before that, there was plenty of action as the US Open men’s event went from 128 players to one champion.
Early on, there were rumblings of upsets happening in the men’s draw. No 11 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fell to Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round, while No 19 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No 15 seed Holger Rune also crashed out early. But this was just a foreshadowing of things to come.
In one of the more bizarre 24 hour periods in US Open history, the second and third seeds both lost in stunning upsets. First it was Roland-Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, who was shocked by Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, before 24-time Grand Slam champion and recent Olympics gold medallist Novak Djokovic was upended by Alexei Popyrin.
With two big names out of the draw early, opportunity existed for those willing to grab it. Those names were Jack Draper and Frances Tiafoe, who both put together impressive runs to the semi-finals in New York.
For Draper, he booked a spot in the last four without dropping a set, seeing off Alex de Minaur – who impressively made his third-straight major quarter-final. Tiafoe’s path was a touch rockier, with the American overcoming No 13 seed Ben Shelton in five sets, Djokovic-slayer Popyrin and No 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov.
But as both Draper and Tiafoe fell short in the semi-finals, the US Open men’s singles quickly became about two storylines: Sinner putting together yet another near-perfect performance despite the distraction of his drug testing scandal, and Fritz making his maiden Grand Slam final.
Ultimately it was Sinner who would win out, with the world No 1 completing a sweep of the hard-court slams in 2024.
Women’s Singles
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula (7-5, 7-5)
Over in the women’s event, Sabalenka also swept the year’s hardcourt majors, grabbing a US Open title to go with her two Australian Open crowns as she beat home hope Jessica Pegula in the final.
There were less big shocks early on in the women’s singles, with only the out of form Danielle Collins and Maria Sakkari suffering upsets. An iconically-dressed Naomi Osaka took out No 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko too, before falling herself in the second round. Illness sent No 4 seed Elena Rybakina home as well, with the Kazakh withdrawing ahead of her second match.
It wasn’t until the later stages of the tournament that the upsets began to flow. Two-time 2024 Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini fell in the round of 16, as did defending champion Coco Gauff, continuing her tough run of form in 2024. A shock loss for top seed Iga Swiatek followed, stunned in straight sets by eventual finalist Jessica Pegula.
Mirroring the men’s event, Pegula broke her Grand Slam quarter-final hoodoo and carried the American flag all the way to the final. She was up against a tough challenge in Aryna Sabalenka, who had dropped just the one set en route to the final, and fell short in two tight sets as the Belarussian bagged her second slam of the season.
Men’s Doubles
Purcell/Thompson defeated Krawietz/Puetz (6-4, 7-6 (4))
This year’s men’s doubles event at the US Open saw the Aussie duo of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson prevail for their first Grand Slam title together, after falling one match short at Wimbledon.
The Australian more favored to win – Matthew Ebden, who partnered with Rohan Bopanna for the second seed – crashed out in the third round, as did third seeds Ram/Salisbury. This opened up a path for Purcell/Thompson after they took out top seed Granollers/Zeballos in the quarter-finals, with the pairing racing through their next two matches in clinical fashion to win the title for the loss of just one set.
Women’s Doubles
Kickenok/Ostapenko beat Mladenovic/Zhang (6-4, 6-3)
Perhaps the most unexpected winners at the US Open were Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko, with the No 7 seeds claiming their first doubles Grand Slam in New York.
The women’s doubles event began with a big upset as second seeds and perpetual major winners Hsieh/Mertens were stunned in the first round. Their conquerors, Mladenovic/Zhang, took full advantage of the opening in the draw, riding it all the way to the final as they also upset fifth seeds Melichar-Martinez/Perez and Siniakova/Townsend.
But with 10th seeds Chan/Kudermetova knocking out the top seeded Dabrowski/Routliffe, Kichenok/Ostapenko had their own path to the final made easy. They tore through their final two matches for the loss of just 10 games total, lifting the trophy in emphatic style.
Mixed Doubles
Errani/Vavassori beat Townsend/Young (7-6 (0), 7-5)
Errani/Vavassori made it dual Italian success in New York as the mixed doubles pairing made an unlikely run to the title at the US Open.
Neither had won a mixed doubles title before, with Errani well into the twilight of her illustrious career at 37 years of age. However, with the exception of their first match which ended 11-9 in a match tiebreaker, the pair were unbothered as they eased their way to the final. They were given a tough challenge by home favorites Townsend/Young, ultimately prevailing in two tight sets.
Biggest Surprises of the 2024 US Open
That’s how each event unfolded in New York, but what about some of the big surprises at the 2024 US Open? Here are the five things that shocked us the most:
- American consistency
While there were no American champions at this year’s US Open, the United States contingent showed impressive consistency across the board. Three of the five events had American finalists, while five others made the semi-finals.
Particularly surprising were Fritz and Pegula, who had not advanced beyond the last eight of a Grand Slam before, yet both made the championship match in the men’s and women’s singles. Shout out to Tiafoe too, who was paying 67.00 (+6300) to make the final, and came within a few points of doing so.
- Sinner’s mental strength
Few were high on Sinner’s chances of winning the US Open this year. While he was still the third favorite in outright betting, there were major question marks over how he would hold up mentally. At age 23, with all of the tennis world talking about him due to his recently revealed doping scandal, surely he wouldn’t be able to put it all to one side and win a second Grand Slam.
Turns out, he was able to do just that, playing some of his best tennis as he blocked out the noise and completed a sweep of the hardcourt majors this year.
- Swiatek rolling over
We thought that Swiatek would bounce back strongly after her bitter disappointment at the Olympics. Instead, the Pole rolled over meekly, falling to Pegula for the loss of just six games. Very un-Swiatek-like, and not something we saw coming.
- Botic’s brilliance
Hands down something that no one saw coming at the 2024 US Open was Alcaraz’s shock loss to Van de Zandschulp. The Dutchman was in lousy form, having barely won a match all year and openly considering retirement from the sport just months early. Alcaraz, on the other hand, was the winner of the past two Grand Slams and No 3 seed in New York, who hadn’t taken a bad loss at majors in years.
So when Van de Zandschulp played with ice in his veins to not only knock Alcaraz out of the tournament, but do so in straight sets without looking phased at all, it’s safe to say this was a big surprise.
- Hsieh/Mertens shock loss
Coming into the US Open, Hsieh/Mertens had nine Grand Slam titles between them. They were hot favorites for the title having won the Australian Open and made the semi-finals of Wimbledon. And yet, up against Mladenovic/Zhang, it took just an hour and two minutes for the duo to crash out of the tournament in the first round, winning just five games.
Most Memorable Moments of the US Open in 2024
Look back on the US Open, these are the moments that we think will go down in tennis history:
- That Sinner point
Go Google ‘Sinner US Open crazy point’. You’ll thank us later. Just to prove how super-human he is, Sinner won one of the most dramatic points of the year against Jack Draper.
First, the Italian fetched a beautiful dropshot by Draper, making his own angled return across the net. Draper responded with a deep drive up the line, forcing Sinner to back pedal and chase down the ball from his back corner. He managed to, but in the process of lobbing it back, slipped over and hurt his wrist. The ball floated back over the net, sitting up for an easy smash by Draper. Sinner preempted where the Brit would send his overhead, however, racing to his right and ripping a 100+ mph forehand for a winner right past his opponent.
- Draper vomiting
Speaking of Draper, few will forget the scenes of him battling his own body in his maiden Grand Slam semi-final. The 22-year-old won a lot of fans – and grossed out plenty – as he vomited on court multiple times, yet continued playing at a high level in his loss to Sinner. It will take a while to erase the image of Draper heaving while poised to return a serve, then wiping his mouth and carrying on as though nothing happened.
- Osaka’s outfits
While Osaka lost second round at the US Open, she still stamped her mark on the event with some audacious fashion. From oversized bows – and mini ones on her shoes – to fairy lights in her hair, the former Grand Slam champion was a sight to behold in the tournament’s opening week.
- Sassy Putintseva
Chances are you’ve seen the clip of Yulia Putintseva circulating on X where she has a rather unsavory interaction with a ball girl in her third-round loss to Jasmine Paolini. The Kazakh will go down in tennis history for blanking a ball girl, and allowing her to throw two balls to her without reacting at all.
Social media reacted poorly to her disrespect of the ball girl, and we expect it will take Putintseva some time to live this one down.
- Evans vs Khachanov epic
Something else that will live on in history is the epic clash between Dan Evans and Karen Khachanov that unfolded in the first round. Both came into their match desperate to win and playing some poor tennis in 2024. Turns out the mutual desperation created a brilliant contest, as the pair played the longest-ever match in US Open history.
Evans ended up coming back from 0-4 down in the fifth to win 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4, battling it out for five hours and 35 minutes on one of the outside courts.
- Tiafoe bombing
Last but not least, this US Open will forever be remembered as the one that got away for Tiafoe. The American was fully in control with a 2-1 set lead and the match on serve in the fourth, with Tiafoe looking the better player across the course of the first two hours.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Tiafoe’s level fell off, with the 26-year-old losing seven of the next eight games to crash out of the tournament. What happened? Tiafoe confessed afterwards: he began thinking about playing in the US Open final.
