Carlos Alcaraz competes at the US Open

2024 US Open Men's Draw Preview: Seven To Watch

It’s been a busy summer of tennis, and with the US Open starting on Monday, there are several players coming off inspired performances with the potential to make a deep run at the year’s final major.

Below are seven players ready to continue their momentum and make headlines at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with odds from UTR Sports INSIGHTS.

Jannik Sinner smashes a forehand

Jannik Sinner (UTR Rating 16.28)

It’s no surprise the world No. 1 will be one to watch at the US Open. As Jannik Sinner heads into the tournament as the year’s most recent Masters 1000 champion, he has put his fellow ATP stars on notice.

Sinner has played a compact schedule in 2024, with Montreal and Cincinnati his only two events since Wimbledon. Shaking off some rust, he first lost to Andrey Rublev (UTR 15.84) in the Montreal quarterfinals.

But he followed it up with his fifth title of the season, this time ousting Rublev in the quarters before taking down Alexander Zverev (UTR 16.19) in the semifinals and Frances Tiafoe (UTR 15.55) in the championship match.

This year’s Australian Open champion, Sinner will be hoping for more hard-court success in New York. His best US Open result is the quarterfinals.

He and reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz (UTR 16.38) could meet yet again in the US Open semifinals.

Among the questions for Sinner to answer: How much will the controversy around his two positive steroid tests but being cleared of any wrongdoing affect him on the court?

UTR Sports INSIGHTS odds to win 2024 US Open title: 12%

Andrey Rublev (UTR 15.84)

After winning the Madrid title in May, Andrey Rublev suffered a handful of early tournament exits. But with one final and two quarterfinal appearances in August, he is rounding back into form and has been one of the most consistent players this month.

A quarterfinalist at the ATP 500 event in Washington as well as Cincinnati, the highlight of his summer has been a runner-up finish at the Masters 1000 in Montreal. This included a victory over world No. 1 Sinner in the final eight before he was ultimately upset by surprise champion Alexei Popyrin (UTR 15.71).

Rublev will now be hoping to keep his summer streak of playing deep into tournaments alive. He heads into the US Open as a four-time quarterfinalist but has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal (0-10 in Grand Slam quarterfinals).

INSIGHTS odds to win title: 1%

Alcaraz rips a forehand

Carlos Alcaraz (UTR 16.38)

The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion came up just short of winning his first gold medal in Paris, falling to Novak Djokovic. But Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion, arrives in Queens full of momentum, having won two of the season's three major championships.

He fell in the semifinals to Daniil Medvedev last year and opens against a to-be-named qualifier.

In the second round, Alcaraz could meet former world No. 10 Denis Shapovalov of Canada or Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.

INSIGHTS odds to win title: 19%

Novak Djokovic, top of the men's pro tennis rankings and a supporter of UTR Rating, celebrates his 24th major championship

Novak Djokovic (UTR 16.30)

It's been nearly 12 months since Novak Djokovic last hoisted a Grand Slam trophy. That, of course, came in New York last September, when the Serbian won his 24th major championship.

Up until earlier this month, Djokovic's 2024 seemed rather ho-hum. He hadn't won a title, nor had he beaten a Top 10 player. But the 37-year-old turned it all around in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Djokovic beat Alcaraz to win the one missing line on his resume, a gold medal in singles. Before the season, Djokovic had said the gold medal was his biggest goal of 2024.

Now that he's done it, what will he have left in New York? Doubt one of the greatest of all time and prepare to look foolish.

"I think it would be like Herculean if he wins this tournament and gets to 25 [Grand Slam titles]," said ESPN's Chris Evert. "I think hands down he would have to be the greatest player ever, male player ever. I think he already is in a lot of people's minds. I just think for him even to have won the Olympics, after what he went through with the surgery, with seemingly Alcaraz starting to take over, starting to get his number as he did at Wimbledon, for him to come back and find that resilience and find that level of tennis, that actually we haven't seen the whole year, because he hasn't won a tournament the whole year, it was like a fairy tale.

"But you know what? I believe in karma. This guy has worked his butt off his whole life, put up with a lot from press and from being kind of the bad guy with Federer and Nadal. He deserves it. He deserves it all."

Tennis players playing tennis after upgrading to Power and saving money one events with UTR Sports

Clear your schedule now: The four-time US Open champion could meet 13th seed Ben Shelton or 20th seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round.

INSIGHTS odds to win title: 12%

Alexei Popyrin (UTR 15.71)

Heading into the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal earlier this month, nobody had Alexei Popyrin as the final man standing. But the 25-year-old had other ideas, winning the biggest title of his career and the third overall.

It was certainly a fairytale week for Popyrin, who entered the tournament ranked world No. 62.

His six wins en route to the trophy included knocking out No. 14 Ben Shelton (UTR 15.61), No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov (UTR 16.04), No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz (UTR 15.96), and No. 18 Sebastian Korda (UTR 15.84). And in the final, he ousted Rublev 6-2, 6-4 for the trophy.

That win bumped Popyrin to a new career-high of world No. 23. Now sitting at No. 28, he will be seeded at a Slam for the first time at the US Open. He’s reached the third round there twice, in 2019 and 2021. The 28th seed faces South Korea's Soonwoo Kwon (UTR 14.85) in the opening round.

INSIGHTS odds to win title: <1%

Holger Run smashes a backhand

Holger Rune (UTR 15.67)

One of the best players in 2023, a year in which he hit a career-high mark of world No. 4, Holger Rune hasn’t set the tour alight in quite the same way this season. But some recent success shows he can tally up the wins at any time.

He reached the semifinals at Cincinnati, his top finish in 2024 so far. Among his vanquished opponents were Gael Monfils (UTR 15.67) and Jack Draper (UTR 15.69) before he came up against an in-form Tiafoe. In an exciting and hard-fought match, Rune just fell short by a score of 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

And while his best Slam successes have come on clay or grass, the world No. 14 will now be aiming for a career-best hard court performance at the US Open. His top result in New York is the third round.

INSIGHTS odds to win title: <1%

Frances Tiafoe celebrates beating Rafael Nadal at the US Open

Frances Tiafoe (UTR 15.49)

Frances Tiafoe has posted the strongest results of his season this month, highlighted by his first Masters 1000 final.

First, the American reached the final four at Washington. His run included a 6-4, 7-6(3) triumph over world No. 8 Rublev in the quarterfinals before he fell to countryman Korda.

Then he played in the biggest final of his career in Cincinnati. Though he ultimately fell to Sinner, the result propelled him back into the Top 20 for the first time since early March.

A quarterfinalist at the US Open last year, Tiafoe is heading into the tournament with momentum on his side. He is only two years removed from his memorable upset of Rafael Nadal and his five-set battle against Alcaraz in the semifinals, all of which took place at the 2022 US Open.

INSIGHTS odds to win title: <1%

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