The 2018 US Open is an annual hard-court tennis competition hosted by the United States Tennis Association. It is the 138th edition of the tournament, the first being held back in 1881. The original precursor known as the US National Championship was one of the oldest tennis tournaments of the world.
Like every year, the US Open is the fourth and the last Grand Slam of the year.
Venue and Dates
The 2018 US Open gets underway on 27th August 2018. The final will be played on 9th September 2018.
Since 1978, the tournament is played on the hard-court surfaces of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York City.
The main court is the Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after the men’s singles winner of the inaugural US Open, Arthur Ashe in 1968.
2017 US Open Champions
Rafael Nadal is the current men’s singles champion at the US Open. The 2017 US Open was his sixteenth Grand Slam title and third crown at the US Open. He defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
US player Sloane Stephens won the women’s singles event after defeating fellow compatriot Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0.
The men’s doubles final was won by Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. They beat the Spanish pairing of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-3.
Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis took home the women’s doubles title after beating Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2.
Hingis also took home the mixed doubles title with Jamie Murray after the pair beat Chan Hao-Ching and Michael Venus 6-1, 4-6, 10-8. It took Hingis’ total Grand Slam tally to 25.
Prize Money
The total prize money for the 2018 US Open is $53 million, which is a more than five percent increase to last year’s prize money of $50.4 million.
The winners of the singles events will earn $3.8 million each, while runners-up will earn $1.85 million.
The doubles winners of the tournament will share $700,000.
2018 US Open Contenders
World number one in the ATP Men’s singles rankings and defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal will start off as one of the favourites to win the US Open again. Earlier in the year, Nadal won the title at Roland Garros and reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon.
Roger Federer will be looking to lift his spirits and take home his sixth US Open title after his disappointing exit at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.
Fourth ranked Juan Martin del Potro and seventh ranked Marin Cilic will be looking to win their second US Open title this year. Novak Djokovic has been on the rise in this year and finally looks to have put aside his injury fears to the back of his mind. The 2018 Wimbledon winner will be looking to win the US Open which he won last in 2015.
On the women’s singles front, Serena Williams will be the prime favourite to win the title for the seventh time. Fellow American and defending champ Sloane Stephens is also one of the contenders to lift the title. World number one Simona Halep and past champion Angelique Kerber may turn out to be worthy oppositions as well.
