Rune, Ruud, Tsitsipas… carnage at the US Open with 9 of the 16 bottom seeds eliminated before the third round
The US Open is full of surprises and sensations, particularly at the bottom of the draw, where one seed after another has fallen, leaving the way clear for Novak Djokovic
Holger Rune, US Open 2023 – © Chryslène Caillaud / Panoramic
We know someone who must be smiling at Flushing Meadows! World No 2 and placed at the very bottom of the US Open men’s draw, Novak Djokovic is seeing one seed after another fall in his half, even before the start of the third round.
While the Serb could potentially have faced Félix Auger Aliassime in the round of 16, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals and Holger Rune or Casper Ruud in the semi-finals, the latter players are no longer in the draw for the last Grand Slam of the season.
Nine of the 16 seeds in the bottom half of the draw have already been eliminated in New York, a demolition of top-ranked players in this US Open. With the defeats of Tsitsipas and Ruud, there are now no Grand Slam finalists other than Novak Djokovic in this section. Taylor Fritz (9), Frances Tiafoe (10) and Tommy Paul (14) are the three Top 20 survivors still in Flushing Meadows.
Ruud could fall out of top 10
Last year’s finalist was stunned in the second round last night by China’s Zhizhen Zhang. In the last eight Grand Slam tournaments played by Casper Ruud, he has reached the final three times and failed to reach the second round on five occasions.
Ranked fifth in the world before the start of the US Open, the Norwegian is now ninth in the live rankings and could fall out of the rop 10 for the first time since August 2021, depending on the results of his rivals in the rankings.
Tsitsipas’a surprise early defeat in the second round on Wednesday will have no impact on his ranking. The Greek, who fell at the first hurdle in New York last year, even leaves Flushing Meadows with 35 more points in his bag.
For his part, Rune, seeded fourth and beaten in the first round, will lose the 80 points he earned for making the third round last year and could well leave the top four at the end of the US Open. But he will remain in the rop 10, where he has been for eight months now.
Sinner has great chance to break into top 4
With the early defeats of three members of the top 10, some players have a golden opportunity to make good progress in the ATP rankings, starting with Jannik Sinner. The Italian needs to reach the semi-finals of the last Grand Slam of the season to move into fourth place in the world, which would be a great first for him. But the road ahead looks complicated, with a clash against Carlos Alcaraz scheduled for the quarter-finals.
Andrey Rublev and Fritz can also dream of a place in this famous top four, if Sinner fails in his quest for the last four. To do so, the Russian must reach the semi-finals, something he has never achieved in a Grand Slam. For Fritz to break the top four, the American must reach the final of the US Open on Sunday 10 September.
