The 2022 US Open is the most wide open major in the Open Era since the legendary 1974 French Open (and here’s why)
Iga Swiątek is the only player in the 2022 US Open quarter-finals on both the women’s and men’s sides alike, to have already won a Grand Slam tournament. Yes, these titles are most definitely up for grabs.
Roger Federer (2003), Cori Gauff (2022), Carlos Alcaraz (2022), Chris Evert (1974) | © Panoramic / Tennis Majors
The US Open is rightly considered to be the most open Grand Slam, if not the most random. There are reasons for this, which Rémi Bourrières had listed last year before a tournament that seemed destined to be won by Novak Djokovic. Scheduled closer to the end of the season than the other three slams, players’ bodies and minds already worn out by a year on the circuit. Moreover, New York weather at the end of summer can take a toll — at times even requiring a Herculean effort to overcome it. And there is a specific madness to the place, to the electricity of New York, to the immensity of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and to the fever of its night sessions — which can all make the results more surprising there than elsewhere.
Looking back on the game’s recent history, one measurement of how open a slam is the number of players who have won the only major of their career in that spot. Current world No 1 Daniil Medvedev did it last year in New York, preceded by Dominic Thiem (2020) , Marin Cilic (2014), Juan Martin Del Potro (2009), Andy Roddick (2003), Patrick Rafter (1997, 1998), Bianca Andresscu (2019), Sloane Stephens (2017), Flavia Pennetta (2015), Samantha Stosur (2011), and Gabriela Sabatini (1990) — who all knew how to engineer some of the biggest upsets.
Such an accomplishment also belongs to the other winner of the 2021 edition, Emma Raducanu. Her performance at Flushing Meadows will be remembered for a long time, an epic saga in which the Brit reeled off 10 victories without losing a set — including three in qualifying. It was arguably the most irrational and unpredictable triumph of the Open Era (since 1968) .
Moreover, the US Open is the only Grand Slam in which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have never faced each other. On more than a few occasions they suffered the most surprising defeats of their careers before they would have gone head-to-head.
In 2022, the US Open craze has hit in even greater proportions. The current edition of the New York tournament is quite simply the most open of the Open Era since Roland-Garros 1974.
CILIC WAS THE LAST MAN IN THE RUNNING TO WIN A MAJOR
When Carlos Alcaraz finally beat Cilic at 2:23 a.m., hours after Nadal’s surprise loss to Frances Tiafoe, the 2022 US Open became a golden opportunity for young guns on the men’s tour. With Djokovic banned from the United States and Nadal eliminated, Cilic was the last Grand Slam champion remaining on the men’s side. Medvedev, Thiem, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka were already out before Nadal lost.
As such, one of these players will lift the first major trophy of his career (in the very subjective order that the tennis world expects):
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Jannik Sinner
- Nick Kyrgios
- Casper Ruud
- Andrey Rublev
- Karen Khachanov
- Frances Tiafoe.
Zero former slam winners made it to the quarter-finals. That situation had only occurred two other times in the Open era for men:
- US Open 2020
- Wimbledon 2003
Among those, the US Open 2020 can be considered a “special issue” due to the absence of fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic — which still didn’t stop chaos from taking place in New York. I the round of 16, Djokovic was infamously defaulted for hitting a lineswoman with a ball in frustration.
Thiem, then the world No 3 and the most “expected” player for such a title, outlasted Alexander Zverev in a five-set final. Following Zverev’s victory at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, the German is considered to be the best active player to have never captured a major title.
The two men had withdrawn from a “last eight” where these players appeared:
- Medvedev (winner in 2021)
- Denis Shapovalov (seen since in the semi-finals at Wimbledon)
- Rublev (whose glass ceiling is at the Grand Slam quarters)
- Pablo Carreño Busta (winner of his quarter and never seen beyond the semi-finals since)
- Borna Coric (never seen higher since)
- Alex De Minaur (never seen higher since).
SWIATEK, THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE ALREADY WON A GRAND SLAM
To find traces of a situation comparable to that of the US Open 2022 men and women combined, we must go back to the 1974 edition of Roland-Garros. That tournament was, until this US Open, the most open tournament of the Open era.
The women’s draw at Flushing Meadows is also full of players who are unaccustomed to Grand Slam glory. Iga Swiatek is the only player to have lifted a major trophy (two in this case, Roland-Garros 2020 and 2022) among the quarter-finalists. That was also the case for Romanian Ilie Nastase on the men’s side in 1974. That edition of Roland-Garros would become a historic edition marked by the first Grand Slam victory for 18-year-old Björn Borg on the men’s side, and 19-year-old Chris Evert for the women. Those were maiden trophies for two players who would go straight to becoming legends of the game.
The players likely to prevent Swiatek from capturing another slam title are, in the same subjective order as mentioned earlier:
- Ons Jabeur
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Karolina Pliskova
- Caroline Garcia
- Jessica Pegula
