Summer Tournaments, the Olympics, the US Open 2024

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Three of the four Slams are now completed and for the first time since 2002, none of the Big Three hold a GS title for the calendar year.

Still plenty of tennis to come, of course, with effectively an extra RG in the form of the Paris Olympics and the US Open. Rafa won his opening singles at Bastad in Sweden yesterday and there will be much interest into how he will do.

Have we seen Djoko's final Slam title? It would be foolish to write him off. After all, few would have given him much hope in reaching the Wimbledon final.

The sky's the limit for Alcatraz at the moment. There must have been some who wondered whether he would struggle to maintain his level after becoming a teenage Slam winner and the youngest number one. But since then he's won three more Slams including twice beating a seven-time Wimbledon champion on the Centre Court.

If fit, Sinner will also be a favourite at New York. Who knows, after the 2024 USO we might have to dust off the Next Player to Win Their First Slam topic. Zverev has threatened this year and he would be my best bet for a maiden GS.

In the women there is a degree of consistency in the winners of the big tournaments - except Wimbledon. Hard to see the New York crown going to anyone outside the current top four.

Djoko has spoken at some length and rather well on the Sinner situation. Said he could understand that some players were upset at the whole thing and called for consistency.

Sinner has sacked those involved. I'm not sure what that means in terms of his own involvement/guilt/innocence.

As far as the USO is concerned Djoko, I think, will be very relaxed after his Olympic triumph and will come out swinging. Could this be Zverev's time? You feel he will get over the line eventually. But winning a Slam for him is a mental block as much as anything, you feel.

USO has begun. Rune beaten by Nakashima and Sakkari also out but very few shocks on the opening day.

Choinski of Britain, who did well to qualify, came from two sets down to take it to a 5th set but lost in the end. Dart had little trouble in a straight-sets win.

Djoko, the favourite IMHO, came thru comfortably. Zverev dropped a set but won in four.

Two all-Slam-winner contests today - Ostapenko-Osaka and Kenin-Raducanu.

18-yr-old Jakub Mensik has taken the first set off FAA on Day 2. Mensik bt Murray, Rublev and others earlier in the season to reach a final. His other scalps have included Dimi.

Another seed facing a tough opener is Tsitsipas who was a break down but has levelled at 4-4 v Kokkinakis.

Tsitsipas and FAA both dumped out - with T losing in four to Kokki and FAA being demolished by 18-yr-old Mensik in straight sets.

Just seen the stats about the Greek and hadn't realised just how poor his New York record is.

Sinner lost the first set but has now levelled the match v Mackenzie McDonald. Evans should have won the first set v Khachanov but didn't and could have lost the second but didn't - so it's one set all.

Jack Draper is thru. He was close to a straight sets win when his opponent retired.Katie Boulter lost the first set but rallied to go through. Osaka bt Ostapenko in straight sets. Swiatek also beat an LL in straight sets - but it was a bit of a struggle.

Big boys apart from Tsitsipas safely thru. Hats off to marathon man Dan Evans who won the longest-ever USO match 6-4 in the 5th after being 4-0 down in that final set.

Dan has been terrible this year but somehow managed to beat 22nd-ranked Khachanov in 5hrs 35mins.

Sinner dropped only five more games after that first=set loss and it was all over in four. There were also four-set victories for Alcaraz, Medvedev and De Minaur. David Goffin, until recently outside the top 100 but now back in form, ousted 22nd seed Tabilo.

Veterans Stan the Man and Fognini both bowed out. Could this be their final NY Slam?

Raducanu chose not to play any warm up matches then lost to Kenin and then said she ought to have played warm up matches. Duh! Paolini, who has reached the last two GS finals, edged former US champ Andreescu.

Possible dark horse is Muchova who reached the French final last year but has been beset with injuries. She won yesterday. 2021 runner-up Fernandes crashed out to Potapova.

Very surprised to see Alcaraz bow out in straight sets. It's good news for Jack Draper who would have had to face the Spaniard in the next round.

Sad to see Rybakina having to withdraw for injury. Defending champ Gauff lost the first set today to Svitolina but rallied to win in three. My dark horse Badosa only scraped thru thanks to a final-set tiebreak.

Shelton and Tiafoe are locked at one set all. That could be a longy.

An error-strewn performance by Djoko sees the defending champion OUT. For the first time since 2017 he will not have a GS on his annual CV.

The man himself admitted he was dreadful. Clearly, his main aim this year was to get the elusive Olympic gold. I'm sure he'd rather have had that than another NY triumph.

I think he will remain a threat at the big tournaments until he decides to call it a day. But whether he will have any more triumphs remains to be seen.

As I write, Draper who would have been playing Djoko in the normal way is a set up on Botic V De Sch. Paolini, Pegula and Muchova all won today.

Draper has a great chance to make even more progress after reaching the 4th round where he plays unseeded, but still tricky, Machac.

Although some big names in the men's and women's are out, most of the remaining players are seeded. With Alcaraz missing from the top half of the draw and Djoko absent from the bottom half there is enormous incentive for everyone.

One of the hardest matches to call today is Rublev v Dimi. If Dimi plays well he's more than a match for anyone. But his GS record is poor for such a talented player, so Rublev will probably win.

Another tough to predict is Tiafoe v Popyrin. The Aussie has been chalking up the wins of late but as we saw with Botic, it's not always easy to perform well after knocking out a top player. Not much between Ruud and Fritz, either.

I'm sticking to my dark horse Badosa who has the luxury, along with Zverev, of facing a non-seed.

Dimi got taken to a 5th set after jumping out to a two sets to love lead. I reckoned Rublev would take it but Dimi got the break and went on to clinch the the match 6-3 in the 5th.

He'll now face Fritz who overcame Ruud in four despite losing the first set. I guess if Dimi was to go deep in a Slam it would be this year when he's been far more consistent than for some time.

My favourite Badosa won easily today and will face Gauff if Coco wins later today.

Zverev and Tiafoe thru to the quarters. Gauff, though, is out - beaten in three by Navarro amid a stream of DFs.

Terrific performance by Draper, by all accounts, to beat a guy who had bettered him before.
Sinner recovered from a slow start to win in straights and will now face Medvedev.
My favourite Badosa was 5-1 up today v Navarro only to lose all the remaining games and the match

It will be an all-American semi after Fritz beat Zverev and Tiafoe beat Dimi. Can't see either them winning it and reckon the winner of the Sinner-Medvedev match will take the title.
Sabalenka demolished Zheng and should beat Navarro in the semi.

America will get a finalist in both title matches after Pegula bt Muchova in three last night.

She'll play Sabalenka who is is now proving to be extremely consistent in the Slams.

From a British-interest point of view, Murray's retirement is being offset by Draper's emergence on the big stage. He thrashed Machac and then won in straights against De Minaur who was hampered by injury.

They're reporting that Draper manages to impart both top and sideways spin on the ball which sounds like a nice trick if you can do it.

Don't think he'll beat Sinner who saw off Medvedev in four but this run should put him inside the top 20.

Win win match for Draper. He wins and he's the final, he loses and he lost to a doper who shouldn't be playing.

As expected Draper came up short against Sinner (I guess S Requiem thinks this is an apt surname for hime) but not before two competitive sets followed by a coast to victory for the number one.

Bit surprised Tiafoe lost to Fritz but it all means that it should be fairly straightforward for Sinner in the final.

Sabalenka ought to have a fairly smooth path to victory, too, although she will have to contend with a partisan NY crowd in the final for the second year running.

Sabalenka, as expected, was too good for Pegula although the American did fight back in the second set, turning a 0-3 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

But she failed to serve out the set at 5-4 and Sabalenka went on to win the set 7-5 and the match.

This is the first time, I think, since 2016 (Kerber) that anyone has won two Slams in a season. Sabalenka and Swiatek now have eight GS titles between them and although there have been hints of a Big 4 (these two plus Rybakina and Gauff) it's been more like a Big 2 this season.

I guess the same could be said for the men, for if Sinner wins tonight he and Alcaraz will have shared the 2024 Slams. Whatever happens we will have a first year since 2002 when none of the Big 3 won a Slam.

Are there still issues with the heat and the scheduling with the US Open. Apparently Draper was vomiting on court while playing Sinner in the semi-final, but judging by reports of Draper's post match comments - it was due to Draper's nervous disposition in such mentally demanding situations.

Briton Mika S (not even beginning to try to spell her surname) who is only 15 won the Junior USO.

She beat a number of seeds and took the final in straight sets. Judging from her post-match interview she is mature, confident and focused. It's straight back to studies at Loughborough Academy on Tuesday for her.

Contrary to what the Verve had us believe, the drugs do in fact work.

Once Sinner had beaten Medvedev I reckoned there was no way he wouldn't win the whole thing.

Very surprised Fritz got to the final. Don't rate him at all.