The 2024 Grand Slam season concluded the same way it began, with Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka left standing as the champions of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Americans fought valiantly to lift the crown at their home slam, but it was not to be as Sinner and Sabalenka both showed why they continue to remain two of the top forces on each Tour.
Dive into a 2024 US Open recap to catch up on what have missed from the final Grand Slam of the year:
Aryna Sabalenka was no stranger to a final in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and she was certainly no stranger to being the opponent to an American and thus having the crowd against her as well.
Sabalenka was just one year removed from a disappointing loss in the 2023 US Open final to Coco Gauff, a match that surely left a bitter taste considering she had the first set in her clutch before falling to the American. But this time around, Sabalenka was not to be denied, even though she was up against yet another American player in Jessica Pegula.
The World No. 2 confidently defeated Pegula 7-5, 7-5 – battling her way to a third career major title and first US Open singles crown. Sabalenka won the 2019 US Open doubles crown partnering with Elise Mertens, but this was her first taste of singles glory in New York.
If 2023 was considered a breakthrough year for Sabalenka, 2024 could be considered a breakout – as she’ll finish the as the only 2x Major winner on the WTA Tour this season. She has cemented herself as the hard court player to beat, which means fans at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open can expect her to roll in as one of the WTA favorites when Tennis Paradise returns next March.
Jannik Sinner’s last two trips to New York City ended with agonizing losses to Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, but his 2024 US Open had a storybook ending.
Looking as if he was barely tested throughout the tournament, Sinner showed why he has held the No. 1 ranking all year – rolling through the draw to win the second Grand Slam of his career. Sinner’s win earns him the honor of becoming the first Italian man to ever win the US Open, and he had to so without the crowd’s support as American Taylor Fritz stood on the other side of the net.
Just like Sabalenka, Sinner denied the crowd a chance at witnessing an American champion on home soil. With Sinner/Sabalenka winning the US Open, it became the first time since 1988 that the same two men’s and women’s singles players won both hard court majors in the same year.
