Two former U.S. Open Champions Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz face off in the Arthur Ashe Stadium tomorrow in the semi-finals alongside Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton.
In the women’s semi-finals, Coco Gauff will be facing off against Karolína Muchová and Madison Keys will be facing off against Aryna Sabalenka.
With upcoming stars such as Alcaraz and Gauff, many wonder who will win the Grand Slam title in its entirety.
Although Medvedev, Alcaraz and Djokovic are all past U.S. Open winners, Carlos Alcaraz is the clear winner this year.
Alcaraz has defeated Medvedev in two out of their three matches played, both in the 2023 Wimbledon semi-final and in the Indian Wells Masters final. Medvedev’s first and only win against Alcaraz occurred during the 2021 Wimbledon second round.
Alcaraz has earned a total of six titles in 2023 to Medvedev’s five and won five titles during the 2022 season whereas Medvedev only won two.
Alcaraz defeated Djokovic during the 2023 Wimbledon finals, breaking a 20-year streak of the same four players winning the title at only twenty years old. He has won two out of their four matches played, including in 2022 during the Madrid Open.
Djokovic has even complimented Alcaraz’s playing style.
“He’s got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we’ve seen with Rafa (Nadal) over the years. And I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands that he’s got some similarities with my backhands,” Djokovic said.
At only 20 years old, Alcaraz already has two Grand Slam titles. At 20 years old, Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title and did not win another Grand Slam for three years.
While Alcaraz appears to be the upcoming 2023 U.S. Open Winner, Gauff seems to be the 2023 U.S. Open Winner for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Gauff will play against Muchová in the semi-final, whom she defeated during the Cincinnati Masters in straight sets. Muchová has won 44% of return points whereas Gauff has won 45.4% of return points.
With world No. 2 Sabalenka playing against Keys, Sabalenka may very well be the winner and go on to face off against Gauff in the final. Sabalenka faced and defeated Keys during the 2023 Wimbledon quarter-final.
Despite the fact that Sabalenka beat Gauff during the 2023 Indian Wells quarter-final, Gauff has three titles this year just as Sabalenka does.
Gauff has won 41.1% of games in which she returned the serve first whereas Aryna has only won 36.4% of games in which she returned the serve first.
Gauff’s forehand has been described as her weakness while Sabalenka’s forehand has been described as a huge weapon for her. Even though forehand in tennis is important, Gauff has other strengths such as mental toughness.
“Gauff’s strengths on offense have always been obvious: the first serve, the foot speed, the fearsome backhand she can angle crosscourt or drive down the line, the soft hands at the net, the court savvy, the fight,” said Gerald Marzorati, a tennis reporter for the New York.
In overall stats, Gauff has 39.5% of first return points and Sabalenka has only won 37.3% of first return points, an important factor as Gauff has only won 74.6% of service games and Aryna Sabalenka has won 82.3% of service games.
Although there are still semi-final games to be played, there is no doubt that Gauff and Alcaraz will come out on top.
