Schedule / Preview Day Eight US Open 2024 (Monday 2 September) featuring Sinner-Paul, Muchova-Paolini and Shnaider-Pegula

Monday, 02 September 2024 at 20:19

The US Open continues with yet another packed day of tennis, and it’s already Day Eight (Monday 2 September), so let’s take a look at what this day has in store for us with our preview.

It’s been a very interesting US Open so far, with intriguing matches and a good amount of surprises. As always, we’ll preview the day by going over the courts, starting from the biggest one, which is the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Due to the lower number of matches, most will be played on the biggest courts as we’re inching closer to the conclusion of the event.

Swiatek, Pegula-Shnaider and Sinner-Paul headline Arthur Ashe

As has been customary this year at the US Open, the matches on Ashe will begin at noon local time, with the first one being between Diana Shnaider and Jessica Pegula. It’s a matchup we saw not too long ago at the Canadian Open, and it was a really fascinating one as Pegula was able to win in two sets, but Shnaider showed that she could hang with a top-10 player.

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The Russian has been playing at a really solid level for a very long time now as she’s slowly getting closer to the top 10 herself. A signature run at the US Open could certainly do it, but this will be a tough one. Pegula is arguably the most in-form player out of all, having won 12 of her last 13 matches. She’s also on home soil, which should get the crowd to back her, so overall, Pegula is expected to win the match. We’ll see if it happens.

After that match, we’ll see another interesting one as Daniil Medvedev will be back on the courts. He’s going to face Nuno Borges, who has had a dream run at the US Open but also quite a bit of luck. He saved multiple match points against Jakub Mensik in the previous round, so just being here and facing Medvedev is a major boost for him. Medvedev has done what many expected him to do at the event.

He played amazing tennis from the baseline to destroy all of his opponents so far, establishing himself as the second most likely behind Jannik Sinner to win the tournament.

He’s also had a fairly easy time against Borges the last time they played, beating him earlier this year at the Australian Open. He did drop a set, though, which could indicate that it’s a matchup that might be more interesting than a straight-sets win for Medvedev, but with everything we’ve seen so far, it’s pretty likely that the Russian will be able to win the match fairly easily.

As always, we’re only going to get four matches on Ashe, which means that the remaining two will be part of the night session. The first of those will see Iga Swiatek take on Liudmila Samsonova. It’s a fascinating matchup on paper because Samsonova is one of those players where you never know what you’re going to get. She’s capable of playing some amazing tennis, but at other times, she can be pretty poor.

Swiatek has looked decent so far at the US Open, but she’s playing better with every match, which isn’t great news if you’re Samsonova. Still, as a predominantly aggressive player, Samsonova is the type who can trouble Swiatek if she does indeed find her best tennis. It hasn’t happened often in recent weeks, but it could happen here; we just never know.

Swiatek is, of course, the overwhelming favourite and is expected to win this one easily, but the night is always good for a few surprises, as we’ve seen in recent days. Maybe Swiatek ends up being the third seed to crash out to an underdog during the night session.

Whatever happens in that match, though, we know that we’re going to get at least one more match afterward. It’s a pretty special one because native player Tommy Paul will face Jannik Sinner. The New York crowd never disappoints in showing up for their players, so you can expect a packed Ashe for this one. Paul is the type of player who feeds off that kind of energy, so maybe he just ends up producing a crazy level, making a match that shouldn’t be that interesting much more exciting.

Jannik Sinner is now favourite to win the US Open.

Sinner is the overwhelming favourite simply because he’s been amazing so far at the event. Nobody has really been able to give him any kind of pressure so far, though he hasn’t played a player of Paul’s calibre either. The American has had an incredible year so far, but his performances in New York have been somewhat lacklustre so far. He can certainly play much better than he has, and if he does, this could be an interesting one.

Still, overall, Sinner is the better player and more consistent hitter, which should be enough for him to win the match. Whatever happens, that will be the final match on Ashe, concluding a very packed schedule.

Muchova-Paolini, Draper and Wozniacki headline Louis Armstrong

The second-biggest court at the US Open will feature some pretty special matches as well. As customary, this court will see five matches being played, and the programme will start one hour earlier. The first of those, starting at 11 a.m. local time, will be a match between Jasmine Paolini and Karolina Muchova. It’s a fantastic matchup between players who have done really well so far at the event.

Muchova took down much stronger opponents and looked far more formidable. Most would agree that she’s also the more talented player overall, which is why she’s likely the winner of this match. Paolini, though, has shown in recent months that she’s a very big fighter and doesn’t give up easily, so she could certainly do some damage here. We’ll see what happens, but it’s a pretty nice matchup to start the day.

The second match will feature two very good players who have had amazing events so far. One of them making this run isn’t a surprise, as Jack Draper showed a high level before the US Open, but Tomas Machac wasn’t on many people's brackets this deep into the event. He earned his place, though, with some amazing displays, and he will be able to hurt Draper.

In fact, he’s never lost to him, and they’ve played three times, which makes this a matchup that should be rather interesting. Draper has been in top form and is a very good player, so he can certainly do some damage as well. Overall, it just promises to be an exciting second match on Armstrong.

Caroline Wozniacki may not have Serena but she is through.

After that match, we’ll see Caroline Wozniacki taking on Beatriz Haddad Maia, which is another interesting matchup between two very solid players. Haddad Maia has been really strong at the event, as has Wozniacki, though her draw hasn’t been the most impressive one. It’s also a bit of a clash of styles, which will only add to the matchup. Overall, it’s just a really solid match between two very good players, one of whom will actually play in the quarter-finals.

If Wozniacki somehow manages to find herself there, that would be a rather impressive achievement for a player who returned to the sport after years of absence about a year ago. The final match on Armstrong will feature two Aussies going head to head as Alex de Minaur will face Jordan Thompson.

De Minaur played a fantastic match in his previous round and looks to be in really good shape, which is amazing as he’s dealing with a hip injury that apparently hasn’t healed yet. Jordan Thompson has been in strong form as well after weeks of tennis in North America, and he’ll have a really good chance in this one.

De Minaur has played well, but it’s pretty clear that he’s rushing lots of rallies. Thompson is not going to be interested in that, and he’ll keep the rallies rather long, which makes his chances a lot bigger. If De Minaur has an off night and misses lots of balls, then Thompson might just win it. It’s not like that would be the biggest upset we’ve seen at this year’s US Open. It’s kind of the theme of this event.

So there you have it, these are the matchups of day 8, and all of these players should be highly motivated to try and win their matches. A spot in the quarter-finals is at stake for all these players, and if they’re not going to motivate themselves for that, then what will they?

Stick with us for all your daily news from the US Open as we’re going to be covering all of those matches, and then expect a daily recap piece in the morning the day after, along with a preview later that day once the schedule is out.