2018 US Open (tennis)

The 2018 US Open was the 138th edition of tennis' US Open and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stephens were the defending champions in the men's and women's singles events, however both failed to defend their titles. Nadal retired during his semifinal match against Juan Martín del Potro. Stephens was defeated in the quarterfinals by Anastasija Sevastova, whom Stephens had beaten at the same stage the previous year.

Novak Djokovic won the men's singles title, defeating del Potro in the final, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 6–3. It was his third US Open title and 14th Grand Slam, tying Pete Sampras' record to become equal third among all-time Grand Slam champions. In women's singles, Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the final, 6–2, 6–4, becoming Japan's first-ever able-bodied Grand Slam singles champion.

Tournament

The 2018 US Open was the 138th edition of the tournament and took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. The tournament was held on 17 DecoTurf hard courts.

The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and was part of the 2018 ATP World Tour and the 2018 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event. There are also singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which are part of the Grade A category of tournaments. Additionally, there are singles and doubles wheelchair tennis events for men, women and quads.

The tournament was played on hard courts and takes place on a series of 17 courts with DecoTurf surface, including the three existing main showcourts – Arthur Ashe Stadium, the newly renovated Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the new Grandstand.

Broadcast

In the United States, the 2018 US Open will be the fourth year in a row under an 11-year, $825 million contract with ESPN, in which the broadcaster holds exclusive rights to the entire tournament and the US Open Series. This means that the tournament is not available on broadcast television. This also makes ESPN the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for three of the four tennis majors.

Point and prize money distribution

Point distribution

Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.

Senior

Wheelchair

Prize money

The total prize-money compensation for the 2018 US Open is $53 million, a more than 5% increase on the same total last year. Of that total, a record $3.8 million goes to both the men's and women's singles champions, which is increased by 2.7% from last year. This makes the US Open the most lucrative and highest paying tennis grand slam in the world, leapfrogging the French Open in total prize money fund. Prize money for the US Open qualifying tournament is also up 10.3%, to $3.2 millio

The prize money for the wheelchair draw amounts to a total of US$350,000. The singles winners of the men and women draws receive US$31,200 and the winner of the quad singles receives US$23,400.

Notable stories

Women's singles final

Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the final, 6–2, 6–4. During the final, Williams received three code violations, the second coming with a point penalty and the third with a game penalty. The issue started during the second set when Official (tennis)#Chair umpire, chair umpire Carlos Ramos cited Serena for a signal that was sent from her coach. Serena said she was unaware of the signal and verbally sparred with Ramos, saying "I don't cheat to win. I'd rather lose." After a mistake later in the second set, Serena smashed her racket into the court. This led to her second code violation, which Serena found out about upon attempting to serve and which increased the dispute between Serena and Ramos. At this point, referring to the first violation for coaching, Serena stated "You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life." During the change at the 3–4 mark, a further discussion between Serena and Ramos broke down leading Serena to call Ramos both "a liar" and "a thief" for issuing the point penalty. As both players were concluding the changeover and getting set, Ramos issued Serena her third code violation, this time for verbal abuse.
This led to confusion from both players who did not appear to hear the announcement, which Ramos explained to both after summoning them over to his seat. At this point, US Open referee, Brian Earley, and WTA supervisor, Donna Kelso, were summoned to the court due to the dispute. A four-minute delay occurred due to a discussion between Serena, Earley, and Kelso regarding the issues. After the delay, Serena won the next game before Osaka won the set and match.

Day-by-day summaries

Singles players

; Men's singles

; Women's singles

Singles seeds

The following are the seeded players and notable players who have withdrawn from the event. Seedings are based on ATP and WTA rankings as of August 20, 2018. Rank and points before are as of August 27, 2018.

Men's singles

†The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2017, but is defending points from one or more 2017 ATP Challenger Tour tournaments.

Women's singles

† Serena Williams was ranked 26 on the day when seeds were announced. Nevertheless, she was deemed a special case and seeded 17th by the organizers because she missed a significant portion of the last 12-month period due to pregnancy and maternity.

‡ The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2017. Accordingly, points for her 16th best result are deducted instead.

Doubles seeds

Men's doubles

¹Rankings as of August 20, 2018.

Women's doubles

¹Rankings as of August 20, 2018.

Mixed doubles

¹Rankings as of August 20, 2018.

Events

Men's singles

* Novak Djokovic def. Juan Martín del Potro, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 6–3

Women's singles

* Naomi Osaka def. Serena Williams, 6–2, 6–4

Men's doubles

* Mike Bryan / Jack Sock def. Łukasz Kubot / Marcelo Melo, 6–3, 6–1

Women's doubles

* Ashleigh Barty / CoCo Vandeweghe def. Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic, 3–6, 7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(8–6)

Mixed doubles

* Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Jamie Murray def. Alicja Rosolska / Nikola Mektić, 2–6, 6–3, 1–9

Junior boys' singles

* Thiago Seyboth Wild def. Lorenzo Musetti, 6–1, 2–6, 6–2

Junior girls' singles

* Wang Xiyu def. Clara Burel, 7–6^(7–4), 6–2

Junior boys' doubles

* Adrian Andreev / Anton Matusevich def. Emilio Nava / Axel Nefve, 6–4, 2–6, 0–8

Junior girls' doubles

* Coco Gauff / Caty McNally def. Hailey Baptiste / Dalayna Hewitt, 6–3, 6–2

Wheelchair men's singles

* Alfie Hewett def. Shingo Kunieda, 6–3, 7–5.

Wheelchair women's singles

* Diede de Groot def. Yui Kamiji, 6–2, 6–3

Wheelchair quad singles

* Dylan Alcott def. David Wagner, 7–5, 6–2

Wheelchair men's doubles

* Alfie Hewett / Gordon Reid def. Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, 5–7, 6–3, 1–9

Wheelchair women's doubles

* Diede de Groot / Yui Kamiji def. Marjolein Buis / Aniek van Koot, 6–3, 6–4

Wheelchair quad doubles

* Andrew Lapthorne / David Wagner def. Dylan Alcott / Bryan Barten, 3–6, 6–0, 0–4

Wild card entries

The following players were given wildcards to the main draw based on internal selection and recent performances.

Men's singles

* Jenson Brooksby
* Bradley Klahn
* Jason Kubler
* Michael Mmoh
* Corentin Moutet
* Noah Rubin
* Tim Smyczek
* Stan Wawrinka

Women's singles

* Amanda Anisimova
* Victoria Azarenka
* Lizette Cabrera
* Svetlana Kuznetsova
* Claire Liu
* Asia Muhammad
* Whitney Osuigwe
* Harmony Tan

Men's doubles

* Christopher Eubanks / Donald Young
* Christian Harrison / Ryan Harrison
* Evan King / Nathan Pasha
* Kevin King / Reilly Opelka
* Bradley Klahn / Daniel Nestor
* Patrick Kypson / Danny Thomas
* Martin Redlicki / Evan Zhu

Women's doubles

* Jennifer Brady / Asia Muhammad
* Caroline Dolehide / Christina McHale
* Nicole Gibbs / Sabrina Santamaria
* Sofia Kenin / Sachia Vickery
* Allie Kiick / Jamie Loeb
* Varvara Lepchenko / Bernarda Pera
* Caty McNally / Whitney Osuigwe

Mixed doubles

* Amanda Anisimova / Michael Mmoh
* Kaitlyn Christian / James Cerretani
* Danielle Collins / Tom Fawcett
* Coco Gauff / Christopher Eubanks
* Jamie Loeb / Noah Rubin
* Christina McHale / Christian Harrison
* Whitney Osuigwe / Frances Tiafoe
* Taylor Townsend / Donald Young

Qualifier entries

The qualifying competitions took place at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 21–24, 2018.

Men's singles

# Ugo Humbert
# Stefano Travaglia
# Federico Gaio
# Casper Ruud
# Marcel Granollers
# Hubert Hurkacz
# Lloyd Harris
# Dennis Novak
# Félix Auger-Aliassime
# Collin Altamirano
# Mitchell Krueger
# Donald Young
# Tommy Robredo
# Facundo Bagnis
# Yannick Maden
# Carlos Berlocq

Lucky losers

# Lorenzo Sonego
# Peter Polansky
# Ruben Bemelmans
# Nicolas Mahut

Women's singles

# Jil Teichmann
# Marie Bouzková
# Anna Kalinskaya
# Julia Glushko
# Karolína Muchová
# Anhelina Kalinina
# Arantxa Rus
# Francesca Di Lorenzo
# Ons Jabeur
# Nicole Gibbs
# Heather Watson
# Vera Zvonareva
# Kathinka von Deichmann
# Danielle Lao
# Patty Schnyder
# Eugenie Bouchard

Lucky losers

# Madison Brengle
# Mona Barthel

Protected ranking

The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:

; Men's singles
* Andy Murray (2)
* Yoshihito Nishioka (66)
* James Duckworth (105)

; Women's singles
* Timea Bacsinszky (23)
* Laura Siegemund (32)
* Margarita Gasparyan (62)
* Vania King (103)

Withdrawals

The following players were accepted directly into the main tournament, but withdrew with injuries, suspensions or for personal reasons.

;Men's singles
* ‡ Tomáš Berdych (59) → replaced by Viktor Troicki (102)
* ‡ Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (95 PR) → replaced by Guido Andreozzi (104)
* ‡ Alexandr Dolgopolov (63) → replaced by Mikhail Youzhny (105)
* ‡ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (64) → replaced by James Duckworth (105 PR)
* § Pablo Cuevas (74) → replaced by Peter Polansky (LL)
* § Jared Donaldson (60) → replaced by Lorenzo Sonego (LL)
* § Guillermo García López (62) → replaced by Ruben Bemelmans (LL)
* § Jiří Veselý (73) → replaced by Nicolas Mahut (LL)

;Women's singles
* ‡ Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (67 PR) → replaced by Caroline Dolehide (102)
* ‡ Peng Shuai (52) → replaced by Natalia Vikhlyantseva (103)
* ‡ Catherine Bellis (84) → replaced by Vania King (103 PR)
* ‡ Elena Vesnina (55) → replaced by Markéta Vondroušová (104)
* § Luksika Kumkhum (87) → replaced by Madison Brengle (LL)
* § Mihaela Buzărnescu (24) → replaced by Mona Barthel (LL)

‡ – withdrew from entry list

§ – withdrew from main draw

Notes

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:US Open (tennis), 2018

2018 ATP World Tour
2018 in tennis
2017 US Open (tennis)
2018 WTA Tour
2018
August 2018 sports events in the United States
September 2018 sports events in the United States
2018 in American tennis
2018 in sports in New York City