Support truly
independent journalism
How well do you know the U.S. Open, the year's last Grand Slam tennis tournament, which begins Monday? Give this AP quiz a try:
1st Round: Gauff and Djokovic defend their U.S. Open titles
Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic will be defending their 2023 U.S. Open titles. For Gauff, it was her first Grand Slam trophy. For Djokovic, it was his 24th. Who was the last player to win at least two consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows?
a.) Rafael Nadal
b.) Serena Williams
c.) Roger Federer
d.) Maria Sharapova
2nd Round: The first match under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium
The U.S. Open added a retractable roof atop Arthur Ashe Stadium for the 2016 tournament. Who lost the first U.S. Open match played indoors?
a.) Andreas Seppi
b.) Fabio Fognini
c.) Paolo Lorenzi
d.) Thomas Fabbiano
3rd Round: Equal prize money at the U.S. Open
The U.S. Open was the first major sporting event to offer equal prize money to female and male competitors. What was the first year the U.S. Tennis Association paid women's and men's singles champions the same amount?
a.) 1963
b.) 1968
c.) 1973
d.) 1978
4th Round: Iga Swiatek at No. 1 in the WTA rankings
Iga Swiatek will be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open because she is No. 1 in the WTA rankings — and has been for a total of more than 115 weeks. Still just 23, the 2022 U.S. Open champion already is closing in on having the seventh-most weeks in the top spot. Who has spent the most weeks atop the WTA?
a.) Chris Evert
b.) Martina Navratilova
c.) Serena Williams
d.) Steffi Graf
Quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer at the U.S. Open
Rafael Nadal, who is missing the U.S. Open for the fourth time in five years, and Roger Federer, who announced his retirement in 2022, played each other a total of 40 times, 14 at Grand Slam tournaments. How many of the rivals’ meetings came at the U.S. Open?
a.) Five
b.) Three
c.) One
d.) Zero
Semifinals: A hard-court Grand Slam double is rare
A year ago, Aryna Sabalenka came within one victory of claiming both hard-court Grand Slam titles, but after winning the Australian Open in January, she was the runner-up to Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open in September. Sabalenka won the title at Melbourne Park again in 2024. Who was the last woman to claim the championships at the Australian Open and U.S. Open in the same season?
a.) Angelique Kerber
b.) Martina Hingis
c.) Serena Williams
d.) Monica Seles
Final: Alcaraz tries to win 3 Grand Slam titles in a row
Carlos Alcaraz already owns four Grand Slam titles at age 21. That includes the past two — at the French Open and Wimbledon. If he wins the U.S. Open, he would join which player as the only other man since Rod Laver's calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969 to triumph in Paris, London and New York in the same season?
a.) Roger Federer
b.) Novak Djokovic
c.) Rafael Nadal
d.) Bjorn Borg
Answers
1st Round. b. Williams won three U.S. Opens in a row from 2012-14. The most recent man to win at least two consecutive trophies in New York was Federer, who was the champion five consecutive years, 2004-08.
2nd Round. a. Seppi was beaten 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 by Rafael Nadal at Ashe in the second round on Aug. 31, 2016. The match was delayed for less than 7 1/2 minutes at 3-all in the second set while the roof was shut.
3rd Round. c. The change came a year after Billie Jean King earned $10,000 for winning the 1972 U.S. Open, while the men's champion, Ilie Năstase, was paid $25,000. The Australian Open didn’t permanently start equal pay until 2001; the French Open in 2006; Wimbledon in 2007.
4th Round. d. Graf, who retired with 22 Grand Slam titles in 1999, was ranked No. 1 for 377 weeks. Navratilova is next with 332, followed by Williams with 319 and Evert with 260.
Quarterfinals. d. They never met at the U.S. Open. At the other majors, Federer led Nadal 3-1 at Wimbledon, and Nadal led Federer 3-1 at the Australian Open and 6-0 at the French Open.
Semifinals. a. Kerber beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in 2016, and Karolina Pliskova in the U.S. Open final that year. Hingis won both events in 1997, and Seles did it in 1991 and 1992. Williams never did the Australian-U.S. double, despite winning seven Australian Opens and six U.S. Opens.
Final. c. Nadal swept the year's last three majors in 2010. No man had done that since Laver went 4-for-4, and no man has done it since. Djokovic came close to a true Slam in 2021, winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, then making it all the way to the final at the U.S. Open before losing to Daniil Medvedev, falling one win shy of a perfect, 28-0 Grand Slam season.
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich
