US Open key questions: Is Alcaraz fit? Will Sabalenka make history?

The US Open, of all the four slams, is notoriously the hardest to predict the winners of as it falls at a time of year when eight months into the season the players are more likely than not nursing aches and pains with their bodies battered from the grind of the tour.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made last year’s U.S. Open feel like two weeks of killing time until the inevitable.

With the No 1-ranked Sinner sidelined, Alcaraz only returning now to defend his title after missing four months and Novak Djokovic perhaps finally showing his age, the US Open once again feels, well, open.

With Sinner out, Alcaraz just back and Sabalenka struggling, the US Open feels truly open again  Toronto Star

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made last year’s U.S. Open feel like two weeks of killing time until the inevitable

With Sinner out, Alcaraz just back and Sabalenka struggling, the US Open feels truly open again  AP News

Carlos Alcaraz said Friday he feels at "100 percent" ahead of his defense of the US Open, but acknowledged feeling anxious after a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury.