Djokovic Eyes Grand Slam Record at US Open, Sinner’s Doping Controversy Looms

Novak Djokovic aims to break Grand Slam records at the US Open, while Jannik Sinner tries to overcome a drug scandal.

If defending champion Djokovic wins his fifth championship, he will become the tournament’s oldest Open era victor, joining Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer.

The 37-year-old would also reach 25 Grand Slam titles, surpassing Margaret Court’s current total of 24.

The final Grand Slam of the year arrives at a key juncture for Djokovic.

This year, Sinner won the Australian Open and dethroned him as the world number one.

Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open and then easily defeated Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

However, Djokovic returned to Roland Garros’ clay courts to upset Alcaraz in the Olympic final, which he described on Saturday as “the greatest achievement and greatest highlight of my career overall, winning the gold for Serbia.”

Djokovic became only the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam, winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal.

The triumph silenced naysayers who had written off the Serbs as a spent force in a new era where Sinner, 23, and 21-year-old Alcaraz are steadily pushing to the forefront.

Djokovic, who had surgery on his right knee in June, expressed concern that his chances of winning Olympic gold were fading.

“At 37, I wondered if this was the last chance. Maybe. “So I had to push harder than I had ever done,” he explained.

“It turned out to be one of my best performances in years, over the entire competition.

“Of course in the finals against Carlos, it was kind of a dream scenario really, having my wife and children there, the entire nation watching.”

When they draped the gold around his neck and played the Serbian song, Djokovic described it as “probably the most intense emotions I have ever had on a tennis court.”

Sinner, meanwhile, returns after an extremely exhausting doping inquiry in which he avoided a lengthy penalty when investigators accepted his claim that the illicit chemical entered his blood through contamination from a support team member.

In March, the 23-year-old Italian tested positive twice for clostebol, a banned anabolic substance. The International Tennis Integrity Agency exonerated him of misconduct this week, one day after winning the Cincinnati Masters.

“I’m just happy that it’s finally out,” said Sinner, who sacked his physiotherapist and trainer following the encounter.

However, his hopes for “clean air” at the US Open could be crushed as players query why there was no notification of an interim suspension as the inquiry continued.

Sinner stated that he would not be concerned about his reputation.

“This, I can’t really control,” he said. “So let’s see.”

Alcaraz, who won his first major at the US Open in 2022, was severely harmed by his loss to Djokovic in the Olympic final.

He burst into tears on the court, saying he felt he had “let Spain down”.

Despite losing his cool in a second-round loss to Cincinnati and a strained ankle during practice at Flushing Meadows, he remains confident he will be “100 percent” for his first-round encounter on Tuesday.

Coco Gauff, the defending women’s champion, has experienced a recent fall in form, prompting concerns about her ability to retain her US Open title, a feat last accomplished by Serena Williams in 2014.

A tumultuous third-round departure from the Olympics was followed by early losses in Toronto and Cincinnati.

The 2022 champion, five-time major winner and world number one Iga Swiatek, advanced to the Cincinnati semi-finals before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion who finished second to Gauff in New York last year, is another contender in a wide-open group that includes Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen.