How well do you know the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, which begins Monday? Try this AP quiz:
1st round: Gauff and Djokovic defend their US Open titles
Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic will defend their US Open titles in 2023. For Gauff, it was her first Grand Slam title. For Djokovic, it was his 24th. Who was the last player to win at least two championship titles in a row at Flushing Meadows?
a.) Rafael Nadal
b.) Serena Williams
c.) Roger Federer
d.) Maria Sharapova
Round 2: The first game under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium
For the 2016 US Open tournament, a retractable roof was built over Arthur Ashe Stadium. Who lost the first US Open match played indoors?
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds up the championship trophy after defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles final of the US Open in New York, Sunday, September 10, 2023. Photo credit: AP/Manu Fernandez
a.) Andreas Seppi
b.) Fabio Fognini
c.) Paolo Lorenzi
d.) Thomas Fabbiano
In rainy weather, Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic play their match under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium during the fourth round of the US Open on Monday, September 2, 2019, in New York. Photo credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
3rd round: Same prize money at the US Open
The US Open was the first major sporting event to offer equal prize money for male and female competitors. In which year did the US Tennis Association first pay the winners of the women’s and men’s singles the same amount?
a.) 1963
b.) 1968
c.) 1973
d.) 1978
4th round: Iga Swiatek ranks first in the WTA rankings
Iga Swiatek will be seeded No. 1 at the US Open because she has been No. 1 in the WTA rankings for more than 115 weeks. At just 23 years old, the 2022 US Open champion is already approaching the seventh-highest weekly ranking at the top. Who has spent the most weeks at the top of the WTA?
a.) Chris Evert
b.) Martina Navratilova
c.) Serena Williams
d.) Steffi Graf
Quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer at the US Open
Rafael Nadal, who will miss the US Open for the fourth time in five years, and Roger Federer, who announced his retirement for 2022, have played each other a total of 40 times, 14 of them at Grand Slam tournaments. How many times have the two rivals met at the US Open?
a.) Five
b.) Three
c.) One
d.) Zero
Semifinals: A Grand Slam doubles match on hard court is rare
A year ago, Aryna Sabalenka would have needed just one win to win both Grand Slam titles on hard court, but after winning the Australian Open in January, she finished second to Coco Gauff at the US Open in September. In 2024, Sabalenka won the title again at Melbourne Park. Who was the last woman to win the Australian Open and the US 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
At 21, Carlos Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slam titles, including the last two – the French Open and Wimbledon. If he wins the US Open, he will be the only player since Rod Laver’s Grand Slam title in calendar year 1969 to triumph in Paris, London and New York in the same season?
a.) Roger Federer
b.) Novak Djokovic
c.) Rafael Nadal
d.) Björn Borg
Answer
1st round. b. Williams won three US Opens in a row from 2012 to 2014. The last man to win at least two consecutive trophies in New York was Federer, who was champion for five years in a row from 2004 to 2008.
2nd round. a. Seppi was beaten by Rafael Nadal 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 in the second round at Ashe on August 31, 2016. The match was stopped for less than 7 1/2 minutes at 3-3 in the second set while the roof was closed.
3rd round. c. The change came a year after Billie Jean King earned $10,000 for her victory at the 1972 US Open, while men’s champion Ilie Năstase received $25,000. The same payment was introduced at the Australian Open in 2001, at the French Open in 2006, and at Wimbledon in 2007.
4th round. d. Graf, who retired in 1999 with 22 Grand Slam titles, was No. 1 for 377 weeks. Navratilova follows with 332, followed by Williams with 319 and Evert with 260.
Quarterfinals. d. They never met at the US Open. In 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 defeated Serena Williams in the final of the 2016 Australian Open and Karolina Pliskova in the final of the US Open that same year. Hingis won both events in 1997 and Seles did so in 1991 and 1992. Williams never made the Australian-American doubles, although she won seven Australian Opens and six US Opens.
Final. c. Nadal won the last three majors of the year in 2010. No man has done that since Laver won 4 out of 4, and no one has done it since. Djokovic came close to a true Grand Slam title in 2021, winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, then making it to the final of the US Open, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev, leaving him one win away from a perfect 28-0 Grand Slam season.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. You can find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich
