THE final Grand Slam of the year poses unique challenges to the pretenders for the throne.

Extreme temperatures in day matches, uber-late finishes in the night session, raucous and partisan crowds and the pressure of playing in huge venues… all make this one of the hardest events on the circuit. 

Here are eight players, who all played at the 2023 edition, who you should look out for. 

Not all of them have gone all the way here in New York in the past but they’re all class acts who have already achieved plenty in their careers. 

Novak Djokovic 

There’s surely only one place to start and it’s with the man who has won more Grand Slam titles (23) than anyone else in the Open era.

The 36-year-old Serbian nicknamed ‘The Serbinator’ needed to beat fellow legends Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray at their peaks in order to get to that magic number of 23 and has spent more weeks at Number 1 than any other player in men’s history, across 12 different seasons.    

It’s at the Australian Open he enjoyed the most success of all at Slams, with 10 titles, but has won here at Flushing Meadows on three occasions; Unibet betting have him as favourite to win it again this year. 

Carlos Alcaraz 

He may only be 20 but Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz has already achieved more than many players in their whole careers. 

Despite being brought up playing on clay, he’s already won on the hard courts of the US Open and the grass of Wimbledon, two of 12 titles he’s won before even being old enough to drink alcohol in the US.  

He’s the present and future of men’s tennis and scarily, will only get better. Unibet UK make him second favourite to win this year, behind only Djokovic. 

Andy Murray 

The veteran Scot can consider himself incredibly unlucky to have played at the same time as Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, or else he might have won far more than his three Grand Slam titles, the first of which was here in New York.

Possessing an all-round game including a metronomic backhand and a strong net game, he won pretty much every prize in the sport, including two Olympic singles golds, the Tour Finals, 14 Masters 1000 titles and the Davis Cup.  

Stan Wawrinka 

It can’t have been easy living in the shadow of one of the greatest tennis players of all time in Roger Federer, but fellow Swiss star Wawrinka made a good fist of it. 

His big serve and beautiful one-handed backhand were a joy to watch as he won three different Grand Slam titles in three consecutive years, each time beating the World Number 1 in the final. 

Alongside friend and rival Federer, he won gold in the doubles at the Beijing Olympics and the 2014 Davis Cup. 

John Isner 

There are better players and more prolific winners on this list than Isner, but no-one can come close to him when it comes to serving. 

In a long career, the giant American served 14,470 aces, the most in the history of the men’s game by some distance, to go with the fastest serve ever recorded. 

For good measure, he was also involved in the longest match ever in men’s tennis against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon, which spanned three days and had 183 games in it, before Isner eventually prevailed. 

Daniil Medvedev  

The 6ft 6 giant Russian has already racked up 20 career titles, won the US Open and been ranked Number 1 in the world. 

That US Open win denied Djokovic a clean sweep of Slams back in 2021 and Medvedev was also the first man in history to beat the Top 3 ranked players in the world en route to winning the 2020 ATP Finals. 

A fearless competitor possessing great stamina and a rocket forehand, there’s surely plenty more to come from him and he’s always well-fancied on Unibet’s outright winner market.  

Iga Swiatek

The current World Number 1 in the women’s game and Unibet favourite to win this year’s women’s US Open has already tasted victory three times on the dirt of Roland Garros to go with her success here at Flushing Meadows in last year’s edition. 

She’s the first Polish player, across men or women’s tennis, to win a Slam. 

Not the most powerful physically but Swiatek can do the lot, combining baseline winners with cute drop shots, a steady net game and the occasional big serve when needed.

She’ll surely win a few more major titles over the next few years. 

Caroline Wozniacki 

The Dane, a former fiancée of golfer Rory McIlroy, may not be an obvious choice for a shortlist of the greatest tennis players but she’s certainly achieved plenty: first Scandinavian to be ranked Number1 in the world in the women’s game and also the first Dane to win a Grand Slam when she took the Australian Open in 2018. 

Known for her infectious smile and brilliant defensive play thanks to her speed in covering the court, she retired from professional tennis in January 2020, but returned over three years later to target the 2023 US Open and 2024 Olympic Games. 

Place your tennis bet with Unibet!