Lucas, how are you? JR, I'm great. Thanks so much for having me.
Appreciate you for taking the time to come on. Now, the US Open is already underway. We have people that have advanced. What are some of the bigger storylines that we need to pay attention to as we keep things rolling? Well, the tournament is off and running. To me, the match thus far that I think you should be paying attention to is going to happen tomorrow. Third round, men's singles, battle of two Americans, Ben Shelton and Francis Cioffo. This is the rematch of last year. They met in the quarterfinals where Ben Shelton beat Francis Cioffo. Both of these guys just bring so much energy and enthusiasm both on and off the court. I just think it's going to be an electric match. I think Francis feels like he left some on the court last year. He played a little bit flat, not up to his potential. For Ben Shelton, he wants to find a way to win again so he can continue to grow and progress like he did a year ago when he made his first slam semifinal year.
So I think it has the ingredients to be a fantastic match at Arthur Ashe Stadium and it's going to be one of the more popular ones of the first week. Well, Lucas, as you mentioned, we saw a lot from Cioffo last year and things have been relatively quiet this year, especially as the tournament season is coming down to a close and an end here. Why has that been the case? Is it injury? Is it fatigue? Why do you think he hasn't continued to stay at the pace where everybody looked at him and found out more about him last year?
Well, I think those are factors for sure. I think Francis is someone where earlier on in his career he struggled to find that consistent motivation and I think now he's trying to become more consistent in his results. He admitted to the media that that loss to Shelton last year in the quarterfinals, especially when two years ago he makes the U.S. open semifinal after being Rafa Nadal in the fourth round.
He nearly beats Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. And Cioffo felt like after losing to Shelton last year where he played really flat that that really sort of deflated his entire year and he hasn't been able to really recover from that. But Francis skipped the Olympics and I think even though he's someone, JR, that wanted to be there supporting his country, he found that he could find a way to be more successful on the hard courts.
And that's what he did. He was successful in Washington. He made the final in Cincinnati. So he had great prep coming into the U.S. open and now he's playing with a lot of confidence. So I actually like Cioffo to win the match against Shelton.
Even though Shelton is going to be tough, I think that Cioffo is the guy that is going to get it done. Lucas Weese is here with us, staff editor from The Athletic, also covering the U.S. open. When you talk about the top dogs on the men's side, Djokovic is trying to add another major.
The man is coming off of a gold medal. Carlos Alcaraz, you have Yannick's center, hopefully he's staying away from the massages. Who do you think is in at the top position to walk away with this U.S. open title?
I think it's Carlos Alcaraz. I think that when it's all said and done, I think that, look, he had a great win today in straight sets, but hasn't already been able to play anyone yet of his caliber. So I think when he gets to that point, it's going to be fascinating to see the distractions off the court, how that's going to impact him, particularly in the preparation and the execution. He said that it had an impact on him. All the off-court distractions of the news coming out that he tested positive for a banned substance in the anti-doping sanctions.
So it'll be interesting to see. Now Djokovic, he has won the ultimate crown he achieved in his career, the Olympic gold medal. He called it the greatest highlight of his career. And I think his first two matches he won, but wasn't the sharpest, particularly on the serve. I feel like there's still a lot more left in his game, but Djokovic, there's no one better at finding a way to do a slam than Novak Djokovic is. I really do think Alcaraz, I think this is someone who's motivated after losing in the gold medal match to Djokovic. I think he had a lot of perspective from that disappointing result. And look, he's trying to win three slams this year, and that hasn't been done winning the French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open since Rafa Nadal.
So I think with Alcaraz's game and his ability to play in the big moments, he's going to be very difficult to beat this fortnight. Lucas Weese is here with us from The Athletic on the women's side. Unfortunately, we saw Sloane Stephens hasn't been at the top in quite some time. Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, they're rolling around. We know, yes, Swiatak. Who do you think is going to come out on top on the women's side?
Is it possible we see an American? Can Coco do it again? You know what? With Coco, it's interesting because she came into this tournament really struggling. She only won one hard court match coming into the U.S. Open after such a successful hard court season last year, which was concluded by her winning the U.S. Open.
I don't know. I think Coco just isn't as sharp right now. She's trying to find her game. I think it's been a long season for her, so it'll be interesting to see, though, what she does. She had a tough third round against Elias Villalina. I think the favorite, though, on the women's side is Irina Sabalenka. I think she's playing the best right now of anyone on the WTA Tour, particularly on the hard courts. I think she has that raw power on the baseline that's just so difficult to beat. So she won in Cincinnati, and I would not be surprised if she wins the trophy in New York in two weeks.
Well, Lucas, you talk about the length of the season as it relates to Coco Gauff. We've heard a lot of the athletes on both the men and women's side talk about how active they have to be throughout the course of the year to qualify and get enough points to participate. Do you think that a lot of these athletes are worn out by the time we get to the U.S. Open? Are they playing too much tennis?
Well, that's what you get to be on texting. She's been very outspoken about that, that the schedule is too long, that there's a lot of mandatory tournaments that the players have to play that aren't even signature WTA 1000 or her slams. There's the WTA 500s that they have to play. Look, this is a special year because it was the Olympics.
Not everyone went to the Olympics, but it made it feel a lot more condensed. Players that went to the Olympics had to then transition from clay to hard courts, which is a difficult task to do. And look, even in a normal non-Olympic year, the U.S. Open is always where players are feeling it, they might be more fatigued, they might be dealing with injuries, things like that.
Look, it's a grind. Tennis does not stop. It gets about a couple weeks off, maybe in December, and then you're back to training for the Australian swing. It's definitely a year-round sport. And look, with some of these bigger events, JR, they're going to be 10 days long next year, and then you have to slam.
So these events are getting longer, so look, you're just going to have to find a way to manage your body, you have a very good team around you to keep yourself fit physically and mentally so that you can find a way to endure the marathon that is the tennis calendar. Well, Lucas, I know all across the country people are going to be grilling and trying to enjoy what is left of the unofficial summertime, I guess I could say. I heard the weather is kind of sweltering out there.
Is it not in New York City right now? Well, it was yesterday. Yesterday it was low 90s, very humid conditions, and it was very difficult for the players.
You had some players puking on the court, you had Novak Djokovic after every game, he had to bring out the fan to try to keep cool. But today, it feels like it's a fall evening. It's actually quite cool. People are walking around with jackets, sweaters on, there's a gentle breeze. It definitely feels like autumn is around the corner.
So yeah, it's supposed to be cooler throughout the rest of the tournament, JR, which is a good thing, I think, for the players and the fans alike. Pretty good. Well, Lucas, you enjoy all of it out there. Where can people follow you and your coverage of the U.S. Open? Where can we follow your work with The Athletic, just Latin period? Well, you can follow me at The Athletic. You can follow me on Twitter, X, at WeSports, at W-E-E-S-E Sports.
That's the same for Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads. I'm on all of it, JR, so that's where you can find me. Well, thank you so much for the time and the insight, and I will be watching, and you enjoy it live and in person, okay? Thanks, JR. Have a great night.
