It is the final major of the year. After the heat of the Australian, the clay of the French, and the grass courts of Wimbledon, everything builds up to the US Open. Something about the iconic blue hardcourts of Flushing Meadows, the passionate American crowds, and even the New York City skyline backdrop makes it a fitting end to another year of majors.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been trading titles over the last few years when it comes to Grand Slam events, and it is the Italian who is the current reigning champ. He is also the favorite with many of the best US Open betting sites to reclaim his crown in 2025. There is no doubt that the competition will be fierce, however.
Tennis fans around the globe are buzzing with the event that began on August 24th. We thought it would be a good time to look back at some of the most successful US Open champions in the modern era. These are the ones that the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz are hoping to emulate in the years ahead.
John McEnroe
Although there are other famous players who have won four US Open titles in their careers, we thought we would kick things off with possibly the most “New York” tennis pro of all time. He was actually born in what was then West Germany but moved back to the States when he was a baby – with his family settling in Queens (where the US Open is held).
McEnroe is unique on our list, as he also won Grand Slam events in the men’s doubles category. He actually triumphed at Wimbledon before his first singles title at the US Open in 1979. He won the doubles event in the same week. McEnroe won the US Open on three more occasions before taking a number of sabbaticals in the mid-1980s.
Novak Djokovic
One of the most versatile and successful men’s singles players of all time, Novak Djokovic won his first Grand Slam event back in 2008 and is still competing – and will be at Flushing Meadows this September. He has won more majors than anyone else and would surely have even more titles if he had not played in the same era as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
Djokovic’s first US Open title came in 2011, when he beat defending champion Nadal. It was his third major of the year but he would have to wait another four years before he tasted glory on the blue hardcourts again. He has currently won four US Open titles and would dearly love to join some of the other legends of the modern era with five. Maybe he will make a comeback in 2025?
Jimmy Connors
A member of the exclusive five-times-winner club at the US Open, Jimmy Connors was one of the most well-loved players of the 1970s and 1980s and seemed to save his best for Flushing Meadows. He had already won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1974 before claiming his first US Open title that year.
Although he was hugely competitive, Connors always managed to seem to enjoy himself with the crowds and was spurred on by the way American supporters involved themselves with the action. His final US Open title came in 1983, when he beat Ivan Lendl for the second year running. He managed to keep on playing professionally for another ten years after that.
Pete Sampras
“Pistol Pete” has won more US Open titles in the modern era than anyone else – with just two exceptions – and was particularly fond of his home-nation event in the mid-1990s. He became the youngest men’s singles champion ever in 1990, after beating Andre Agassi shortly after his 19th birthday.
With a precise and powerful serve, Sampras won 14 singles majors over a long and successful career. His final Grand Slam victory came at the age of 31, when he beat Agassi again (by then, a long-time rival) to claim the US Open title. He had suffered from a downturn in form for a few years and winning this event was the best way to cap off a glittering career.
Roger Federer
Undoubtedly one of the best players the sport has ever seen, Roger Federer may be better known for his record eight Wimbledon titles – or even the six Australian Open triumphs – but he also jointly holds the record for the most US Open titles in the modern era. By the way, he also won the French Open on one occasion, just to complete the set.
The Swiss ace dominated men’s singles tennis for almost 20 years, alongside Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the Big Three. He won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2003, but began his five-year reign at the US Open in 2004. He was never able to win all four majors in a single year but he was still winning Grand Slam events 10 years after his record-breaking run in New York.
