Tracy Austin predicts Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz as 2024 US Open champions

NEW YORK—Tracy Austin is on the edge of her seat for the women’s draw heading into the last Grand Slam of the year.

“Unpredictable,” Austin says of next week's US Open. “The women’s draw is wide open for the taking.”

Joining SiriusXM for a US Open preview show at the Edge at Hudson Yards, Austin spoke highly, from 100 stories high, on several WTA players who are having a breakthrough summer.

“Shoutout to Paula Badosa, former world No. 2,” Austin says. “I’m putting her in the mix, again, because she’s playing so well.”

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Austin’s dark horse for the Open is Amanda Anisimova, who took time off the tour and has worked her way back into the Top 40.

“She beat Kasatkina, Sabalenka, beat Navarro, went three sets with Pegula, and I think she’s somebody that nobody wants to see in their draw,” she says of the 22-year-old from New Jerset. “Big serve, her groundstrokes are so powerful, she’s able to find the corners, and now she has the confidence.”

American Danielle Collins, who has never been past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, is competing for the last time in New York.

“I think she’s the type of player who’s going to use this moment,” Austin says. “At the start of the year she was outside the Top 50, now she’s in the Top 10, just riding on emotion. Who knows how she’s going to play here at the US Open, but if she can get a couple of matches under her belt, get the crowd behind her, boy, she can go deep.”

When it came to overall predictions, however, Austin has her eyes on Aryna Sabalenka—and for the men's side, Carlos Alcaraz.

“I love watching him play,” she says of Alcaraz. “He hits a shot and he’s like ‘Woah,’ and the fans are like ‘Woah,’ and he’s like ‘Wow, I hit that’. He’s so exciting.”