US Open 2023: Here's how to watch on TV, betting odds and more you should know

NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready for the US Open before play begins Monday with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the year's last Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the schedule is, what the betting odds are, who the defending champions are and more:

In the U.S.: ESPN (ABC on Sept. 3)

Other countries are listed here.

—Monday-Tuesday: First Round (Women and Men)

—Aug. 30-31: Second Round (Women and Men)

—Sept. 1-2: Third Round (Women and Men)

—Sept. 3-4: Fourth Round (Women and Men)

—Sept. 5-6: Quarterfinals (Women and Men)

—Sept. 7: Women's Semifinals

—Sept. 8: Men's Semifinals

—Sept. 9: Women's Final

—Sept. 10: Men's Final

The defending women's champion and the US Open return of a 23-time Grand Slam men's winner highlight the schedule of play on the opening day of play in Flushing Meadows.

Iga Swiatek will play the first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, facing Rebecca Peterson. Frances Tiafoe, after his surprising run to his first Grand Slam semifinal last year in Flushing Meadows, will be back on the main stadium after that match. The night session will begin with 19-year-old Coco Gauff facing Laura Siegemund, who won the US Open women's doubles title in 2020. That match will be followed by a tribute to Billie Jean King and the 50th anniversary of the US Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to men and women. Sara Bareilles will perform her hit song "Brave" during the celebration.

Then Novak Djokovic will play his first U.S. Open match in two years after missing last year's tournament because he wasn't vaccinated against COVID-19 and couldn't travel to the U.S. He faces Alexandre Muller, who is making his U.S. Open debut. Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz plays his first-round match Tuesday night.

Play on most courts begins at 11 a.m. EDT, including 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem facing No. 25 seed Alexander Bublik, and three-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka, seeded 18th, facing Fiona Ferro, of France. The day session on Ashe starts at noon, and the evening session is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Those matches will include No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas facing former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic on Louis Armstrong Stadium, followed by the return to Grand Slam tennis of former No. 1 women's player and two-time US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, who takes on qualifier Tatiana Prozorova.

Djokovic and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic for the 2021 title and begins this tournament Tuesday against Attila Balazs, are both minus-10,000 favorites to win their opening matches, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Wozniacki is a much slighter favorite to return with a victory, listed at minus-225 to Prozorova at plus-184. Djokovic remains the US Open favorite at plus-110, followed by Alcaraz at plus-175 and Medvedev at plus-1,000. For the women, Swiatek is the top choice at plus-230, followed by Aryna Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open title in January, at plus-470. Gauff is the third choice at plus-700.

It's still Alcaraz and Swiatek, but perhaps not for long. Both spots are up for grabs in New York. Alcaraz took the top spot in the men's rankings when he won the US Open last year, but Djokovic, who is 20 points behind, is guaranteed to return to the top in the next rankings, on Sept. 11, if he wins his opening match. That's because since he couldn't play at the US Open last year, Djokovic has no points to defend in the rankings system. The 36-year-old from Serbia has already held the No. 1 ranking for 389 weeks, a record in men's or women's tennis. Swiatek's stay at the top of the WTA rankings will reach 75 consecutive weeks, but Sabalenka will surpass her if she goes one round further in Flushing Meadows.

What to read heading into the US Open:

A year after Serena Williams and Roger Federer retired, tennis is in a state of transition

Frances Tiafoe and other US men know it’s been 20 years since Andy Roddick’s title

Coco Gauff just won her two biggest titles and is a serious trophy contender in New York

Women’s tennis players have mixed feelings about possibly staging the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Billie Jean King's push for equal prize money is being celebrated a half-century later

Men's tennis is heading to Saudi Arabia with the ATP Next Gen Finals

Video review on double bounces will make its Grand Slam debut at Flushing Meadows

Women will use the same tennis balls as the men after using different equipment for years

A look at some of the top women in the US Open field

A look at some of the top men in the US Open field

Nick Kyrgios will be absent from the Grand Slam stage again

Total player compensation is rising to a record $65 million, up from about $60 million in 2022. This is the 50th anniversary of the US Open becoming the sport's first event to pay women and men the same, and both singles champions will get $3 million in 2023. That's below the pre-pandemic pay of $3.9 million for each winner in 2019.

Try your hand at the AP’s US Open quiz.

43 — Number of Americans (24 women, 19 men) in the US Open singles main draw.

6 — Past Grand Slam champions, all US Open winners, in the men's draw (Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Thiem).

"Great rivalry so far. But now, every tournament, a goal for everyone is to try to stop them from playing each other." — Medvedev, on Djokovic and Alcaraz, who have met in the last two major tournaments.