U.S. Open preview 2026: 30 tennis champions, contenders and rising stars to watch in New York
The U.S. Open 2026 begins Sunday on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and on the arduous courts of New York City, followers ought to count on surprises of every kind.
In the lads’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz is trying to defend his title as he returns from an injury to his right wrist that stored him off the court docket for 4 months. His nearest rival, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, is out with a right knee injury, and the likes of French Open champion Alexander Zverev, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and a clutch of high American expertise shall be trying to take benefit.
In the ladies’s draw, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is on a scratchy run of kind, simply as the highest of the WTA Tour is taking up a outstanding stage of parity. Every single participant in the highest 10 holds both a Grand Slam title or a WTA 1000 title (one rung beneath) and the competitors to wrestle the title — and maybe the No. 1 rating — from Sabalenka’s grasp is fierce.
But whoever lifts the trophy is rarely the one storyline at a significant, and nor ought to it’s. There are the gamers who thrive on their dwelling courts; the rising skills taking their first steps onto the most important phases, and the statesmen and stateswomen of the game who’re right here for one final hurrah — or maybe greater than that.
In that spirit, listed below are 30 gamers to watch on the U.S. Open this 12 months, 15 males and 15 girls. Some of them are title contenders. Some of them are rising stars. And a few of them are legends of the game taking one final go-round in New York.
It’s nearly time.
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There’s an argument that Aryna Sabalenka has the sphere precisely the place she desires it. There’s additionally an argument that the sphere has Sabalenka precisely the place it desires her.
Just like final 12 months, she’s coming in as world No. 1 with no Grand Slam title to her title on the 12 months. Unlike final 12 months, Sabalenka has been beneath her very excessive requirements for a number of months.
In 2025, Sabalenka was a semifinals-and-finals lock for many of the 12 months main up to the U.S. Open. She gained about half of these finals. In 2026, she hasn’t made a semifinal in any respect since late March.
She is able to catching hearth — and New York is simply in regards to the most probably place that she would do it — however she hasn’t hinted at an upturn in kind.
Her losses for the reason that begin of the clay season have been curious, particularly when she failed to shut on the sting of victory on the Madrid and French Opens. She appears to have misplaced belief in the various play that has gained her a couple of huge, tight matches, in addition to her consciousness of how she would possibly counter her opponents’ methods.
Now watch her go win a 3rd straight U.S. Open.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
W (2024, 2025)
In the speedy time period, Elena Rybakina’s left Achilles might be the distinction between her taking part in the U.S. Open and not. As the event unfolds, it might decide the trajectory of the title — even when she shouldn’t be there.
A wholesome and match Rybakina would seem to have comparatively clean crusing into the second week. But Rybakina’s fortunes have implications far past her personal success. She is vying for world No. 1 with Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, and she holds all of the playing cards: With a semifinal run, nothing the others do would matter.
Moreover, her absence in the underside quarter of the draw would current a wealthy alternative for Iga Świątek, the resurgent 2022 champion who’s in her quarter, and for that half of the draw, particularly given the ladies’s draw as a complete is comparatively balanced.
If Rybakina performs, her clean serve and groundstrokes can do sufficient injury to take her on a deep run. But there are such a lot of doubts over her damage that it will not be an enormous shock if she doesn’t take the court docket in any respect.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Jessica Pegula is such a constant presence in the higher echelons of tennis that it might appear to be she is placing collectively a profession 12 months, yearly.
In 2026, she has gained two WTA titles and has made three finals — together with simply earlier than the U.S. Open, the place she misplaced to an on-fire Coco Gauff on the Cincinnati Open after edging out Iga Świątek in the semifinals.
Pegula is taking part in such impenetrable tennis that absolutely this have to be a document 12 months. But whoops, look again at 2025. She gained three titles and made three finals then.
Such is Pegula’s profession. She’s constantly elevating her glorious sport, but, frustratingly for her, she has but to discover the lacking piece that earns her a Grand Slam trophy. She is as hungry as ever to win, particularly after reaching the primary main ultimate of her profession two years in the past in New York. It might assist that the lady who’s crushed her every of the previous two years on the U.S. Open, Aryna Sabalenka, is struggling to discover her finest tennis.
Oh, and for added incentive, she has a shot at taking up the world No. 1 rating if she wins the title and Elena Rybakina loses earlier than the semifinals.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
It’s straightforward to look again at the place Coco Gauff was 12 months in the past, practising her serve throughout medical time outs and between units in entrance of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, and simply marvel at how a lot she has progressed.
The double faults are in the again of her thoughts. The forehand footwork in which she hops on her again foot like a flamingo is getting rarer. And with a Cincinnati Open title win to end her preparation for her dwelling Slam, Gauff is once more one of many favorites for the title in New York.
But taking that view would glaze over one thing central to Gauff’s tennis. Her second serve might have been a catastrophe for a lot of 2024 and 2025, however her first serve has all the time been in the highest two or three in the ladies’s sport.
Its pace and precision give her a platform to come ahead to the web or simply to win factors without spending a dime; profitable factors without spending a dime on serve lets her use her foot pace and court docket protection to unravel opponents when it’s their flip.
Once once more on the U.S. Open, Gauff and her crowd will take some beating.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Mirra Andreeva had fairly a comedown after profitable her first Grand Slam trophy on the French Open this spring. She misplaced in the second spherical of Wimbledon, which was a totally comprehensible outcome for a 19-year-old who barely had time to take in her achievement. Still, she was so dissatisfied she was shut to tears in her press convention after.
Now that extra time has handed, Andreeva has had an opportunity to alter to being a Grand Slam champion and enters the draw as a harmful determine. She might not be a real title-contending risk, however nobody desires to see her throughout the web.
The U.S. Open is the one main the place she’s by no means made it previous the third spherical, however she does have momentum behind her in New York this 12 months. She and her accomplice Andrey Rublev made it to the semifinals of the combined doubles competitors, and appeared to be having a ton of enjoyable alongside the way in which. Good vibes depend for one thing, proper?
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
After profitable her first Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon, 21-year-old Linda Nosková can count on extra eyes on her on the U.S. Open than ever earlier than. Nosková is low-key by nature and appears suited to a bit of further strain, but it surely stays the most important unknown concerning her hopes in New York.
On paper, Nosková has a pleasant sport for arduous courts. She performs with quiet energy, absorbs her opponents’ tempo nicely and has sufficient syncopation in her sport to maintain her foes on the again foot.
She’s by no means made it previous the third spherical on the U.S. Open, however nobody had her circled because the Wimbledon champion firstly of the summer time, both. Nosková might do loads of injury if she will harness the boldness that comes with the strain of being a significant champion.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Karolína Muchová has already discovered some glory in New York this time round. She and her Czech compatriot, Jakub Menšik, gained the combined doubles, giving every of them their maiden Grand Slam title.
That got here on the heels of Muchová’s run to the Wimbledon singles ultimate, the place she misplaced in three units to one other Czech compatriot, Linda Nosková. After that, Muchová had what she described as a “small surgery” that stored her out of the summer time occasions that lead into the U.S. Open.
When wholesome, Muchová performs an exquisite, flowing fashion, which this 12 months has been bolstered by extra solidity and aggressiveness from the baseline. She has a great document in New York, and all of the instruments to make one other deep run that ought to thrill the crowds.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
SF (2023, 2024)
After slightly below two years of tennis evolution and all of the bumps in the highway that include that, Iga Świątek is exhibiting indicators of discovering her groove.
The 2022 U.S. Open champion has been on a journey to carry the affected person, managed aggressiveness that made her first a brand new star, and then the WTA Tour’s dominant drive, from late 2020 to late 2024. That journey introduced a Wimbledon title in 2025, but additionally loads of painful defeats that turned all too alike.
At the Canadian Open earlier this summer time, she trusted the technique for a complete event, and she gained it. She is now making use of that endurance to her serve, the a part of her sport that’s her greatest impediment to the most important titles, due to its incapability to earn her free factors — and relieve strain — when an opponent is taking part in nicely or her personal sport continues to be clicking into gear.
Will she win the U.S. Open? The serve would possibly nonetheless want a bit of an excessive amount of refinement for that. But she is in kind, assured and taking part in the sort of tennis she desires to play. That’s scary for the sphere.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
This time final 12 months, Amanda Anisimova was trying to bounce again after a harrowing Wimbledon ultimate in which she didn’t win a sport towards Iga Swiątek. She confirmed resilience by beating Swiątek on the U.S. Open, earlier than making it to a second consecutive main ultimate, the place she misplaced to Aryna Sabalenka.
A 12 months later, Anisimova nonetheless has the highly effective groundstrokes — together with among the finest backhands in the sport — and expertise mandatory to win a Grand Slam trophy. Her forehand was a lot much less dependable via the spring and early summer time, and helped lead to a third-round exit at Wimbledon, however Anisimova in current weeks reunited with Henrik Vleeshouwers, the coach who helped her attain No. 3 in the world on the finish of final 12 months.
The renewed partnership appears to be going nicely up to now — she had a quarterfinal run on the Cincinnati Open that can do exactly advantageous so far as preparation goes. Now Anisimova will get to play in entrance of pleasant crowds on her favourite floor.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
One of the in-form gamers of 2026, Marta Kostyuk arrives in New York having fun with the perfect season of her profession — with the chance to make a press release run at a event that she is but to totally get between her enamel.
Trust in her longtime coach, Sandra Zaniewska, psychological work to separate her self-worth from her outcomes, and the simple energy and blistering assault which have all the time marked her tennis have all coalesced in 2026. She reached her first two Grand Slam semifinals again to again on the French Open and Wimbledon, and gained her debut WTA 1000 title on the Madrid Open.
Hard courts haven’t been her finest pal this 12 months — she tore an ankle ligament on the Australian Open in shedding her first-round match — however every little thing is there for her to thrive on this go to to Flushing Meadows.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Don’t let the lavish outfits deceive — Naomi Osaka has renounced herself as a Grand Slam risk in 2026.
One of tennis’ few stars with cultural crossover, Osaka has leaned method into costumery in 2026 as she seeks to outline herself as an “entertainer,” not simply an athlete. She has walked out for every of her Grand Slam matches this 12 months carrying an ornate outfit layered with that means.
The garments, an outlet for self-expression, have helped Osaka have enjoyable in her tennis profession once more. After spending a couple of years in the game’s wilderness as she labored to come again from giving start to her daughter, Osaka has discovered new perspective (it’s only a job, she says now) to associate with her improved motion and her always-fearsome energy sport.
That manifested in career-best runs to the fourth spherical on the French Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon earlier than Osaka began the hard-court season — her favourite season — sturdy.
She went to the semifinals of the D.C. Open and quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, and ought to arrive in New York feeling assured. Her semifinal look finally 12 months’s U.S. Open was on the time her finest efficiency at a Grand Slam since 2021, and she wasn’t taking part in almost in addition to she is now.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
W (2018, 2020)
Alex Eala has been making historical past for the Philippines on a tennis court docket for a very long time now, but it surely was at Wimbledon that she introduced herself to the broader sporting world by beating defending champion Iga Świątek on Centre Court.
She backed that up by profitable the D.C. Open title, her first, a couple of weeks later. She gained the title by beating Jessica Pegula, exhibiting that she will even get a crowd with U.S. home-court benefit on her facet.
That needs to be a potent weapon in New York, which is dwelling to an enormous Filipino inhabitants.
It’s actually arduous to win Grand Slam matches. It’s even more durable when the group goes bananas for the participant on the opposite facet of the web, and Eala may have that from spherical one.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
The Czech Republic simply gained’t cease producing good girls’s tennis gamers, and Nikola Bartůňková is nicely on her method to becoming a member of her compatriots in the higher echelons of the ladies’s sport.
Bartůňková continues to be working via her understanding of her personal sport, and her barely jittery service movement and tendency to lose units at first slowly, and then are testomony to that.
But when she is on, she could be borderline unplayable. Her tennis has a swashbuckling assuredness, letting her move via the court docket to carve away a volley, or redirect a ball from the baseline so shortly and so powerfully that her opponent has no time to react.
She’s placing all of it collectively proper on time for the U.S. Open, with a minimum of a semifinal berth on the Monterrey Open in Mexico. At the Australian Open, she surprised Belinda Bencic en route to the third spherical, and gained two matches, together with the one towards Bencic, in which she misplaced the second set 6-0.
Fearless, self-possessed and rising in confidence week on week, she’s one to watch and a harmful proposition for nearly any opponent.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
During Mirra Andreeva’s rise to the highest of tennis, she reached the Australian Open ladies’ ultimate in 2023, at 16. She misplaced that ultimate — to Alina Korneeva, her compatriot one month her senior.
Since then, Andreeva has risen and risen, whereas Korneeva has seen her personal rise largely deferred by repeated setbacks with wrist accidents. Until now.
In the identical 12 months that she beat Andreeva, she went 31-8 and made her full WTA Tour debut, earlier than a seven-month absence due to wrist issues that broke the again of her 2024 season.
In 2025, she misplaced extra matches than she had turn out to be accustomed to shedding, however way more importantly, performed an ideal deal extra of them, regardless of lacking almost six months between January and June.
In 2026, Korneeva has discovered stability finally.. She defeated two high Americans, Emma Navarro and Iva Jović, to attain the fourth spherical of the Canadian Open, backing up her run to the semifinals of the Athens Open earlier this summer time.
With baseline poise and a mature steadiness between protection and assault, Korneeva is one to watch in New York and past.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Taylor Townsend possesses a slick, lefty all-court sport that may evoke reminiscences of John McEnroe. There’s one thing about the way in which she swings her serve out vast into the advert court docket. It’s a factor of magnificence — and it has introduced her Grand Slam doubles titles aplenty.
At final 12 months’s U.S. Open, it introduced her one of many richest singles runs of her profession. Townsend upset Mirra Andreeva on Arthur Ashe Stadium to attain the spherical of 16, the place she performed one of many epic matches of the event.
In a three-set nailbiter towards two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejčíková, Townsend had eight match factors in a second-set tiebreak that went to 28 factors; Krejčíková took it 15-13 and then grabbed the third set to knock Townsend out.
Louis Armstrong Stadium was packed for a participant who used the run to construct her profile and advocate for equality and self-belief in a sport that has not all the time been variety to her. Now she is again.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Alexander Zverev has had an important season of his profession at majors, and he goes into the final one in all 2026 as the highest seed thanks to Jannik Sinner’s absence with a knee damage.
Zverev claimed his first Grand Slam title at this 12 months’s French Open, and he backed that up with a run to the Wimbledon ultimate, in which he performed the sort of aggressive and decisive tennis that he had too typically lacked in tight moments.
While Sinner defeated him in the ultimate, Zverev gained the opening set of their match and did so with a ripped winner, two issues that appeared implausible in their six conferences prior, which Sinner gained in straight units.
The German’s serve and baseline solidity needs to be sufficient to get him via most of what awaits him in New York. Once once more, the query is whether or not he can produce his high stage on the factors that matter, in the matches that matter. If he can, fulfilling his standing as one of many favorites is in his fingers.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
The defending champion returns as one of many event’s most intriguing figures, after lacking the previous two Grand Slams.
Carlos Alcaraz has not performed aggressive tennis since April due to a wrist damage known as tenosynovitis, in which fluid accumulates in the sheath of one of the vital essential tendons in the joint.
Wrist accidents are among the many most dreaded illnesses for any tennis participant, and making an attempt to come again from one by leaping proper into five-set tennis is past audacious — however Alcaraz has a factor for breaking precedent. No one has defended the lads’s title in New York since Roger Federer’s streak of 5 ended in 2008.
Still, irrespective of how extraordinary Alcaraz is, profitable seven matches can be so much to ask. He and his crew have for months prioritized the longevity of Alcaraz’s profession over speeding a comeback, that means the 23-year-old might not be inclined to threat something.
If he’s utterly wholesome and manages to shake off rust shortly, then matchup-wise, his possibilities of choosing up a second Grand Slam this 12 months are fairly good. Alcaraz continues to be peerless among the many subject with Jannik Sinner out, and he’ll arrive in New York more energizing than gamers who’ve slogged via a protracted season … But that’s an Empire-State-Building-sized “if.”
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
W (2022, 2025)
If Félix Auger-Aliassime performs like he did final 12 months on the U.S. Open, or this 12 months at Wimbledon, then he has each probability of a deep run into early September. He misplaced to Jannik Sinner in 4 robust units in the 2025 semifinals right here, and pushed Novak Djokovic to a brutal 5 units in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in July.
Earlier this 12 months, the Canadian was despondent after going out of the French Open to Flavio Cobolli, seeing it as a near-unforgivable missed alternative with Sinner and Djokovic out already and Carlos Alcaraz absent.
Last 12 months on the U.S. Open, he did seize a possibility, backing up knocking out Alexander Zverev by defeating Alex de Minaur in a grueling quarterfinal for the best to meet Sinner.
A again damage earlier in August might be a stumbling block, and he’ll need the climate to clear up or to keep wet, as a result of he loves an indoor arduous court docket. If Auger-Aliassime can discover rhythm in his early rounds, there’s no cause why he can’t replicate final 12 months’s run.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
SF (2021, 2025)
Again, Novak Djokovic senses a possibility. Again, his path to seizing it would principally rely on his personal sturdiness.
Carlos Alcaraz hasn’t performed singles in 4 months. Jannik Sinner is out with a knee damage. The forecast for the primary week of the U.S. Open is fairly delicate. Djokovic loves to play at evening and will get loads of assignments in that slot on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The query for the 39-year-old, who has gained this event 4 occasions, is whether or not or not his physique will let him take benefit. It didn’t look that method on the Cincinnati Open, the place Djokovic misplaced his solely match since Wimbledon to Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina. He was felled largely by the exertion of a mammoth service maintain that sapped his power.
Djokovic has solely performed 20 matches all 12 months. He’s additionally in all probability the perfect hard-court participant in the historical past of the lads’s sport. If he performs his method into health and kind over the primary three rounds, something can occur. But that “if” has up to now outlined his season.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
W (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023)
Flavio Cobolli launched himself into the Grand Slam dialog after making the ultimate on the French Open this 12 months, as one in all few gamers who managed to benefit from a wide-open draw.
If he will get one other probability in New York, he has the platform to construct on a profitable 12 months on the majors, after a quarterfinal look at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old is without doubt one of the higher athletes on tour, with a well-rounded sport. He can do essentially the most injury off his forehand facet, and his kick serve shall be a weapon on the arduous courts on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, however Cobolli hasn’t been notably environment friendly in the lead-up to the U.S. Open.
At the Cincinnati Open in mid-August, his first 4 matches went three units earlier than he crumbled towards eventual champion Arthur Fils in the semifinals.
Energy administration issues in New York, the place the warmth, lengthy hours and cumulative results of the season can catch up to gamers. But deep runs at Grand Slams have gotten routine for this Italian, who can intestine out a win when he desires to.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
R32 (2024, 2025)
It was the 2023 U.S. Open that noticed Ben Shelton, a 20-year-old school tennis participant with a telephone he wanted to hold up, a 150 mph serve and an electrical forehand, announce himself as a capturing star.
Three years on, the telephone has been left on the hook, and Shelton is at one of the vital fascinating moments of his profession. Until earlier this summer time, he had achieved good outcomes in smaller tournaments this season however had principally underachieved when the lights acquired vibrant, one thing antithetical to his acknowledged aim of peaking on the greatest occasions.
He wasn’t breaking serve. He couldn’t be affected person from the baseline. His return and his backhand have been as ineffective as his serve and forehand might be deadly.
Then he stormed to the title on the Canadian Open in Montreal, because the gradual courts and excessive bounce performed to his strengths and gave him the time to soften his weaknesses. He arrives in New York together with his standing as a sports activities star needing to converge together with his standing as a tennis participant. Bring the 2 collectively, and who is aware of what might occur.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
With world No. 1 Jannik Sinner absent and questions surrounding defending champ Carlos Alcaraz’s health, Taylor Fritz might have (one other) good probability to win his first Grand Slam trophy.
The Californian loves taking part in on arduous courts in entrance of a house crowd. He has extra expertise in New York than most different contenders, having made the ultimate in 2024, which he misplaced to Sinner.
But Fritz additionally has a little bit of scar tissue to work via. That ultimate two years in the past was a correct drubbing from Sinner; final 12 months, Fritz wilted below the brilliant lights and misplaced a four-set quarterfinal to Novak Djokovic in which he gave up momentum when he had it time and once more.
That’s the factor with American males in New York. It’s been so lengthy since any of them gained a Grand Slam that ending the 23-year drought, particularly on the U.S. Open, goes to take an unimaginable quantity of psychological fortitude.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
22-year-old Arthur Fils has had a tough 15 months. At the 2025 French Open, he recorded a press release win on a baying Court Suzanne-Lenglen, however aggravated a again damage he has carried since childhood in the method.
That basically ended his season, regardless of a halting comeback early in the North American hard-court season. Then, he began 2026 on a tear, returning to the court docket with a extra compact forehand and extra economical motion, blasting via his opponents and profitable the Barcelona Open.
Then one other damage that ruined his dwelling Slam, and limp exits at Wimbledon and the D.C. Open. Was all of it occurring once more?
As it turned out, no — and thank god, as a result of males’s tennis wants Fils’ exuberant brilliance greater than it is aware of. He warmed up for New York by storming to the Cincinnati Open title, and he enters the event with the sky because the restrict. That’s nearly all the time been the case for Fils. It simply appears like his physique gained’t get in the way in which of his expertise for the primary time in some time.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
R64 (2023, 2024)
Frances Tiafoe sometimes shines the brightest in entrance of the exuberant dwelling crowds on the U.S. Open, the place he feeds on New York’s power and his motivation peaks.
It’s the positioning of his two Grand Slam semifinals (in 2022 and 2024) and Tiafoe shall be craving to go deep after a third-round loss final 12 months. His kind augurs nicely: He captured the most important title of his profession on the Stuttgart Open in June; in mid-August, he reached the ultimate of the Cincinnati Open, the place he misplaced to younger Frenchman Arthur Fils.
That was the second ATP Masters 1000 ultimate of Tiafoe’s profession, a mirrored image of the main target and aggressiveness he’s employed on court docket currently.
But Tiafoe did increase concern in that championship match, after receiving remedy on his decrease again or hip space earlier than shedding the third set 6-0. It might be that he felt an damage approaching and didn’t need to damage his possibilities on the U.S. Open, however for now, there’s a query mark written in pencil subsequent to his title.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
SF (2022, 2024)
A 12 months in the past, Rafael Jódar was hitting the books for his first weeks of lessons on the University of Virginia, and making ready to characterize it in school tennis.
Now he’s the world No. 13. That doesn’t occur all that usually.
Already a harmful mixture of regular and explosive, Jódar can be uncooked and seasoned on the identical time. His serve could make him look susceptible, however it might additionally explode off a tough court docket and get him numerous free factors; his hyperaggressive returning can put even the perfect in the sport on the again foot.
He’s been going deep in nearly each event he performs currently, and it’s arduous not to see him a minimum of in the second week in New York. It’s not all that tough to see him as a dark-horse semifinalist and even finalist, both.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
There’s so much to like about Learner Tien’s evolution since his wild-card entry into the 2024 U.S. Open, which he earned with a 28-match win streak on the ATP Challenger Tour, the second rung {of professional} tennis.
He acquired unfortunate on the 2025 event — Novak Djokovic in the primary spherical is rarely good — and enters the 2026 version inside the highest 20. In partnership with 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang, his coach, Tien has added some zip to his arcing lefty serve, to go along with the misleading energy in his forehand, his absurd court docket protection and his very good sample play and improvisation.
The doubt is his health. He’s been managing a left elbow concern for a while and it’s been getting in the way in which of excellent outcomes the previous couple of months. That’s by no means good, and by no means worse when five-set tennis can be on the agenda, however he’ll have loads of help in New York as a rising member of the American cohort on the ATP Tour.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
R128 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Brandon Nakashima has been taking part in a number of the finest tennis of his life since hiring coach Wayne Ferreira earlier this summer time.
The 25-year-old from California hasn’t tweaked his sport a lot technically, however his confidence has improved, and that confidence has led to Nakashima making extra aggressive decisions on the court docket.
After a second-round loss at Wimbledon, he made it to the ultimate of the Canadian Open and the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open, each of that are performed on the stage just under a Grand Slam. Nakashima isn’t the most important hitter on tour, however he is without doubt one of the most correct servers, and has been taking higher benefit of the platform his serve presents him.
What Nakashima lacks is expertise on the majors. He’s by no means made it previous the fourth spherical of a Grand Slam and is 4-8 in his profession in five-set matches. But taking part in in entrance of a house crowd with renewed perception, a brand new coach and a potent serve makes the U.S. Open a implausible alternative for a breakthrough.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
R32 (2022, 2025)
Jakub Menšík and the U.S. Open should not finest associates.
That might sound unusual to say a couple of 20-year-old who simply gained the combined doubles title (with compatriot Karolína Muchová), and who has two third-round berths and one second-round exit all earlier than turning 20.
The concern is that these exits aren’t due to Menšík’s sport — his laser serve, rock-solid backhand and spectacular motion for his top are all preferrred for arduous courts — however quite his mentality. He misplaced to Nuno Borges from two-sets-to-one up in 2024, regardless of having three match factors in one fourth-set tiebreak, and went down to France’s Ugo Blanchet from the identical place final 12 months.
Menšík has excised a few of that Grand Slam scar tissue of late — he had had some heartbreakers on the different majors, too — and the combined doubles win ought to give him confidence as he pushes for a primary second-week look in New York.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Best end
R32 (2023, 2024)
The Columbia University NCAA tennis star is all grown up and graduated — and prepared for an additional main.
Michael Zheng has accomplished one thing extraordinarily uncommon this previous 12 months: He survived qualifying at three Grand Slams out of three throughout his senior 12 months of faculty. OK, Wimbledon qualifying occurred a couple of weeks after he commencement, however he solely missed the ceremony as a result of he was busy qualifying for the French Open.
Zheng has confirmed himself to be a reasonably robust out for somebody additionally involved with ending up an Ivy League diploma in psychology. He covers the court docket successfully and can have laser precision on his forehand.
Having grown up in New Jersey earlier than attending Columbia, he ought to have the group behind him. For a sure sort of participant, he’s a little bit of a nightmare draw.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
Hope for Gaël Monfils to placed on one other Grand Slam present, on the final one in all his profession.
He was the star of the combined doubles and has already made himself a candidate for the shot of the event, operating from mainly Coney Island to retrieve an overhead in the nook of the alternative facet of the court docket that he was overlaying.
He’s been a strolling spotlight reel for the higher a part of the final 20 years, however greater than that, Monfils has been a task mannequin and a lodestar for tennis gamers throughout. This is his final season. He acquired a wild card from the French Tennis Federation into the singles. Maybe he wins a match. Just a few extra highlights can be good.
Godspeed Gaël.
U.S. Open CV
U.S. Open profession win-loss document and appearances embody main-draw matches solely
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