The season of Honey Deuce cocktails at Flushing Meadows is upon us as the 2026 US Open main draw gets underway in New York this Sunday.
This year’s fourth and final Grand Slam will feature some of the biggest names in tennis and breakout players on the up and up, although there will also be some notable injured absentees.
The mixed doubles title has already been claimed by Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik on Wednesday night after defeating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
All the main draw action from August 30 until September 13 is at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, just outside New York City. The men’s and women’s quarterfinals begin on September 8, followed by women’s singles semifinals on September 10, men’s singles semifinals on September 11, women’s final on September 12, and men’s final on September 13.
The 45-year-old Swiss icon Roger Federer categorically ruled out a Williams-esque return. His brief on-court appearance in New York this week was for primetime exhibition matches ahead of a trip to Newport, Rhode Island to be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.
With Sinner out of contention, Alcaraz has a clear shot at his title defense for a third US Open win. Wimbledon champion and top seed Alexander Zverev will also be looking to carry momentum from his maiden Slam win in June, although the German was knocked out in the fourth round at last week’s Cincinnati Open.
Arthur Fils, seeded 23rd, could be a surprise contender in the final four after the Frenchman defeated American Frances Tiafoe to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last week.
Over on the women’s side, Gauff will look to defeat top-ranked Sabalenka for a repeat of her maiden US Open title in 2023, although the Belarusian will be eyeing a third consecutive win in New York. That being said, the 28-year-old has faltered this season after a fourth round defeat in Cincinnati, the Toronto Masters, Wimbledon and a quarterfinal exit at Roland Garros.
World number two Rybakina is hot on Sabalenka’s heels for the top spot with 8,141 points to Sabalenka’s 8,575. At 32, Jessica Pegula is the oldest top 10 player, but has been a finalist and semifinalist in the past two years and will look to continue that on home soil this year too.
Russian teenager Andreeva bagged her maiden Slam title at the French Open this summer and sits at a career-high world number five, although a fourth round appearance in New York will be her deepest at the US Open. Alex Eala of the Philippines will be a force to watch after the 21-year-old found her breakthrough with a maiden WTA title this month at the Washington Open.
A record $108m prize pot is up for grabs this time: winner takes $5.5m, finalist $2.8m, semi-finalist $1.45m. Alongside Sinner, Brazil’s Fonseca (ATP 26th ranking) and Briton Jack Draper (ATP 141st ranking) will be absent from the men’s side. Emma Raducanu of Britain, world number 15 Victoria Mboko of Canada and Hailey Baptiste of the US, ranked 34th, are other big names who won’t be in action.
Source: www.aljazeera.com