Carlos Alcaraz’s return to tennis immediately commands the spotlight as the US Open draw delivers a fascinating roadmap toward the season’s final Grand Slam championship. After time away from competition with a wrist injury, the seven-time major champion arrives in New York in defense of last year’s hard-court title with questions about his ability to rediscover his dominance quickly.
Alcaraz’s placement headlines a loaded men’s bracket despite the recent withdrawal of Jannik Sinner (knee), filled with dangerous early-round opponents and emerging contenders eager to capitalize. The women’s draw carries similar intrigue, with several title threats facing difficult paths through the opening week at Flushing Meadows.
Draw day always boasts potential blockbuster matchups in the later rounds and Alcaraz’s comeback adds another layer of suspense. If his body and timing cooperate, the sport’s most electric star could quickly turn this tournament into his own welcome-back celebration under the lights.
No American man has won a major since Andy Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 US Open final. Taylor Fritz’s trip to the US Open final in 2024 was the closest an American man has come to ending the streak in two decades.
Fritz is the second highest-seeded American in the men’s draw at No. 9, behind eight-seeded Ben Shelton.
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 1 seed on the women’s side and beat American Amanda Anisimova in last year’s tournament final, 6-3 7-6 (7-3). Sabalenka has four career slams, but has not captured a major this year.
American Coco Gauff, who’s seeded fourth, won the US Open in 2023 and beat Jessica Pegula in straights on Sunday in Cincinnati to win her first title of 2026. Gauff lost to Karolina Muchova in the Wimbledon semifinals earlier this summer in her best majors showing of the season.
US Open men’s draw
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Alexander Zverev vs. Lorenzo Sonego
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Carlos Alcaraz vs. Roman Safiullin
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Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Rinky Hijikata
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Novak Djokovic vs. Mariano Navone
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Flavio Cobolli vs. Francisco Comesna
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Alex de Minaur vs. Qualifier
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Daniil Medvedev vs. Qualifier
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Ben Shelton vs. Tallon Griekspoor
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Taylor Fritz vs. Darwin Blanch
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Arthur Fils vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
The rest of the men’s draw as follows:
- 11. Francis Tiafoe vs. Martin Damm
- 12. Rafael Jodar vs. Thanaski Kokkinakis
- 13. Lorenzo Musetti vs. Arthur Frey
- 14. Learner Tien vs. Nuno Borges
- 15. Alexander Bublik vs. JJ Wolf
- 16. Brandon Nakashima vs. Sebastian Baez
- 17. Jakub Mensik vs. Qualifier
- 18. Jiri Lehecka vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
- 19. Casper Ruud vs. Juan Manuel Cerundolo
- 20. Tommy Paul vs. Qualifier
- 21. Luciano Darderi vs. Qualifier
- 22. Valentin Vacherot vs. Aleksander Kovacevic
- 23. Andrey Rublev vs. Marin Cilic
- 24. Francisco Cerundolo vs. Filip Misolic
- 25. Alejandro Tabilo vs. Yannick Hanfmann
- 26. Arthur Rinderknech vs. Sho Shimabukuro
- 27. Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Vit Kopriva
- 28. Alexander Blockx vs. Qualifier
- 29. Cameron Norrie vs. Luca Van Assche
- 30. Matteo Arnaldi vs. James Duckworth
- 31. Zizou Bergs vs. Carlos Taberner
- 32. Ignacio Buse vs. Marcos Giron
- Damir Dzumhur vs. Hubert Hurkacz
- Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Denis Shapovalov
- Tomas Machac vs. Qualifier
- Jack Kennedy vs. Qualifier
- Thiago Agustin Tirante vs. Adrian Mannarino
- Dino Prizmic vs. Aleksander Shevchenko
- Yibing We vs. Adam Walton
- Jaime Faria vs. Jenson Brooksby
- Sebastian Gorzny vs. Raphael Collignon
- Jaume Munar vs. Terence Atmane
- Kamil Majchrazak vs. Hamad Medjedovic
- Aleksander Vukic vs. Qualifier
- Alex Michelsen vs. Qualifier
- Daniel Merida vs. Marton Fucsovics
- Martin Landaluce vs. Qualifier
- Matteo Berrettini vs. Stan Warwrinka
- Roman Andres Burruchaga vs. Karen Khachanov
- Alex Molcn vs. Benjamin Bonzi
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Qualifier
- Gael Monfils vs. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo
- Mattia Bellucci vs. Qualifier
- Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
- Juncheng Shang vs. Marco Trungelliti
- Jesper De Long vs. Qualifier
- Jan Choinski vs. Botic Van De Zandschulp
- Zachary Svajda vs. Daniel Altmaier
- Dane Sweeny vs. Coretin Moutet
- Valentin Royer vs. Qualifier
- Alexei Popyrin vs. Qualifier
- Quentin Halys vs. Facundo Diaz Acosta
US Open women’s draw
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Aryna Sabalenka vs. Camilia Osorio
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Elena Rybakina vs. Thea Frodin
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Jessica Pegula vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
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Coco Gauff vs. Zeynep Sonmez
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Mirra Andreeva vs. Janice Tjen
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Linda Noskova vs. Katie Volynets
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Karolina Muchova vs. Sinja Kraus
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Iga Swiatek vs. Xiyu Wang
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Elina Svitolina vs. Solana Sierra
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Amanda Anisimova vs. Ashlyn Krueger
The rest of the seeded-women’s draw as follows:
- 11. Marta Kostyuk vs. Qualifier
- 12. Belinda Bencic vs. Yulia Putintseva
- 13. Naomi Osaka vs. Anastasia Zakharova
- 14. Iva Jovic vs. Magdalena Frech
- 15. Diana Shnaider vs. Daria Snigur
- 16. Sorana Cirstea vs. Julia Grabher
- 17. Alexandra Eala vs. Qualifier
- 18. Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. McCartney Kessler
- 19. Jasmine Paolini vs. Veronika Erjavec
- 20. Maja Chwalinska. vs. Taylor Townsend
- 21. Anna Kalinskaya vs. Anna Blinksova
- 22. Madison Keys vs. Alina Korneeva
- 23. Elise Mertens vs. Kaitlin Quevedo
- 24. Anastasia Potapova vs. Tereza Valentova
- 25. Marie Bouzkova vs. Elsa Jacquemont
- 26. Emma Navarro vs. Lois Boisson
- 27. Barbora Krejcikova vs. Kamilia Rakhimova
- 28. Sara Bejlek vs. Cristina Bucsa
- 29. Ann Li vs. Antonia Ruzic
- 30. Jelana Ostapenko vs. Tatjana Maria
- 31. Leylah Fernandez vs. Shuai Zhang
- 32. Maria Sakkari vs. Qualifier
