Sinner And Alcaraz Bookend US Open Men’s Draw, Sabalenka Tops Women’s Draw

Jannik Sinner, US Open
Jannik Sinner (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, August 21, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The US Open, the year’s last Grand Slam event, begins for the first time on a Sunday – just three days from now – making it a 15-day event. While men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy and 2022 titlist Carlos Alcaraz of Spain are the pre-tournament favorites, it’s anyone’s guess how things will shake out over the course of the U.S. fortnight. 

On Thursday afternoon, the main draws for both men’s and women’s singles were revealed at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. The newly-turned-24-year-old Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, the current No. 1 players in the ATP and WTA rankings – both defending champions – received this year’s No. 1 seeds. Each will be at the top of of their respective draws. Alcaraz is seeded second and is at the bottom of the men’s draw. By rising to World No. 2 after winning the Cincinnati Open on Monday evening, Poland’s Iga Swiatek is seeded No. 2 and anchors the bottom half of the women’s draw.

Sinner, who will go after his third major crown of the year after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships earlier in the season, will face No. 87 Vit Kopriva of Czechia in the first round. As he goes for his fifth Grand Slam title, Sinner’s likely second round opponent is No. 37 Alexei Popyrin of Australia and he could face No. 27 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the third round. Then, a possible fourth round foe could be No. 14 seed Tommy Paul of the United States and No. 5 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain looms large in the quarterfinals. A likely semifinalist is No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.

As for Alcaraz, he will open with a popcorn match against big-serving American Reilly Opelka, ranked 66th. Then, he could face 108th-ranked Juncheng “Jerry” Shang of China in the second round, followed by No. 32 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy in the third round. A possible fourth round opponent might be either No. 13 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who won the 2021 US Open title, or No. 18 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, and a likely quarterfinal foe is No. 6 seed Ben Shelton of the United States. Finally, Alcaraz could face either No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States or No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Djokovic, who is tied with Margaret Court for most major titles all-time with 24, can further distance himself from Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20) by winning his fifth US Open crown. He’s won the title at Flushing Meadows four previous times (2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023). Like last year, he comes into the US Open looking to win his first Grand Slam title of the season.

As Djokovic begins the chase for his 25th major title, the 38-year-old Serbian great (26-9 this season) is seeded seventh and was placed in the bottom half (Fritz’s quarter) of the 128-player men’s draw. He drew unseeded and 48th-ranked Learner Tien of the United States as his first round opponent when the main draw were revealed.

Possible opponents after the first round for Djokovic include: A qualifier in the second round, No. 28 seed Alex Michelsen of the United States or unseeded and 86th-ranked Sebastian Korda of the United States in the third round, and No. 11 seed Holger Rune of Denmark or No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States in the fourth round. A possible quarterfinal challenger is Fritz of the United States and a likely semifinalist is Alcaraz.

Sabalenka is the top seed in the women’s draw

While World No. 1 Sabalenka, a finalist at this year’s Australian Open and Roland-Garros and winner of titles this season at Brisbane, Miami and Madrid is the top seed and recent Cincinnati Open champion Swiatek is seeded second, No. 3 seed Coco Gauff of the United States was drawn in the Swiatek’s half of the draw and No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States is in Sabalenka’s half. 

Sabalenka, a three-time major champion whose last Grand Slam title came at the 2024 US Open, will open against 109th-ranked Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland, then likely would face No. 64 Polina Kudermetova of Russia in the second round. She could face No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada in third round and either No. 14 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark or No. 9 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in the fourth round. A possible quarterfinal foe would be either No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini or Italy or No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. In the semifinals, Sabalenka could face either No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, in a rematch of the 2024 US Open final, or No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia. 

As for Swiatek, she will open against No. 81 Emiliana Arango of Colombia in the first round and would face either No. 63 Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands or 18-year-old collegian wild card Valerie Glozman of the United States, ranked 899th, in the second round. A likely third round foe would be No. 29 seed Anna Kalinskaya or Russia and she could meet either No. 13 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia or No. 20 Diana Shnaider of Russia in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, it could be a possible showdown for Swiatek with either No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States or No. 12 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and Gauff looms as a semifinal opponent.

In the same quarter of the draw as Gauff, 45-year-old former World No. 1 Venus Williams is back in the women’s singles draw for the first time in two years. The seven-time major champion, who won US Open titles in 2000 and 2001, received a wild card and will face No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia in the first round.

Will 22-year American men’s drought end?

It’s been 86 consecutive majors since Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open. That’s quite a drought for American men’s tennis.

However, there are four U.S. men currently ranked in the ATP Top 20: No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 6 Ben Shelton, No. 14 Tommy Paul and No. 17 Frances Tiafoe. Each is seeded at this year’s US Opena and any of the quartet is capable of making a deep run at this major.

Not counting possible qualifiers, there are currently 19 Americans in the men’s singles draw.

US Open men’s singles draw

US Open women’s singles draw

 

 

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