Tennis' final grand slam event of 2026 begins on Sunday in New York, as the singles competition at the 2026 U.S. Open kicks off two weeks of non-stop tennis in NYC. In the men's draw, one of the top stories is who won't be competing, as Jannik Sinner announced he would not be able to play due to a knee issue, ensuring the 2026 season will end without a grand slam showdown between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz will be making his return from a wrist injury after missing the French Open and Wimbledon, but will be the No. 2 seed, with French Open champion Alexander Zverev earning the top seed in the draw. That perhaps opens the door for an American man to snap the 23-year grand slam drought since Andy Roddick's 2003 U.S. Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Francis Tiafoe, Learner Tien, Brandon Nakashima and Tommy Paul all earned top-20 seeds and hope they can be the man to break the drought.
On the women's side, parity has been the name of the game for the past two years in the grand slams. The last seven grand slam titles have been won by different women, but No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka will try to snap that streak and make it three consecutive U.S. For the top American women like Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova, they'll be hoping to keep the U.S.
Open title at home for the first time since Gauff's win in 2023. Here is how you can watch those storylines unfold over the next two weeks as 256 players on the men's and women's side pursue the final grand slam title of the year. Dates: Aug. 30 to Sept. 13TV: ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews and the ESPN appStream: fubo (Try for free)
Extract — continue reading at the source.
