The 2026 US Open men’s singles main draw was released on Thursday, and is anchored in the top half by top seed Alexander Zverev, since world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was forced to withdraw from the tournament with an injury. The bottom half is led by No. 2 seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is joined by past champions Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic.
USOpen.org breaks down the draw ahead of the start of main-draw action on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. View the full men’s singles draw.
Can Alcaraz or Zverev claim their second Slam of the season?
Alcaraz is back after a five-month layoff due to a wrist injury sustained in the early part of the European red clay swing, and he is hankering to reclaim his title and lift the US Open trophy for the third time in five years. However, with his lack of matchplay, the reigning Roland Garros champion and Wimbledon finalist Zverev has his sights set on becoming the King of Queens after he was denied the title by Dominic Thiem in the 2020 final.
The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 7-6, most recently defeating Zverev in a five-set epic en route to his Australian Open title in January, and in last year’s Cincinnati Open semifinals. Zverev saw an opening in Paris with Alcaraz out of the draw and Sinner’s early round loss, and will be hoping to take advantage of a tournament that once again only has one member of the New Two.
All five former US Open champions lurk in the bottom half
In an unusual turn of events, every man who has previously lifted the US Open trophy—Alcaraz (2022, 2025), Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023), Medvedev (2021), Wawrinka (2016) and Cilic (2014)—is in the second half of the draw. If the retiring Wawrinka makes it past 2019 semifinalist Matteo Berrettini in the first round, he and Djokovic are likely to have a rematch of their iconic 2016 final.
With Sinner sitting this one out, Djokovic must see this year’s Flushing fortnight as a prime opportunity to claim a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, as the Italian has won five of their last six matches. The Serb is projected to play the Spaniard in the semifinals—a rematch of their semifinal faceoff in Melbourne nine months ago.
More information on the official US Open website: USOpen.org
