This is a huge weekend on the sports calendar and offers something for everyone.
The PGA Tour ends its season with the Tour Championship, while NASCAR closes out its regular season as well. On the gridiron, college football starts with Week 0, and with all of this going on, it’s understandable that the arrival of the U.S. Open may have gone overlooked. It begins on Sunday, Aug. 30, before concluding on Sept. 13 from its iconic home of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.
Here are the top things to know ahead of the last tennis major of the year.
Carlos Alcaraz Is Back
After a wrist injury sidelined Carlos Alcaraz for both the French Open and Wimbledon, the Spaniard is in the 2026 U.S. Open field and ready to defend his title. Roger Federer (2004–08) is the only man since the turn of the century to repeat as U.S. Open champion, but Alcaraz envisions doing something no man has ever done.
The 2-seed already repeated on grass at Wimbledon (2023–24) and on clay at the French Open (2024–25). Thus, going back-to-back on grass at the U.S. Open would make Alcaraz the first male tennis player to ever win consecutive Grand Slams on all three surfaces.
Related Stories
Serena Williams Is Also Back… Kinda
A 23-time Grand Slam champion, including six U.S. Open wins, Serena Williams’s comeback tour continues at Flushing Meadows. However, she won’t be participating in women’s singles play. She did take part in mixed doubles—with Alcaraz as her partner—but the duo lost in the quarterfinals after winning their first-round match.
However, that’s not the last we’ll see of Williams, as she’ll take part in women’s doubles alongside sister Venus Williams. The duo won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title in both 1999 and 2009, but the pairing is now a combined 90 years old.
Speaking of age, Venus Williams will play in the women’s singles draw as a wildcard entry. The 46-year-old Williams will become the oldest woman to compete in a U.S. Open singles match since the 47-year-old Renee Richards in 1981.
Last Chance for Joker?
Novak Djokovic is a 4-seed for the U.S. Open 2026 as he seeks that elusive 25th Grand Slam title, which would give him the most outright championships all-time. He’s gone 11 straight major tournaments without winning, which is only topped by the 12-tournament drought he had at the start of his career before winning his first major.
However, it is this Grand Slam in which Joker’s last victory came back in 2023. He also may have an easier draw than recent Grand Slams considering who is not in the men’s field. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has a knee injury that is keeping him sidelined, and Sinner has been a major roadblock for Djokovic recently. Djokovic has lost six of his last seven matches versus Sinner, with five of those coming at Grand Slams.
The Local Favorite
If anyone has home-court advantage in playing at the U.S. Open, it’s American player Jessica Pegula. Not only is she a New York native, but she’s the daughter of the owners of the Buffalo Bills, and as Bills Mafia will gladly remind you, Buffalo is the only NFL team that actually plays in New York state.
So, Pegula will have the locals on her side as she looks to finally get over the hump and win her first Grand Slam in her 31st Grand Slam start. There is recent precedent—Madison Keys won the 2025 Australian Open, which was her first major, in her 45th Grand Slam start. Pegula enters with not only crowd support but momentum and confidence, as her last two U.S. Open appearances have resulted in her best career finishes, with a final and a semifinal appearance.
First Seed, First Time
Alexander Zverev enters the 2026 U.S. Open as the 1-seed on the men’s side, marking the first time in his career he’s the top seed at any Grand Slam. His 43 major appearances before being seeded first are the second most by any man in the Open Era, just one shy of Andy Murray’s 44.
Zverev, the reigning French Open champion who then lost in the final of Wimbledon, hasn’t seen a U.S. Open semifinal in five years. However, like Djokovic, Zverev greatly benefits from Sinner’s absence, and even more so than Joker does. Zverev has lost 10 straight matches to Sinner, so the former’s potential path to a second major is much clearer.
An American Winner?
Just one American woman has won the lone American Grand Slam over the last eight years. That was Coco Gauff (2023), and despite the local support that Pegula will get, Gauff figures to have the best chance at, again, keeping the U.S. Open title on home soil.
As for the men’s side, it’s been 23 years since an American won this tournament, courtesy of Andy Roddick in 2003. There are two American men seeded in the top 10: No. 8 Ben Shelton and No. 9 Taylor Fritz. Shelton’s big personality has attracted lots of fans, but he’s never made a final at any Grand Slam. Thus, it’s Fritz who may be America’s best chance at ending this 23-year drought, with him making it to the final at this tournament two years ago. He’s also won seven of his last eight matches versus 1-seed Zverev, so if Fritz gets some breaks along the way, he could etch his name into American tennis lore.
