Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper among 10 to watch at US Open
Ten players who will hope to be vying for the US Open titles.
The final grand slam of the year gets under way at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner will bid to successfully defend their titles and strengthen their grip on the world number one rankings.
Here, the PA news agency picks out 10 to watch in New York.
Jannik Sinner
The Italian can make it four grand slam titles from the last five tournaments with another victory in Queens. Stopping a run of defeats against his big rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final was a huge moment for the 23-year-old, who appears to have recovered from the illness that hampered him in Cincinnati.
Carlos Alcaraz
The Spaniard’s first slam title came at the US Open when he was 19, but that remains his only major victory on hard courts. Last year he crashed out in the second round and he will be highly motivated to challenge for the trophy again. The Wimbledon final is Alcaraz’s only loss since April.
Novak Djokovic
It is now two years since Djokovic won his 24th grand slam title but the Serbian has shown consistency at the slams in 2025, making three semi-finals. If he can somehow avoid Sinner – and his increasingly troublesome body holds up – the 38-year-old remains a contender.
Jack Draper
The British number one returns to the scene of his big breakthrough after last year’s run to the semi-finals. It has been a difficult couple of months for Draper, with a disappointing early loss at Wimbledon followed by an untimely arm injury, but the 23-year-old loves hard courts and will hope to pick up where he left off.
Ben Shelton
Last year’s finalist Taylor Fritz remains the highest-ranked American man but coming up fast on his heels is big-serving Shelton. The 22-year-old won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto this month and already has slam semi-finals to his name in New York in 2023 and Australia this year.
Aryna Sabalenka
It has been a strange season for the 27-year-old, who is by some distance the best player in the world but is still searching for her first slam title of 2025 after painful final losses to Madison Keys in Australia and Coco Gauff in Paris. Controlling her emotions at the biggest moments remains a challenge.
Coco Gauff
An equally strange year for Gauff, who won her second slam title at the French Open but has under-performed away from clay. Gauff began the season as the form player in the field having won the WTA Finals but she has been plagued by double faults – her tally for 2025 of 320 is more than 100 clear of anyone else.
Iga Swiatek
Swiatek was close to dropping out of the top 10 after a difficult swing on her favoured clay only to spectacularly find form again at Wimbledon, where she had previously struggled, and claim a sixth slam title. Her destruction of Amanda Anisimova in the final was brutal and she has another big title in Cincinnati.
Elena Rybakina
It is now three years since Rybakina won her so far only slam crown at Wimbledon but her huge weapons will always make her a danger, as she showed by beating Sabalenka in Cincinnati last week. She has coach Stefano Vukov back in her box after a successful appeal against a ban for abusive conduct towards her.
Victoria Mboko
Eighteen-year-old Canadian Mboko began the season ranked outside the top 300 but will make her US Open debut as a seed after soaring to 24th in the world. She claimed a stunning victory on home soil at the WTA 1000 event in Montreal this month, beating Gauff, Rybakina and Naomi Osaka.