Thursday, 12:00 in New York, 19:00 Moscow: the US Open throws the singles draw. Main-draw play starts Sunday 30 August. By then the field has already lost its world No.1. Jannik Sinner withdrew with a right-knee injury. Alexander Zverev is the men’s top seed after winning Roland Garros this year. Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, is second after four months out with a wrist problem. Félix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic follow. Djokovic is still chasing a 25th major.
Mixed doubles on Ashe: the return ended in the quarter-finals
Serena Williams is not in singles. In mixed with Alcaraz she walked onto Arthur Ashe for the first time since her 2022 farewell. Round one: 5-3, 4-1 against Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool. A 120mph ace, the room stood up. The quarter-final was colder: Flavio Cobolli and Belinda Bencic won 5-4(4), 4-1. After the first-set tie-break the pair frayed. Cobolli closed that breaker with an ace. Early errors followed; the second set went 4-1.
Bencic and Cobolli play Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils in the semi-finals. The other semi: Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev against Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík. The mixed format this year is short, the grid is tight, singles have not started — and New York already has a first-week story.
Women’s draw: Sabalenka for a third straight title
Aryna Sabalenka is the women’s No.1, going for a third US Open in a row. Then Rybakina, Pegula, Gauff. Iga Swiatek is eighth after the Canadian Open. Sinner is not the only withdrawal: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and João Fonseca are out on the men’s side, lucky losers taking the spots. Victoria Mboko is the seeded woman out so far; Rybakina is racing a leg injury. The 32 seeds in each draw lock in on draw day.
Alcaraz in singles is a separate file. Mixed is done; the wrist held for two matches in a day. Three days to Sunday. The draw will show which half defends the title. For now New York has closed Serena’s mixed chapter and opened two weeks of singles.