US Open 2026: Top four men's singles title contenders

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will return to retain his title in New York

The men’s draw at US Open 2026 looks unusual up top this year, with Jannik Sinner missing through injury and Alexander Zverev stepping in as the No. 1 seed instead.

Carlos Alcaraz sits right behind him, making his return after a long injury layoff, alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Arthur Fils rounding out the top ten.

After Djokovic’s round one shocker, the field opens up for the rest of the players. Like Roland Garros 2026, this edition of the US Open too promises to be an unpredictable Championship. On that note, let’s take a look at our top four contenders for the title.

Men’s singles title contenders at US Open 2026

4. Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev arrives in New York with confidence, having finally ended his long wait for a major title at Roland Garros before backing it up with a run to the Wimbledon final. As the top seed following Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal, he has also landed the more forgiving half of the draw with no Alcaraz or Djokovic.

If his serve holds up and his forehand finds the aggressive range it did in Paris, there is a clear road to the final on paper.

Despite this, Zverev has looked a step off his best on hard courts since Wimbledon, losing his opener in Canada to Tallon Griekspoor and then falling in the Cincinnati quarter-finals to Tommy Paul. His US Open history is modest, having last made the semi-finals back in 2021.

3. Arthur Fils

Few players arrive in New York with more momentum than Arthur Fils. He won his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati, having fully shaken off the back injury that wiped out nearly eight months of his 2025 season.

Since bringing Goran Ivanisevic onto his team, he has reached the quarter-finals or better in eight of his last thirteen events. He carries no ranking points to defend since he missed last year’s tournament entirely, which means he has nothing to lose.

2. Taylor Fritz

The hometown favourite reached the final here in 2024 and still possesses one of the tour’s biggest serves alongside a reliably heavy groundstroke game. This is unquestionably Taylor Fritz’s best remaining shot at a maiden major, arriving in a draw stripped of both Sinner and Alcaraz for long stretches, and yet the American hasn’t fully capitalised on that opportunity all season.

A knee tendinitis issue wiped out his entire clay swing; first-round exits followed in Geneva, Roland Garros and Montreal, and while Wimbledon brought a respectable quarter-final, Cincinnati ended in a three-set QF loss to Nakashima. To finally break through, Fritz needs his serve firing and more importantly, needs to stay injury-free.

1. Carlos Alcaraz

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz returns to competitive tennis for the first time since April, having missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon entirely among other events. That makes his first three rounds the most important storyline of his tournament, starting with a first-round test against Roman Safiullin.

The Spaniard also looked visibly rusty on serve during last week’s mixed doubles run with Serena Williams. Should he survive the first week, he should have then shaken off the rust, and found his rhythm by then, thereby completely tilting the narrative for the competition’s leading contender in his favor.

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