{"id":59770,"date":"2026-08-29T14:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/59770\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T14:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:37:20","slug":"with-sinner-out-alcaraz-just-back-and-sabalenka-struggling-the-us-open-feels-truly-open-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/59770\/","title":{"rendered":"With Sinner out, Alcaraz just back and Sabalenka struggling, the US Open feels truly open again"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> made last year’s U.S. Open<\/a> feel like two weeks of killing time until the inevitable.<\/p>\n

They had separated themselves from everyone else in men’s tennis while meeting in the French Open and Wimbledon finals. It seemed a foregone conclusion they would make it three in a row, which is exactly what happened.<\/p>\n

With the No. 1-ranked Sinner sidelined, Alcaraz only returning now to defend his title after missing four months and Novak Djokovic<\/a> perhaps finally showing his age, the U.S. Open<\/a> once again feels, well, open.<\/p>\n

Just don’t confuse that with meaning easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same conversation,\u201d American player Frances Tiafoe<\/a> said. \u201cStill got to beat seven guys however way you slice it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka’s summer swoon threatens her place at the top<\/p>\n

The women’s side has its own questions, with two-time defending U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon and both hard-court tournaments she played since, putting her hold on the No. 1 ranking in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

The top spot in the rankings could be in reach for multiple women and so is the trophy at the final major tournament of the year, with No. 3 Jessica Pegula<\/a> saying \u201cthere\u2019s not one or two super dominant players where you feel like they have to lose in order for you to have a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me like maybe more open in a way, just because, I don\u2019t know, there\u2019s more chances,\u201d added Pegula, who lost to Sabalenka in the 2024 final and last year’s semifinals.<\/p>\n

Play begins Sunday, with Pegula in Arthur Ashe Stadium’s opening match and Djokovic leading off the night session before Venus Williams<\/a>, at 46, faces Sofia Kenin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Injuries have given other players an opportunity<\/p>\n

Alcaraz gets one more day to prepare. He has been sidelined since April with a right wrist injury, deciding last week he was ready to return at the tournament where he has won two of his seven Grand Slam titles.<\/p>\n

The most recent was at the Australian Open, but he went out not long after. Alexander Zverev<\/a> won the French Open for his first major title, lost to Sinner in the Wimbledon final, then became the No. 1 seed in Flushing Meadows when Sinner determined the knee injury that has kept him out since that victory wasn’t fully healed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a couple of months now where it\u2019s been pretty similar: a lot of uncertainty, some of the top players, they\u2019re kind of injured or they\u2019re not playing. This is a little bit of the same, so we have seen lot of different players stepping up and a lot of different opportunities being up for grabs,” said Alex de Minaur<\/a>, the No. 6 seed from Australia.<\/p>\n

Daniil Medvedev<\/a>, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, pointed at players such as Zverev and Arthur Fils<\/a>, who beat Tiafoe for the Cincinnati Open title before coming to New York, as players who know there’s an opportunity they don’t want to waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor them, they\u2019re probably thinking about it, not in a bad way, but they\u2019re like, we have a better chance without Jannik and maybe Carlos not 100% yet,\u201d the No. 7-seeded Medvedev said.<\/p>\n

Djokovic exited the Cincinnati tournament in his first match and afterward mentioned an unspecified health problem that bothers him in the heat. That could make it difficult for the 24-time Grand Slam singles champion to make another lengthy run in New York at 39.<\/p>\n

American men are still trying to end a Grand Slam drought that dates to Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. Ben Shelton<\/a> won in Montreal before Tiafoe’s runner-up finish in Cincinnati, and Taylor Fritz<\/a> lost to Sinner in the 2024 final in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say this is a golden opportunity,\u201d ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe said. \u201cObviously if Alcaraz comes back and gets through a few matches, looks good, he\u2019ll quickly become the favorite. I mean, he\u2019s the favorite right now, but he\u2019d quickly become a bigger favorite. There\u2019s no doubt the fact he hasn\u2019t played since the spring, with Sinner out, this is a monster opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elena Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, Pegula and No. 4 Coco Gauff<\/a> are all in pursuit of the No. 1 ranking. Sabalenka could, depending on other results, lose it even if she becomes the first player to win three straight U.S. Open titles since Serena Williams<\/a> from 2012-14.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try to do my very best, and we\u2019ll see what happens with the end of this tournament,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n

She may be vulnerable, but Alcaraz perhaps even more so. In 2025, it seemed only one man could beat him. This time, the list could be lengthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, he\u2019s always a guy we\u2019re going to look at, but a lot of guys believe they can not only get him but win the event,\u201d Tiafoe said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an exciting U.S. Open.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full tennis coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made last year’s U.S. Open feel like two weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[362,243,256,217,283,419,271,185,1021,22572,1550,219,183,139,122,1915,221,747,282],"class_list":["post-59770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-daniil-medvedev","tag-alex-de-minaur","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-arthur-fils","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-atp","tag-ben-shelton","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-coco-gauff","tag-daniil-medvedev","tag-event_preview","tag-frances-tiafoe","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-jessica-pegula","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-serena-williams","tag-sofia-kenin","tag-taylor-fritz","tag-venus-williams","tag-wta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}