US Open: This year's men's tournament is up for grabs with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic leading way

Is this years US Open mens singles tournament up for grabs? Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic joined by a host of players in the mix; watch the US Open from August 30 live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky.

By Raz Mirza at Flushing Meadows, New York This year's US Open men's singles tournament appears to be up for grabs with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic joined by a whole host of players in the mix. While world No 1 Jannik Sinner is injured, Alcaraz returns to competitive tennis at ‌Flushing Meadows, ending a more than four-month absence caused ‌by a wrist injury.

Although, some say 39-year-old Djokovic has a golden opportunity to finally land a record 25th Grand Slam singles title. The Serb continues his attempts to break a tie with Margaret Court atop the all-time list and with Sinner's absence and Alcaraz's lingering injury concerns, this could be Djokovic's record-breaking major moment.

Alcaraz completes the career Grand Slam (youngest ever) and then gets injured and does not play the next two majors Sinner rolls through the clay season but then loses in the second round at the French Open and then eases to his second Wimbledon title Zverev finally grabs a Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros after losing three finals in the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz along the way US Open: Alcaraz returns from a long injury lay-off but now Sinner is out with a knee injury.

In the 11 Grand Slams since his last trophy, Djokovic has lost nine completed matches and withdrawn or retired twice. All but two of those defeats came to Sinner [four] or Alcaraz [three]. Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, former player turned coach Ryan Harrison said: "Being fourth seed is really, really important because if he gets in that five through eight range in the seedings, he could potentially have to play three players in the top four in the world all the way through.

Stream the US Open contract-free with NOW US Open scores, results and upcoming matches Get Sky Sports app for news, video and more US Open videos, highlights and best shots "If you're five through eight and you end up drawing in the same quarter as a player who is ranked ahead of you, you have to play somebody in the quarter-finals who is ranked ahead of you, in the semi-finals ranked ahead of you, and in the final ranked ahead of you and that's a really tough task.

All eyes will be pointed towards Alcaraz but the omens are against the 23-year-old Spaniard, as no man since 2008 has defended the US Open and no man has ever won it without playing in the Canada or Cincinnati Opens. Alcaraz now incredibly heads into the US Open as No 3 in the ATP Race to Turin despite being unable to compete in a number of top events.

That leaves French Open champion Zverev as the top seed for the US Open. The German, who also reached his first Wimbledon final before losing to Sinner, heads into Flushing Meadows with just two wins since Wimbledon. He suffered early loss in Canada and a fourth-round defeat to Tommy Paul in Cincinnati but Sinner's absence will give Zverev, who becomes the first player in ATP ranking history to be the top seed at a major without previously reaching the top of the ATP throne, the incentive to rediscover his best hard-court tennis in a nick of time.

The Frenchman is arguably the form player after reaching the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open and then marching into his first Masters 1000 final at the Cincinnati Open. Fils, who was unable to play during the latter part of the 2025 season because of a back problem, returned to the tour in February, and he is performing better with his huge serve, forehand and backhand vital to his success.