US Open Opens Without Sinner — and With the Williams Sisters Back
The season's final major begins Sunday in New York with the world No. 1 out injured, Carlos Alcaraz defending after a four-month layoff, and Serena and Venus Williams reunited in the doubles draw.
The season's last Grand Slam gets under way in New York on Sunday, and it starts with a hole at the top of the men's draw: world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is out. According to Al Jazeera, Sinner withdrew after failing to recover from the right knee injury that has sidelined him since he won Wimbledon.
A wide-open men's draw
Sinner's absence hands the No. 1 seed to Alexander Zverev, still chasing a first major title. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is seeded second — and comes in with his own question mark, returning from a roughly four-month layoff with a wrist injury. Per Yahoo Sports, Alcaraz opens against Roman Safiullin, with Novak Djokovic drawn into his half. Home hopes ride on Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, both still seeking a maiden Slam.
Sabalenka begins another defense
On the women's side, Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed and the defending champion, opening against Camila Osorio. Elena Rybakina is seeded second, with Jessica Pegula third and 2023 champion Coco Gauff fourth, starting against Zeynep Sönmez.
The Williams sisters, together again
The story of Fan Week, though, was the doubles draw: Serena and Venus Williams accepted a wild card to play women's doubles together, ESPN reports — putting one of the sport's most storied partnerships back on court at the tournament where their careers began.
The longest Open ever
This is the longest US Open in history — 22 days in all, counting Fan Week — with singles first rounds running Sunday through Tuesday and the finals on September 12 and 13. The purse is a record $108 million, with $5.5 million to each singles champion.