2025 US Open Men’s Preview: It’s Sinner and Alcaraz Then Everyone Else, Including Novak Djokovic

The top two seeds, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, have combined to win the last seven Grand Slams, but Joker is seeking a record 25th major win.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz (R) greets Italy's Jannik Sinner at the net after winning their 2022 U.S. Open quarter-final match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Sept. 8, 2022. Corey Sipkin/AFP via Getty Images

The 2025 U.S. Open begins Sunday in New York with the Men’s Final set for Sep. 7, and it would be shocking if Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, if not both, are not playing for the title.

The two have combined to win the last seven Grand Slam tournaments and are the top two seeds for this year’s U.S. Open, but they aren’t the only ones who could make a run for the crown or excite the NYC locals. Here are the top men’s players to look out for.

All eyes will be on Sinner, the defending U.S. Open champion and top seed, as he goes for his fourth Grand Slam over his last five appearances. The hard courts of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens are his specialty—the Italian owns an 80 percent win rate on hard courts, compared with 73 percent on grass or clay courts. What he doesn’t have, however, is the upper hand over Alcaraz, the 2-seed. Even though Sinner defeated the Spaniard for the Wimbledon title this year, Alcaraz exacted revenge, somewhat, by knocking off Sinner last week at the Cincinnati Open. All-time, Sinner has won just five of 14 matches (36 percent) versus his rival, with Alcaraz winning six of their last seven meetings.

While Sinner loses the head-to-head battle with Alcaraz, the former has consistency over the talented Spaniard. Alcaraz won this event for his first Grand Slam in 2022 and made the semis in 2023, but he shockingly suffered a straight-sets defeat to an unseeded player in the second round at the 2024 U.S. Open. He’s put that behind him, though, with a stellar 2025 season in which he’s won 30 of his last 31 matches.

Outside of the ultimate glory of winning another major championship, Alcaraz has another incentive at the U.S. Open. If Alcaraz has a better—or equal—finish than Sinner at this tournament, then Alcaraz will win the year-end ATP No. 1 ranking for the second time in his career. His first was in 2022.

No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev was a 2020 U.S. Open finalist, while 4-seed Taylor Fritz made last year’s final, and it’s the latter who has more intriguing prospects this year. Fritz, an American, already has two titles this year, including defeating Zverev in the BOSS Open Final in June. If there’s one player seeded better than him that Fritz wants to face in New York, it’s Zverev. He has eight wins over the German, while Fritz owns a combined 1-7 record against Sinner and Alcaraz.

American Ben Shelton is the 6-seed but ranks fourth on the ATP Tour in winnings this year, thanks to an ATP 1000 win earlier this month. Shelton’s big personality and big serve endear him to the New York crowd, but he’s looking to provide more than just excitement this year. He’s yet to reach a Grand Slam final but enters the U.S. Open 2025 with a career-best No. 6 world ranking.

Drawing the lucky No. 7 seed is the biggest name in tennis—Novak Djokovic. He’s seeking to become the first player, male or female, to ever win 25 majors, and that’s a statement we’ve now made at each of the last eight majors. That’s because Joker’s last win came at the 2023 U.S. Open, and he’s made only one Grand Slam final appearance since.

Djokovic has just a pair of tournament titles of any kind since the start of 2024, and he’s looking every bit like the 38-year-old that he is. He has also uncharacteristically struggled on hard courts, going 12-5 this year for a 70.6 percent win rate. That’s his lowest win percentage on this surface since 2006, when he went 17-9 (65.4 percent).

Joker will begin his quest for tennis immortality versus Learner Tien, a 19-year-old American who deserves mention. Earlier this year, Tien became the youngest American in 35 years to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open, and he’s seeking his first U.S. Open victory after three straight first round exits.

Speaking of Americans, a U.S.-born man hasn’t won the U.S. Open in 22 years since Andy Roddick did it. Outside of Fritz and Shelton, Tommy Paul (14-seed) and Frances Tiafoe (17-seed) are long shots to end that drought. At this year’s French Open, Paul became the first American in 23 years to reach the quarters, so he knows a thing or two about ending droughts, while Tiafoe has made two semis and one quarterfinal over his last three U.S. Open appearances.

Another player of note is Daniil Medvedev, the No. 13 seed who is one of five U.S. Open champions in this year’s field. His victory came in 2021, and he has two other final appearances at this major.

Seeded one spot better is Casper Ruud, who has three finals over his 26-start Grand Slam career but is still searching for his first win. Ruud took part in the new mixed doubles format for the U.S. Open, which was contested the week before the singles competition begins. Ruud and partner Iga Swiatek advanced to the final before falling to Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. It was Vavassori’s second straight U.S. Open mixed doubles title, but he won’t add a singles trophy to his collection as he didn’t qualify for the draw.

The 2025 U.S. Open is the 145th edition of the tournament.