The U.S. Open draw ceremony was held on Thursday afternoon at Flushing Meadows and main-draw action gets underway on Sunday.
Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion, top seed, and title favorite according to the oddsmakers. However, the Belarusian is well off her best level at the moment. In fact, she has lost prior to the quarterfinals of her last three tournaments and has not reached a final since winning the Miami Open in March. Elena Rybakina is in fine form and can clinch the No. 1 ranking with a semifinal appearance in New York, but she is a question mark after sustaining an ankle injury in Cincinnati. As such, the title on the WTA side appears to be relatively up for grabs.
Here are my best bets on the women’s side at the 2026 U.S. Open.
Coco Gauff (+500)
As a top-four seed (No. 4 to be exact), Gauff was always going to have a favorable draw in New York City. And that is, in fact, the case. She would not run into Iga Swiatek until the semifinals and Sabalenka until the final. Of course, her draw might not even matter. Gauff really should be favored to beat anyone on any day right now. The 22-year-old American is without question the best player in the world from the back of the court at the moment, so she simply has to minimize her double-faults. That’s easier said than done, of course, but Gauff did a good job of it en route to the Cincinnati title. She also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the WTA Toronto 1000. The 2023 U.S. Open champ returns to NYC with a ton of confidence.
Check out odds on tennis and other sporting events like La Liga.
Elina Svitolina (+4000)
Svitolina also has a good draw in Jessica Pegula’s section. As well as Pegula is playing, it is better to be in her quarter than some of the alternatives. The 31-year-old Ukrainian would not meet Sabalenka until the semis and either Gauff or Swiatek until the championship match. Svitolina is certainly capable of capitalizing, too, because she absolutely loves the big stage. The world No. 9 has reached at least the quarterfinals of a whopping seven majors dating back to 2023 at Roland Garros, including the semis on two occasions. She also advanced to the last four of the U.S. Open in 2019.
Marta Kostyuk (+2000)
Kostyuk is another relative longshot who is worth a long, hard look as a potential champion pick. The 24-year-old Ukrainian is an incredible 27-4 in her last 31 matches heading into this fortnight, a record that dates back to the start of the clay-court swing. During this stretch her only losses are to the eventual French Open winner (Mirra Andreeva), the eventual Wimbledon winner (Linda Noskova), the eventual Toronto winner (Swiatek), and the eventual Cincinnati winner (Gauff). Yes, in Kostyuk’s last six tournaments she has either lifted the trophy or lost to the champion.
Check out the full U.S. Open women’s singles draw at the tournament website
who ya got?
The title on WTA side is almost always up for grabs. At this year’s US Open it’s up for grabs for both, men and women.
Excuse the off topic, but Aussies have difficulty keeping a straight face over a place named Flushing Meadows. Every year we laugh when we hear it. It just sounds to us like a green meadow with a lot of public conveniences in it (or maybe a meadow used as a biological filter for blackwater). But it’s also fair to say that we have fun place names in Australia. We have an Innaloo and an Upper Swan (and an associated joke about where you’d rather live — loo is Aussie slang for toilet).
My favourite Aussie place name is Lower Crackpot, in Tasmania. Also there’s Lower King and Bayonet Head, which is especially amusing read from the road sign like an instruction.
Will have to visit Lower Crackpot one day…..but in Flushing Meadows, it’s Coco Time!!!!!
So happy to see Andreescu get bounced out of qualifying. Very obnoxious person. A product of her own demise.