The biggest stage in American tennis just got its headliners. With the 2026 US Open singles entry lists released Tuesday, the New York plot is starting to look very real for TennisDraw predictors who have been waiting for the Flushing Meadows field to lock in.

The top of the draws

World No. 1s Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner sit atop the women's and men's lists, and neither arrival is quiet. Sabalenka is chasing something rare: a third straight US Open singles title, a run last pulled off by Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014. If she gets there again, New York becomes her personal dynasty chapter.

Right behind them are the No. 2s: Elena Rybakina, fresh off her Australian Open triumph, and Alexander Zverev, riding the glow of his 2026 Roland Garros title. That is serious September pedigree packed into the top two lines of each draw.

Alcaraz returns to defend

Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz is listed and ready to hunt a third US Open crown. For months the wrist saga has dominated every bracket conversation. Now the entry list says what fans wanted to see: the Spaniard is in the field. Whether he arrives at full strength is still the question TennisDraw users will argue about until the first ball is struck on Ashe.

On the American side, Jessica Pegula is the highest-ranked home hope on either list at world No. 3, and she knows the late rounds in New York better than most.

Champions everywhere you look

Seventeen former Grand Slam singles champions earned direct entry (11 women, six men), including 10 former US Open winners. Novak Djokovic still anchors that group. Even in a season where he reached an Australian Open final and a Wimbledon semifinal, his 24 majors and four New York titles keep him central to any serious men's outlook.

Home advantage, American depth

The United States leads all nations with 28 direct entries, split evenly 14 and 14 across the women's and men's draws.

The American women are paced by Pegula, No. 4 Coco Gauff, and No. 9 Amanda Anisimova. The American men feature Top 10 names Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz. Recent Flushing Meadows resumes back that depth up: Gauff won it in 2023, while Anisimova (2025), Fritz (2024), and Pegula (2024) have all reached the final in the last few years. Shelton's best New York run remains a 2023 semifinal.

Protected rankings and cutoffs

Eight players (five women, three men) are using special or protected rankings to get in, including Lois Boisson (No. 38), Shang Juncheng (No. 56), Irina-Camelia Begu (No. 82), and Thanasi Kokkinakis (No. 84).

Both entry lists were based on the July 20 rankings. The women's cutoff landed at No. 102 and the men's at No. 101, so the bubble stories are basically written already.

When New York tips off

The 2026 US Open runs Sunday, August 23 through Sunday, September 13, with the singles main draws starting Sunday, August 30. That longer runway also leaves room for Fan Week events that should pack Arthur Ashe before the real scoring begins.

Federer returns to Ashe

Roger Federer is coming back to Arthur Ashe Stadium, not for another main-draw run, but for a night that will sell itself: Roger Federer: An Icon Returns to New York on Tuesday, August 25, at 7 p.m.

The 20-time major champion and five-time US Open winner, set for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2026, last competed at Flushing Meadows in 2019. He remains the only player, man or woman, to win five straight US Open singles titles (2004-08). This exhibition pairs him with longtime rival and 2003 champion Andy Roddick, plus fellow icons and US Open champions Andre Agassi and John McEnroe, with more celebrity cameos promised through the night.

Federer called the US Open one of the most special tournaments of his career and said he has missed the Ashe atmosphere and the New York crowd. Sharing the evening with Roddick, Agassi, and McEnroe, he added, makes the return even more meaningful.

Stars of the Open: the next wave

Fan Week also brings back Stars of the Open presented by Chase for a fourth year, Thursday, August 27, at 6 p.m. on Ashe. The headliners are four of the most watched young names in the game: Alexandra Eala, Joao Fonseca, Iva Jovic, and Learner Tien.

All four are 21 or younger and already carrying highlight-reel resumes. Eala, 21, crashed into the global conversation last season as the highest-ranked Filipino player in WTA history and a Top 30 presence. Fonseca, 19, became the youngest Brazilian ATP champion of the Open Era. Jovic, 18, is the youngest player inside the WTA Top 20 and already the fourth-ranked American woman behind Pegula, Gauff, and Anisimova. Tien, 20, sits at a career-high No. 18 and owns a growing list of "youngest since" milestones, including becoming the youngest man in ATP rankings history to beat a Top 5 player at the Australian Open when he took down Daniil Medvedev in 2025.

Tickets for Stars of the Open start at $30, with a portion benefiting the USTA Foundation and its National Junior Tennis and Learning network. The night is slated for ESPN+ in the United States, with international broadcasters to be announced. As always with exhibitions, the lineup can still shift.

What it means for TennisDraw

Entry lists do not decide champions, but they do decide the pool. Sabalenka's three-peat chase, Alcaraz's return, Djokovic's perpetual threat, and a deep American contingent give the 2026 US Open one of the richest prediction boards of the year. Fan Week gives New York a glossy warm-up. Then, on August 30, the real brackets open.

Save the date, lock your early reads, and get ready for three weeks where every round in New York can rewrite a TennisDraw leaderboard overnight.