A Reshuffled US Open Begins: Sinner Out, Zverev Up, and Sabalenka Chasing History

The last Grand Slam of the tennis year has arrived, and it has done so with a twist. As play gets under way at Flushing Meadows, the shape of the men's tournament looks rather different from how many had expected it to only a couple of weeks ago.

The final major of the season

The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the calendar, the traditional late-summer showpiece in New York. This year's edition runs from 23 August through to 13 September, with the main singles draw having got under way on 30 August.

For players it is both an ending and a proving ground. It closes out the run of majors and offers one last chance to shape a season's legacy, which is why the early-round upsets and withdrawals carry so much weight in how the fortnight unfolds.

The men's draw is turned upside down

The biggest talking point arrived before the tennis did. World number one Jannik Sinner is reported to have withdrawn on 21 August with a right knee injury, taking one of the sport's dominant figures out of the equation entirely.

That absence had immediate knock-on effects. With Sinner out of the field, Alexander Zverev is reported to have moved up to take the top seeding, inheriting the position and the expectations that come attached to being the man to beat on paper.

The defending champion, meanwhile, sits just below him. Carlos Alcaraz returns to defend the men's title he won here, but he does so as the second seed rather than the first, an unusual position for a reigning champion to occupy.

The reshuffle changes the emotional texture of the draw. When the nominal favourite is missing, the bracket opens up, and a clutch of contenders who might otherwise have been overshadowed suddenly find themselves with a clearer path than they had dared to plan for.

Sabalenka and the hunt for a third

The women's story is one of dominance rather than disruption. Aryna Sabalenka arrives as the two-time defending champion and the number one seed, the clear woman to beat as the tournament begins in earnest.

Her goal is a rare one. Sabalenka is chasing a third straight title at this event, the kind of sustained mastery of a single major that only a small number of players manage across the long history of the sport.

A three-peat would also carry a psychological edge. Winning the same Grand Slam three years in a row demands not just talent but the ability to handle the weight of expectation, and to hold form across two exhausting weeks against a field desperate to end the run.

Two weeks that will shape the season

With the finals not scheduled until the middle of September, there is a long way still to travel. The early rounds will thin the field and expose form, and the true contours of both draws will only become clear once the seeds face their first real tests.

For now the stage is set and the questions are open. Can the reshaped men's field throw up a surprise, and can Sabalenka carry her aura all the way to a third crown, are the threads that will run through the fortnight ahead.