US Open Round-Up: What’s Next for Tennis?

The 2026 US Open finished on Sunday night at Flushing Meadows, and it closed a season that has been anything but predictable.

Alexander Zverev and Elena Rybakina go home with the singles titles. Both beat the player most people expected to beat them. Here is how New York played out, and where tennis goes from here.

Zverev completes the job

Zverev beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in the men’s final to take his second major title of the season, having won the French Open earlier in the year and reached the final at Wimbledon.

For a player who spent most of a decade being described as the best without a Grand Slam, 2026 has rewritten the story. He arrived in New York as the top seed for the first time at a major and left with the trophy.

The final itself was controlled rather than dramatic. Shelton took the third set and gave the Arthur Ashe crowd something to shout about, but Zverev broke early in the fourth and never looked like giving it back.

Shelton’s run, and America’s wait goes on

Shelton’s fortnight was the story of the men’s draw.

His quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz finished at 3:33am, the latest finish in US Open history, and it took a fifth set tiebreak to separate them. He then came through against Frances Tiafoe to reach a first major final.

In doing so he became the first African-American man to reach any Grand Slam final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996, and the first at the US Open since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

The wider American wait continues. Andy Roddick, in 2003, remains the last American man to win a major singles title.

A draw without the usual names

The men’s tournament was missing several of the people you would normally expect to see in the second week.

World number one Jannik Sinner withdrew, the first time a reigning world number one has not played the US Open. Alcaraz was playing his first singles event in over four months after a wrist injury, and went out in that Shelton quarter-final.

Novak Djokovic lost in the first round to Mariano Navone, only the third opening round defeat of his career at a major and his first in New York. It was also the first time since the 2003 French Open that none of Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal reached the second round of a Grand Slam.

Whatever you call that, the generational shift is no longer approaching. It has happened.

Rybakina beats Sabalenka again

Elena Rybakina beat defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the women’s final to win her first US Open title.

It is her third major overall, after Wimbledon in 2022, and her second of 2026 following the Australian Open in January. She beat Sabalenka in both finals.

Sabalenka has now lost five major finals, including the last two Australian Opens. She remains the most consistent player on the tour and the hardest to get past over two weeks, which makes the record harder to explain rather than easier.

Elsewhere in the draw, Zheng Qinwen came back from 0-5 down in a set in consecutive matches, and all four women’s quarter-finals went to three sets.

The tournament also paid out a record $108 million in total player compensation, up 21 per cent on 2025, with each singles champion taking $5.5 million.

British interest ended early

It was a difficult fortnight for British players in singles.

Emma Raducanu, the 2021 champion, withdrew with a stress fracture in her right leg. Jack Draper also missed the tournament through injury, having been due to play qualifying.

Cameron Norrie went in as British number one. Arthur Fery, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this summer, made a US Open main draw for the first time and lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the first round. Jacob Fearnley came through qualifying and went out in the second round to Tomas Martin Etcheverry after a three hour and twenty minute match.

British doubles remains the healthier story, with several players reaching the third round in the men’s event.

What’s next for tennis

The tour does not stop. It moves.

The Asian swing comes first, taking in Tokyo, Beijing and the Shanghai Masters through late September and October. That is where the race for the year-end rankings usually gets decided.

Before that, the Laver Cup returns to London. Team Europe and Team World meet at The O2 from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September, the ninth edition and London’s second after the 2022 event that ended Roger Federer’s career.

Team World arrive as defending champions, having won in San Francisco last year and taken three of the last four titles. Yannick Noah’s Team Europe includes Zverev, fresh from New York, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Flavio Cobolli, Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar and Casper Ruud. Andre Agassi’s Team World includes Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Bublik and Learner Tien.

The format is worth understanding before you go. It is not a knockout draw. It runs as one long contest across three days, with wins worth one point on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday, and the first team to 13 points takes it. That scoring is why the Sunday session carries the most weight and why the result can swing late.

After that comes the indoor season, the ATP and WTA Finals in November, and then the reset in Melbourne in January.