To get you prepared for this year’s US Open, here are five things to keep an eye on as the tennis world heads to New York.

Arthur Fery aiming to continue Grand Slam run

Arthur Fery’s semi-final run at Wimbledon was one of the stories of the 2026 season so far – but the question remains: how will he follow it up?

Fery’s incredible run has seen him rise up the rankings to the point where he can now play a full ATP Tour calendar, including direct entry into the Grand Slams.

The 24-year-old made a positive start to life post-Wimbledon, winning his first ATP Masters 1000 match in Cincinnati before losing in a close battle to world No.8 Alex de Minaur.

Fery now has the confidence to know he can go deep in these Grand Slam tournaments and that he has the game to challenge the very best in the world.

GB Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup & World Team Cup stars in action

The US Open comes just before three big events for the Great Britain teams.

From 19-20 September, the Lexus Great Britain Davis Cup team takes on Ecuador in the Qualifiers second round. In the same week, Great Britain’s World Team Cup squads will compete in Orlando. Then it’s over to Shenzhen the following week as the Billie Jean King Cup team play in the Finals, starting against Czechia.

With the squads now announced, there will be plenty of interest in the British stars' performances at the US Open. Billie Jean King Cup star Katie Boulter will hope to pull a few big results together and build some form in New York, while Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage feature in singles qualifying.

Fery and Cam Norrie will challenge in the US Open singles from a Davis Cup perspective, while world No.1 Henry Patten and Lloyd Glasspool will be among the favourites in the men’s and mixed doubles with their respective partners.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are the team to beat in men’s wheelchair doubles, with Hewett aiming for a fifth US Open singles crown. Andy Lapthorne is a two-time singles and four-time quad doubles champion at Flushing Meadows and will be another GB star to watch, as well as Greg Slade and Lucy Shuker.

Race for WTA world No.1 heats up

Life at the top of the WTA rankings has become very interesting over recent weeks, with the gap between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina getting smaller and smaller.

Sabalenka will go into the US Open having held the top spot in the rankings for 98 weeks and will top the 100 mark during the tournament, but Rybakina is now hot on her heels.

The current gap between them before the end of the Cincinnati Open is 354 points, but crucially, Sabalenka is defending points as last year’s champion at the US Open. Meanwhile, Rybakina only made the fourth round – a career-best at Flushing Meadows.

The Kazakh won’t have a much better opportunity to wrestle the No.1 title away from Sabalenka. Safe to say, it’s all up for grabs in the final Grand Slam of the season.

Jack Draper leading Brits in qualifying

Former world No.4 and 2024 US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper has been struggling with injuries over the last year and a half, which has meant he’s fallen out of the top 100.

He will have to come through qualifying if he wants to reach the US Open main draw this year. It’s the first time he’ll play Grand Slam qualifying since Wimbledon 2019.

However, he’s joined by a strong British contingent. In men’s singles qualifying, stars of the summer Jacob Fearnley, Jack Pinnington Jones, Toby Samuel and Billy Harris are set to feature.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Francesca Jones – who recently won back-to-back WTA 125 titles – is a player to watch, with Dart, Katie Swan, Heather Watson and Burrage also in contention.

Qualifying starts from Monday 24 August.

New challengers in the men’s singles

With both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz dealing with injury setbacks at the moment – could the door open for new challengers in the men’s singles draw?

While they could still play, there are questions over whether they will be able to hit the peak of their powers. World No.3 Alexander Zverev appears to be the most likely to benefit and has reached finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in Alcaraz’s absence – lifting his first Grand Slam in Paris.

However, of all the majors, the US Open has been known to throw up surprises over the years with the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Juan Martin Del Potro and more winning their only Grand Slam title in New York.

Could this be time for National Bank Open champion Ben Shelton to step to the fore on his best surface? Will Felix Auger-Alliasime make his first Grand Slam final? Or could Taylor Fritz go one further than his 2023 final?

There are a number of emerging challengers as well – including Spain’s Rafael Jodar, Americans Learner Tien and Brandon Nakashima, and Czech star Jakub Mensik, who are all in strong form.