10 players to watch at the 2025 US Open
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Just days away from the final Grand Slam of the 2025 season – we break down 10 players to keep your eye on during this year’s US Open.
Jack Draper
Could this be Draper’s year at the US Open? The 23-year-old British star heads to New York coming off the back of his best 12 months of his career and as one of the top five players in the world.
Last season, Draper reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, which signalled a breakthrough for the British No.1. He went on to win the title in Vienna, before going on to capture the biggest trophy of his career on US hard courts at Indian Wells earlier this year.
Draper now comes into any Grand Slam event as a serious contender on paper – especially in New York. While injuries have meant that he hasn’t played a competitive match since Wimbledon, he has enjoyed a strong training block at the National Tennis Centre and looked sharp in the mixed doubles event this week.
Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz and world No.1 Jannik Sinner have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in many of the biggest events this year and the Spaniard looks in red-hot form heading to the US Open.
The 2022 champion has a record of 54-6 this season, won six titles including Roland Garros, lifted the Cincinnati Open trophy last week, and has made the final of every event he’s played since April.
With concerns over Sinner after the Italian retired with illness in the Cincinnati final, Alcaraz is arguably the favourite to take home the men’s singles trophy. Alcaraz and Sinner have won the last seven major titles between them – the fourth longest run of any duo in the Open Era.
Emma Raducanu
The 2021 US Open champion returns to New York in arguably some of the best form she’s shown since making her breakthrough at the age of 18.
Raducanu has climbed back up to world No.35 in the WTA rankings after reaching the semi-final in Washington, quarter-final at the HSBC Championships and recording third round runs at Wimbledon, Montreal and Cincinnati.
One of the most encouraging signs has been how she’s approached the big matches. In her last match before the US Open, the British No.1 came within a few points of knocking out world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in a tense three-set battle in Cincinnati.
Iga Swiatek
Over the last few years, fans have become accustomed to seeing Swiatek dominate the women’s game – so when she went a full year without winning a title it came as a shock to the tennis world.
However, in the last few months, the former world No.1 and six-time Grand Slam champion has returned to her imperious best.
Swiatek lost just one set en-route to her first Wimbledon title back in July and recently backed it up by winning the WTA 1000 Cincinnati trophy – marking the 24th WTA Tour title of her career.
The Polish star is serving as well as ever and looks almost unbeatable from the back of the court, so it’s difficult to look past her replicating her 2022 title run.
Cam Norrie
While Norrie’s form has been up and down this season, the former world No.8 has saved his best tennis for the biggest events.
Just two months ago, Norrie reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the second time in his career with impressive wins over the likes of Frances Tiafoe and Roberto Bautista Agut.
A weeks earlier, Norrie also recorded an upset win against Daniil Medvedev en-route to a career-best fourth round run at Roland Garros.
Norrie made the fourth round at the US Open back in 2022 – could this be the year he manages a deep run into the second week?
Victoria Mboko
18-year-old Mboko has been the breakout star of the last few months after a dream run saw her claim a career-first WTA 1000 title at her home event in Montreal.
Her run to the title in Canada saw her defeat four Grand Slam champions in Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka.
At the professional level she has won 53 matches already this season and hasn’t been phased by the big occasion – picking up wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
The young Canadian will be making her main draw debut at the US Open this year where she will be seeded. Will she keep the momentum going in New York?
Ben Shelton
One of the home-favourites to challenge for the title, 22-year-old Shelton has levelled up his game once again this year.
The 2023 US Open semi-finalist has had career-best runs at three of the Grand Slams this season, including another semi-final at the Australian Open and quarter-final at Wimbledon.
Added to that, the world No.6 recently won the best title of his career at the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open – beating Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov along the way.
Sonay Kartal
This year will mark Kartal’s main draw debut at the US Open – earning direct entry after breaking into the world’s top 50.
Kartal closed out the 2024 season by winning her first WTA title in Monastir on hard courts and has enjoyed strong success on the surface in the past across the LTA Performance Competitions Calendar.
In July, Kartal reached the fourth round of a major for the first time at Wimbledon – including a win over former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko – and will be hoping to use that as a building block for more major success.
Elena Rybakina
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina is quietly putting together consistently strong performances on hard courts over recent months but is yet to lift a trophy on the surface this year.
The world No.10 has made the semi-final of her last three WTA events, including the Citi Open in Washington and WTA 1000 tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Last week was particularly impressive from the former world No.3, where she defeated both Australian Open champion Madison Keys and world No.1 Sabalenka in a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Should the upward trend keep going, Rybakina will certainly be amongst the final players battling it out for the title.
Taylor Fritz
Another American star hoping to bring home silverware for the famous stars and stripes will be world No.4 Fritz.
The 27-year-old made his first career Grand Slam final at the US Open last season, defeating Tiafoe in the final over five sets before losing out to Sinner.
Fritz has been consistently strong throughout the year so far. After winning the United Cup with USA, he’s since won titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne, as well as reaching the semi-final at Wimbledon, Toronto and Miami.
