The US Open will return in full force this August with a full complement of the game's top players, with the men's and women's singles fields officially announced on Wednesday.
Each of the ATP's Top 103 men have entered into New York singles event, with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic heading the field. The Serb's hunt for the calendar-year Grand Slam—and possibly the Golden Slam—will be among the major storylines at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Djokovic is seeking to become the third man in history to win the calendar Slam, after Rod Laver (1969) and Don Budge (1938), and the second player overall to complete the Golden Slam, after Steffi Graf (1988).
The No. 3-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 9 Roger Federer will be seeking history of their own this summer, while trying to keep Djokovic from it. The Big Three enter New York level with a record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, with singular status on offer should one of them claim the US Open crown.
Update (Aug. 15): Federer announced he will undergo knee surgery and miss the 2021 US Open.
Defending champion and world No. 6 Dominic Thiem will have something to say about that, as will former US Open champs Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. A slew of young challengers—all of whom have been knocking on the door of Grand Slam glory—rounds out the Top 10 entries: No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, a two-time major finalist; No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was one set away from knocking off Djokovic in the 2021 Roland Garros final; No. 7 Andrey Rublev, a four-time major quarterfinalist and second on the ATP in wins this season; No. 8 Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist; and No. 10 Denis Shapovalov, who reached the Wimbledon semis.
Andy Murray, the 2012 US Open champion, is currently the first player out on the alternate list. He would gain direct entry into the main draw should any of the initial field withdraw. Lucas Pouille, a 2016 US Open quarterfinalist and ranked No. 103, was the last man to receive direct entry. Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber was the only men's player to enter via a protected ranking (No. 96).
Update (Aug. 9): Murray has moved into the main draw following the withdrawal of Stan Wawrinka.
A total of 35 nations are represented in the men's entry list, with the United States supplying 10 Americans: No. 32 Reilly Opelka (Palm Coast, Fla.), No. 37 Taylor Fritz (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), No. 39 John Isner (Greensboro, N.C./Dallas), No. 47 Sebastian Korda (Bradenton, Fla.), No. 53 Frances Tiafoe (Hyattsville, Md.), No. 54 Tommy Paul (Greenville, N.C.) No. 64 Marcos Giron (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), No. 70 Sam Querrey (Las Vegas), No. 82 Tennys Sandgren (Gallatin, Tenn.) and No. 83 Steve Johnson (Orange, Calif.).
Sixteen additional players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, with the remaining eight spots to be filled by USTA wild cards to complete the field of 128.
The July 19 edition of the ATP rankings was used to determine the US Open main-draw entry list. Seeds will be determined and announced closer to the start of the event.
The 2021 US Open will mark the culmination of the US Open Series, the North American summer season of nine WTA and ATP Tour events that began last week in Newport, R.I. The US Open main draw will be played Aug. 30-Sept.12 at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Tickets are available through USOpen.org.
