Ranking the top contenders at the 2026 US Open - ESPN

When 2026 began in the tennis world, it looked like we were destined for another year of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner destroying all comers on the men's side, while Aryna Sabalenka rolled up a large points advantage on the women's side. With the US Open starting Sunday, however, here's what the year's given us thus far:

One Alcaraz-Sinner match. It was a straight-set win for Sinner in Monte Carlo in April. Soon after, Alcaraz was sidelined by a wrist injury. In his absence, Sinner has mostly devoured the competition in front of him, but he collapsed physically in an out-of-nowhere loss in the second round of the French Open, and he hasn't played since winning his second straight Wimbledon title due to a knee injury.

One day after Alcaraz announced he would be returning to action at the US Open, Sinner announced he wouldn't be able to play. That assures that all of 2026 will have gone by without a single Sincaraz match at a Slam.

A four-way race for No. 1 on the women's side. Sabalenka won 26 of her first 27 matches of 2026. But in her past seven events, she's gone just 14-7 and reached only one semifinal. Now Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff all have a chance to pass her for the No. 1 ranking in New York.

This year's eight WTA 1000 events have produced 10 different finalists and seven different champions, and with no Sinner and with Alcaraz trying to shake off months of rust — and with the No. 2 and No. 3 favorites, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, a combined 2-3 in the summer hard-court swing — both the men's and women's draws could turn out to be wide open.

Absences are defining the run-up to the final Slam of 2026: No Sinner, no Serena Williams, no Joao Fonseca (abdominal injury), no Jack Draper