The U.S. Open brings something new to the 2025 Billie Jean King National Tennis Center: three days of the first round.
As the game introduces Sunday’s start, the distribution of the opening matches is even more distant. World No. 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and 2021 wild card champion Emma Raducanu are all held on Sunday, August 24.
This is what to watch on three performance venues and on the ground.
Start time: Noon, 9 a.m. ET
television: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ABC
Ben Sheldon (6) vs. Ignacio Buse (Q)
Compared to his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto, Sheldon hopes to go from winning a wave below the Grand Slam to winning the championship. He opened the Arthur Ashe Stadium on the first and last day of the Peruvian qualifiers Buse. He will play the semi-finals in a Challenger event in Cancun, Mexico, where he beat the world No. 60 Daniel Altmaier on the hard field. For the first Grand Slam main draw game, sixth place is a completely different proposition, but the Buse will not be lost.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) and Rebeka Masarova
Women ranked No. 1 in the world and came to New York with a strange position. She felt comfortable on her head and went deeper in almost every game she played in 2025…but Igaświątek tried to overhaul her and she didn’t win a Grand Slam this year. She won 50 of 50 of 50 games in 60 games this year, with 19 of 18 tiebreaks showing how her serving time is regularly vulnerable.
Masarova brought the Belarusian to one of the tiebreaks at the Berlin Open, but hopes that Sabalenka will continue to defend his title.
Novak Djokovic (7) with learner Tien
The classic of the first round of genres – an elite veteran, against a promising family hope – but as much as possible. Tien, 19, beat four top 10 players this year, with his parabolic spoiler and forehand and delicate ball control mastery. Djokovic, 38, all competed in the Grand Slam and loved to attract young players, especially players like Tien, who thrived on crafts and patterns and entered a soft skill battle that he was confident he would win. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has not competed since Wimbledon and needs to play quickly against the Americans.
Jessica Pegula (4) and Maya Sharif
Pegula made her confidence to enter the U.S. Open after defending her Canadian Open title in Toronto and reaching the finals of the Cincinnati Open. She is still in the quarterfinals six times and is still looking for her first semifinals in the major.
She competed this year in last year’s final, where he crossed that Grand Slam bridge on her home’s professional Grand Slam bridge, but she also had less confidence. Pegula has been indifferent to several events and admitted in her pre-match press conference that she is not completely confident about her game. Sherif has played 2-7 against the top ten players in her career, but as Pegula defends so many ranking points in front of her home crowd, she will seek to test her confidence.
Jessica Pegula entered the last major of the year, scoring to defend the finals. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Louis Armstrong
Start time: 11 a.m. ET, 9 a.m.
television: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ABC
Emma Raducanu vs. Ena Shibahara (Q)
Raducanu's 2021 championship didn't work in New York: She hasn't won the U.S. Open since then. But she was in the race with the new coach of former lieutenant Francisco Roig of Rafael Nadal, one of her best performances since the famous run. Shibahara is an expert who redoubles his efforts and, given that, he is unlikely to cause trouble for her.
Emilio Nava (WC) vs. Taylor Fritz (4)
In the nationwide conflict, the two people have very different career stages of Rock Talent. Nava is a wildcard, but he won the USTA Challenge, which won the recent tough performance. Fritz, last year's batting finalist and a name on the long list, hopes to end the grand slam drought for the United States on the men's side. Fritz may have too much service speed and a lot of returns, but Nava will challenge the top players in a while in the early stages of the Grand Slam stage.
Destanee Aiava (Q) and Jasmine Paolini (7)
Paulini was defeated by Świątek in the Cincinnati Open final, supporting some of the WTA 1000 matches in the two major finals last year, but did not do well in the profession. She began her campaign against the Australian AIAVA, which eliminated the rising German talent Ella Seidel for qualifying.
Daniil Medvedev (13) and Benjamin Bonzi
Medvedev is in a bad position. The prototype's large contender, who made Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lose some zippers on his serve and lost some punches in his counterattack, evolved his benchmark game. Bonzi beat him at Wimbledon, and Medvedev is here to watch him firmly to the point whether it would be frustrating.
Taylor Fritz is tasked with winning his first Grand Slam title in his home. (Kirsty Wrigglesworth / Associated Press)
Stand
Start time: 11 a.m. ET, 9 a.m.
television: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ABC
Jakub Menšík (16) vs. Nicolás Jarry
Menšík is a tough task, a talented teenager who suffered close defeats in his early professional suitcase, mainly in the match he might give up. Looking forward to this serve and first shot hit rate as Jarry can compete against the Czech toe, and both players can compete at the rally. If Menšík loses concentration, the Chileans will be ready to take advantage of it.
Alexandra Eala and Clara Tauson (14)
Eala's first year on the tour made her a star in the Philippines, and she upsets some of the top players. Tauson is a powerful batsman, but not always comfortable when maneuvering left and right, and may find the left corner craftsmanship and use angle tricky.
Emma Navarro (10) and King Yafan
If Pegula is in a tough moment, Navarro is in a very difficult moment. She lost her first set 6-0 since she beat Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro at the French Open, and the Americans (usually a microcosm of confident, aggressive consistency) have been looking for form. She should win the opener here, but she defends the semifinals and is still figuring out how to be much smaller than the number next to the name 12 months ago.
Brandon Nakashima (30) vs. Jesper de Jong (Q)
Nakajima is one of the most stable players among American men: an underrated live game, impeccable game resilience. De Jong is a liar who wins and watches Flair, who will hope to destroy the rhythm of Nakajima and try to untie him from the baseline. Nakajima will do his best to get the Dutch to sleep with a tennis metronome.
Around the ground
Start time: 11 a.m. ET, 9 a.m.
television: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ABC
Rebecca Marino (Q) and Leila Fernandez (31)
Second Stadium 17: All Canada Conflict and Fernandez's recent test of hard training forms, she won the WTA 500 title at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.
Stefan Dostanic (WC) vs. Eliot Spizzirri (WC)
The second time in Game 11: Wild Card Conflict across the United States. Spizzirri beat Rising phenomenon João Fonseca in last year's qualifying match, while Dostanic won the College Tennis Court Wildcard Playoff to have his first major draw in New York. It's big for both of them.
Janice Tjen (Q) and Veronika Kudermetova (24)
First held in the 13th House: Victoria Mboko and Loïs Boisson's Canadian and French Opens look like Cinderella stories, but they are built on the ruthless victory in the minor leagues of tennis. The next player in that never forget school is Indonesian Tjen, who plays tennis at Pepperdine. The frustrated alarm is starting.
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(Top photo by Emma Raducanu: Getty image)