NEW YORK — The road to the U.S. Open main draw begins Monday in Queens, as hundreds of players take the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for qualifying competition and the opening stages of an expanded mixed-doubles event.
The Flushing Meadows grounds are scheduled to open to the public at 10 a.m., with men’s and women’s singles qualifying and mixed-doubles qualifying beginning at 11 a.m. The competition marks the first full day of qualifying during U.S. Open Fan Week, ahead of the main singles draw, which begins Aug. 30. (US Open)
For New York, the start of qualifying signals the beginning of one of the city’s largest annual sporting events, bringing players, fans and international media to Queens for nearly three weeks. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has said more than one million people are expected to attend the tournament and has announced additional subway and Long Island Rail Road service for the event. (MTA)
The qualifying tournament features 128 men and 128 women competing for the final 16 places in each singles main draw, giving established professionals and emerging players an opportunity to earn their way into the season’s final Grand Slam.
Monday also brings qualifying for the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles Championship. Eight teams are competing for two remaining places in the mixed-doubles main draw, with qualifying scheduled on the Grandstand beginning at 11 a.m. The expanded competition moves into its first two main-draw rounds Tuesday, followed by the semifinals and final Wednesday. (US Open)
The mixed-doubles event has taken on added prominence this year after tournament organizers assembled a field featuring some of tennis’s most recognizable names.
Serena Williams is scheduled to make her first competitive appearance at Flushing Meadows since 2022 after receiving a mixed-doubles wildcard alongside Carlos Alcaraz. Williams, 44, returned to competitive tennis this summer after a four-year absence and previously won the U.S. Open mixed-doubles championship in 1998 with Max Mirnyi. (Reuters)
Other announced pairings include Aryna Sabalenka with Novak Djokovic and American stars Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz.
The qualifying action arrives as the U.S. Open enters the tournament with a record prize pool and a reshaped competitive field.
The U.S. Tennis Association announced a total prize purse of $108 million for the 2026 tournament, the largest in tennis history. The men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive $5.5 million, while first-round singles payouts have risen 27 percent to $140,000. (Reuters)
The increase comes after leading players pressed the Grand Slam tournaments for a greater share of tournament revenues. The USTA also established a $2 million Player Support Program for 2026, divided equally between men and women. (Reuters)
The tournament will nevertheless begin without men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who withdrew because of a persistent right knee injury. Sinner’s absence reshapes the men’s draw and places additional attention on defending champion Alcaraz, who is returning after a four-month injury layoff. (Reuters)
Alcaraz, who won his first Grand Slam title in New York in 2022, confirmed last week that he would compete after recovering from a wrist injury that kept him out of several major tournaments during the spring and summer.
The tournament also enters opening week with ticket prices remaining elevated on the secondary market. Reuters reported that the average resale price across U.S. Open sessions stood at $283 late last week, while the lowest available first-round ticket averaged $197, roughly one-third higher than a year earlier. (Reuters)
Before the main draw begins, however, much of the National Tennis Center remains accessible through Fan Week programming.
Monday’s schedule includes open player practices at Arthur Ashe Stadium, qualifying matches across Courts 4 through 17 and the mixed-doubles qualifying competition. The USTA is also offering entertainment and fan activities across the grounds, with entry available through a free Fan Access Pass. (US Open)
The week continues Tuesday with the opening rounds of mixed doubles and an exhibition at Arthur Ashe Stadium featuring Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Federer, a five-time consecutive U.S. Open champion, is returning to New York for the exhibition after last competing at Flushing Meadows in 2019. (US Open)
For the players competing Monday, the focus is considerably more immediate.
Qualifying remains one of the tournament’s most consequential stages for players outside the automatic-entry rankings. Three victories can mean a place alongside the sport’s biggest stars in the main draw, along with the ranking points, prize money and exposure that accompany a Grand Slam appearance.
By the time the first main-draw matches begin Sunday, many of the players arriving in Queens this week will have already seen their U.S. Open end.
For the ones who advance, Monday is where the tournament begins.
