US Open Picks: Tennis Channel Experts Chanda Rubin, Paul Annacone, and more on matches, players to watch

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek
Men’s match you want to see: Jannik Sinner vs. Alexander Bublik, fourth round.
- If Bublik makes it that far, he would be playing solid enough to make that matchup very interesting.
Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. Naomi Osaka, fourth round.
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Jack Draper. He’s short on singles matches post-Wimbledon and he has some tough potential matchups in his path if the 2024 semifinalist wants to make another deep run.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. She’s seeded for the first time at a major coming off her victory in Canada but has a difficult first round against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova.

JON WERTHEIM

Tennis Channel Analyst and 60 Minutes Correspondent

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Aryna Sabalenka
Men’s match you want to see: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner, final
- The more “Sincaraz,” the better. After Roland Garros and Wimbledon, let’s make it a Summer Trifecta.
Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. her pesky serve, all tournament
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Ben Shelton. In Canada, he looked like the best American and the player most ready to win his first major. How will he do with his home major—with Sinner and Alcaraz in the draw?
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. One of the great revelations of 2025, how will the Montréal champion handle the attention and weight of being seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam?

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are each in search of a second US Open title, Alcaraz winning in 2022 while Sabalenka is the defending champion.

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PETE BODO

TENNIS.com writer and author of multiple books on the sport

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Elena Rybakina
Men’s match you want to see: Frances Tiafoe vs. Novak Djokovic, fourth round
Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. Naomi Osaka, fourth round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Ben Shelton. Shelton has been playing well and, perhaps more importantly, has that inner confidence that many players possess. He's in the same half as No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, defending runner-up Taylor Fritz, multiple USO champion Novak Djokovic, France Tiafoe (always an electric match-up), former USO titlist Daniil Medvedev, as well as hard-charging compatriots Alex Michelson, and Brandon Nakashima. It's a massive gut-check.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Mirra Andreeva. Andreeva has had a relatively quiet summer after back-to-back Grand Slam quarterfinals. Sure, she's still just 18 years old. She was upset early in Montreal by McCartney Kessler, and faces another player who will enjoy home court advantage in Alycia Parks, who had a good win over Emma Navarro in the last USO tune-up. Her early rounds look navigable.

STEVE TIGNOR

TENNIS.com writer and author of High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and the Untold Story of Tennis's Fiercest Rivalry

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Novak Djokovic
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Aryna Sabalenka
Men’s match you want to see: Ben Shelton vs. Novak Djokovic, semifinals
Women’s match you want to see: Clara Tauson vs. Alexandra Eala, first round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Ben Shelton. Shelton has had a breakthrough summer, and made himself most exciting U.S. player of the moment. Now he'll play his first major where he'll deal with major expectations, and a potential quarterfinal clash with Carlos Alcaraz.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. The Canadian sensation will make her first appearance since her win in Montreal. She has a tough first-round against Barbora Krejcikova, but is in a section with Emma Navarro, who has been slumping, and Mirra Andreeva, who has been injured.

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PAUL ANNACONE

Tennis Channel Analyst and former coach of Roger Federer

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Taylor Fritz over Jannik Sinner
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Naomi Osaka
Men’s match you want to see: Novak Djokovic vs. Learner Tien, first round
- How will Djokovic fare with no tennis all summer? Plus, this is a huge opportunity for Tien; let’s see if he can manage the moment.
Women’s match you want to see: Venus Williams vs. Karolina Muchova, first round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian teenager is already a big star, but can he get his breakthrough in Flushing Meadows?
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Iva Jovic. The young American is on the rise, and has big-time potential.

BRETT HABER

Tennis Channel Analyst

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Ben Shelton over Jack Draper
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Madison Keys
Men’s match you want to see: Adrian Mannarino vs. Corentin Moutet, second round
- This would be a win for throwback tennis: the craftiest, most nuanced, variety-filled match of the tournament.
Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Anna Kalinskaya, third round
- A rematch of their Cincinnati quarterfinal, Kalinskaya has been building confidence all summer, and has beaten Swiatek before.
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Novak Djokovic. I’m concerned about the sleeve on his arm he wore to throw the first pitch at the Yankees game. He hasn’t played since Wimbledon; could this be his last US Open?
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Emma Navarro. A semifinalist last year, there’s lots of pressure to defend those points and she’s struggled all summer. Can she snap out of it?

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STEPHANIE LIVAUDAIS

Editor and reporter for TENNIS.com

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Alexander Zverev over Carlos Alcaraz
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek
Men’s match you want to see: Jakub Mensik vs. Joao Fonseca, third round
Women’s match you want to see: Madison Keys vs. Petra Kvitova, second round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Andrey Rublev. With coach Marat Safin back in his box, everything seems to be clicking at the right time for Rublev. He has built momentum with a semifinal in Los Cabos, and back-to-back quarterfinals in Toronto and Cincinnati. And at the US Open, he avoided Sinner and Alcaraz in the draw.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Naomi Osaka. The two-time US Open champion seemed to be approaching her big-hitting best in Montreal, where she made her biggest final since returning from maternity leave. If she can put an awkward trophy ceremony behind her, Osaka is poised to make the most of her No. 23 seeding.

DAVID KANE

Editor and reporter for TENNIS.com

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Karen Khachanov
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Coco Gauff over Clara Tauson
Men’s match you want to see: Alexander Bublik vs. Tommy Paul, third round
Women’s match you want to see: Naomi Osaka vs. Daria Kasatkina, third round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Jakub Mensik. The Miami Open champion is playing his first hard-court major title since breaking through on the Masters level; under the radar seeded sixteenth, could the Czech upset an American-heavy section and make his first Grand Slam second week?
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Aryna Sabalenka. The world No. 1 has displayed a level of consistency at odds with her all-or-nothing level of aggression. After three heartbreaking losses at a Grand Slam, this feels like it could be all or nothing in Flushing Meadows.

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JOEL DRUCKER

TENNIS.com writer and author of multiple books on the sport

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Aryna Sabalenka
Men’s match you want to see: Taylor Fritz vs. Novak Djokovic, quarterfinals
Women’s match you want to see: Victoria Mboko vs. Barbora Krejcikova, first round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Daniil Medvedev. As recently as January ’24, Medvedev held a two-sets-to-love lead versus Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final. Since that loss, Medvedev has dropped out of the Top 10 and this year gone only 1-3 at the majors. Though he’s on a path to meet Carlos Alcaraz at the round of 16 in New York this year, I’m hoping Medvedev plays well enough to reach that stage. Or has this man who’s posed so many riddles been significantly solved?
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Karolina Muchova. On her best days, versatile volleyer supreme Muchova plays like the successor to another captivating stylist, Ashleigh Barty. But Muchova’s results are sporadic, including just one win this year at the majors. Is this the result of frequent injuries or some other unknown factor? Seeded 11th at the US Open, Muchova starts off versus Venus Williams.

STEVE WEISSMAN

Tennis Channel Analyst

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek
Men’s match you want to see: Taylor Fritz vs. Novak Djokovic, quarterfinals
Women’s match you want to see: Victoria Mboko vs. Barbora Krejcikova, first round
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Zachary Svajda and Darwin Blanch. Zach came through qualifying without dropping a set, and he’s won 11 of his last 13 matches, winning a title in Newport, Rhode Island. Darwin won his first ATP Tour match last week at 17 years old. Both have winnable first round matches.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. Coming off her biggest title and breakthrough in Montréal, how will the 18-year-old respond under the bright lights of NYC.

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PRAKASH AMRITRAJ

Tennis Channel Analyst

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek
Men’s match you want to see: Frances Tiafoe vs. Novak Djokovic, fourth round
Women’s match you want to see: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Elena Rybakina, fourth round.
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Jack Draper. He was the third best player in the world through Roland Garros but got injured after Paris. I’m excited to see how he plays out this US Open through the rest of the year.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Naomi Osaka. Did she turn a corner making the finals of Montréal? That result could be the catalyst for her to come back into Grand Slam title and Top 10 contention.

JON LEVEY

TENNIS.com gear and instruction expert

Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jack Draper
Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Mirra Andreeva
Men’s match you want to see: Jakub Mnsik vs. Joao Fonseca, third round
Women’s match you want to see: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Elena Rybakina, fourth round.
One men’s player you’re monitoring: Novak Djokovic. Could this be Novak’s last Grand Slam tournament? At the start of the year the notion seemed nearly implausible, but all-timers like Djokovic don’t hang around just to get thumped in the semis. And if he somehow does manage to win his 25th major, it would make a perfect mic drop.
One women’s player you’re monitoring: Emma Navarro. Navarro is coming into the US Open with a 1-5 record in her last six tour matches and has just one win all year against Top 20 opponents. She’s better than both stats and will have to prove it if she has any chance of defending her semifinals points.

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