Alex Eala has one career main-draw win at the US Open. She’s already a global star

1 September 2026 at 12:00

Alex Eala has become the Philippines’ biggest sporting star since Manny Pacquiao. Now the 21-year-old’s traveling army of fans have descended on Flushing Meadows

The crowd began to swell in Louis Armstrong Stadium a half hour before 2pm. A fair number of fans were probably there to see Taylor Fritz and Terence Atmane practice, but it was the session after theirs that was the headline attraction on the Friday of the US Open’s fan week. The blue, red and white throughout the stands, spotted on bucket hats and posters and basketball jerseys and flags, signaled who these people were here to see.

This has been the year of Alex Eala, the 21-year-old sensation who has taken the tennis world by storm. At No 18, she is the Philippines’ highest-ranked player ever, its biggest sports celebrity since Manny Pacquiao. The country’s president hosted a reception to celebrate her success, and called for a national celebration after she won her first tour-level title this month at the DC Open. Forbes estimates Eala’s off-court earnings for the past year to exceed $5m, plus $1.7m in prize money, and her agent predicts she will be the world’s second-highest-paid female athlete by 2027.

Stefanos Tsitsipas says Nick Kyrgios’s cocaine ban was ‘pretty much expected’

The Guardian

By: Guardian sport and agencies

1 September 2026 at 04:27

Australian tested positive at event in June
Kyrgios and Tsitsipas have clashed in the past

Stefanos Tsitsipas says he is not surprised that Nick Kyrgios was suspended from tennis for taking cocaine.

“Pretty much expected, to be honest,” Tsitsipas said. “I am surprised it came so late, though.”

‘Pain-free’ Alcaraz brushes aside qualifier in US Open return after four months out

The Guardian

By: Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows

1 September 2026 at 01:35

Spaniard beats Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Alcaraz has not played since April with wrist injury

As Carlos Alcaraz edged closer to the conclusion of his first singles set in more than four and a half months, like so many times in his career instinct took over. Up 5-4, 30-15 in set one, Alcaraz swept forward to the net behind a precise wide serve and, when his opponent Roman Safiullin responded with a dipping backhand return directly to his feet, Alcaraz delicately pushed a half-volley over the net for a winner.

It was a gorgeous shot, a perfect example of the creativity and feel trademarked by Alcaraz that has been missed throughout his extended injury layoff. That touch of genius was followed, predictably, by a wide smile, a quick hold and a comprehensive victory as the Spaniard returned to competition with a stellar 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against Safiullin.

Aryna Sabalenka puts rough spell aside to open US Open title defence with victory

The Guardian

By: Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows

31 August 2026 at 22:36

Reigning singles champion beats Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-4
Men’s 10th seed Arthur Fils beaten by Stefanos Tsitsipas

Aryna Sabalenka said she is determined to look ahead, rather than dwell on a difficult past few months, after beginning her US Open title defence with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Camila Osorio.

“The good thing for me is not looking back no matter what, if it’s good or bad, because I feel a good result can also stop you from performing well because you’re basically focusing on the past,” Sabalenka said. “I never look back. If I win the tournament or lose the tournament, today is a new day, and I have to stay in the moment.”

US Open 2026: Alcaraz wins in straight sets on return while Fearnley and Sabalenka also progress – live

The Guardian

By: Taha Hashim (now) and Luke McLaughlin (for a bit)

1 September 2026 at 00:15

Ailing Djokovic goes out | Williams loses after 2am start
You can email Taha and follow us on TikTok and Bluesky

Sabalenka eases through on her serve, advancing to the net to secure her first game of the tournament with a forehand volley. It’s 1-1 in the opening set against Osorio.

Sabalenka and Osorio are underway on Arthur Ashe, with the Colombian serving. She records two double-faults before Sabalenka seizes upon the second serve, whipping a blistering forehand to make it deuce. But the defending champion finds the net and the stratosphere, too, as Osorio holds to go 1-0 up.

Novak Djokovic knocked out of U.S. Open in the 1st round

PBS News Hour - The Latest

By: Brian Mahoney · Associated Press

31 August 2026 at 17:00

Djokovic was 19-0 in the U.S. Open first round and hadn't lost his opening match in any major since the 2006 Australian Open.

Venus Williams bows out after 2am following latest start in US Open history

The Guardian

By: Bryan Armen Graham at Flushing Meadows

31 August 2026 at 11:27

Kenin wins 6-2, 7-6 (6) in late-night contest
Williams loses 15th straight tour-level match
First-round clash finally begins at 12.13am

Sunday had become Monday by the time Venus Williams finally emerged beneath the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, her entrance pushed deep into the night after Novak Djokovic’s bruising defeat by Argentina’s Mariano Navone went the five-set distance. The first ball was struck at 12.13am, the latest start to a match in US Open history, yet several thousand spectators remained to watch a player who has been part of this tournament for as long as the building itself.

At 46 years old, ranked 611th in the world and making her record-extending 26th US Open singles appearance, Williams has grown accustomed to making history simply by showing up. Even by those standards this latest installment was, as she would later describe it, “completely insane”.

Ailing Novak Djokovic falls in US Open first round for earliest grand slam exit in 20 years

The Guardian

By: Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows

31 August 2026 at 07:43

Mariano Navone wins 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Djokovic vomits numerous times and endures cramps

The first night session of the US Open this year was approaching the three-hour mark when Novak Djokovic walked briskly to the corner of the vast Arthur Ashe Stadium court, bent down and vomited the contents of his stomach straight into the towel bin.

This was neither the first nor the last time that Djokovic threw up during an excruciating four hours and 36 minutes of suffering, and his miserable night ended around midnight with the 24-time grand slam champion in tears as he was defeated 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 by Mariano Navone in the first round.

US Open tennis 2026: Pegula, Boulter and Medvedev advance while Norrie exits on day one – as it happened

The Guardian

By: Graham Searles · Stephen Flynn and Yara El-Shaboury

31 August 2026 at 02:47

Jessica Pegula, the American third seed, began her campaign at Flushing Meadows with a straight-sets win

Krejcikova gets in a muddle after squandering a 40-0 lead on serve. Deuce. She fights back though. Wins the game with a lovely serve down the T. All square at 2-2.

Paolini delivers a dominant effort on serve to change ends at 3-2 up.

Hospitality boom and $100 chicken nuggets: how the US Open became obscenely expensive

The Guardian

By: Bryan Armen Graham at Flushing Meadows

30 August 2026 at 15:14

Record crowds, premium seats and an unchecked resale market are transforming the self-styled people’s slam – and leaving ordinary fans fighting to get through the gates

It takes a truly exceptional affordability crisis to put Bill Ackman and Zohran Mamdani on the same side of the barricade. Yet this month the billionaire hedge fund manager and New York’s democratic socialist mayor found common cause over an unlikely grievance: the cost of getting into the US Open.

Ackman took objection to the cost of a grounds pass listed for $363. Mamdani responded to the broader uproar by securing 1,000 tickets for New York residents at $100 apiece, prompting more than 336,000 people to apply for them. Somewhere between the two sits the uneasy economics of the modern US Open, where a $65 ticket with no guaranteed seat on any court can fetch more than five times that amount on the tournament’s resale marketplace.

Tennis’s Lost Shot

NYT > Top Stories

By: Adam B. Kushner

30 August 2026 at 14:51

As the U.S. Open kicks off, we’re exploring a tennis technique that has quietly gone extinct.

Who Will Rule the 2026 U.S. Open?

NYT > Top Stories

By: Natalie Kitroeff · Alex Barron · Tina Antolini · Lena Richards · Wendy Dorr · Rowan Niemisto · Dahlia Haddad · Dan Powell and Marion Lozano

30 August 2026 at 13:00

The players, the rivalries and the dramas to follow at this year’s tournament.

Is the U.S. Open More Valuable to New York Than the Knicks?

NYT > Top Stories

By: David Waldstein

30 August 2026 at 10:00

It’s complicated. But the answer is: Maybe.

The U.S. Open is playing its part, after the Knicks’ N.B.A. championship and World Cup matches, in a particularly sporty summer around New York.

Novak Djokovic feels ‘as best as I can be’ before tilt at 25th grand slam title in New York

The Guardian

By: Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows

30 August 2026 at 01:58

Serb hopes to take advantage of wide-open men’s draw
Elena Rybakina has eyes on No 1 world ranking

Novak Djokovic said he was as prepared as he could be for the US Open as he attempts to take advantage of the wide-open men’s draw and battle for a potential 25th grand slam title.

Djokovic arrived in New York having competed only once after his semi-final run at Wimbledon, losing in his opening match of the Cincinnati Open to Thiago Agustín Tirante while struggling with the humidity. However, he now sees the silver lining in that defeat, which he believes gave him the time to make sure he was in optimal shape for the US Open. “I don’t like early losses anywhere, to be honest, but it gave me time to be prepared for US Open in a most adequate way,” he said. “I had almost a few weeks, actually two weeks, to really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what’s coming up.

Keep off the grass: British tennis players complain of marijuana smell at US Open

The Guardian

By: Press Association

29 August 2026 at 12:57

Aroma wafts over courts from nearby Corona Park
Katie Boulter: ‘You smell it a lot. I’m not a huge fan’

Britain’s US Open hopefuls thought they had put the grass behind them when Wimbledon finished, but the smell of it is all around Flushing Meadows and they are not happy about it.

Marijuana is legal for adults in New York and while smoking is not allowed on site, the aroma of weed wafts over some outside courts from the nearby Corona Park.

Shaky Sabalenka and wide-open men’s draw set stage for US Open drama

The Guardian

By: Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows

28 August 2026 at 19:39

Defending champion arrives at Flushing Meadows in poor form and with a host of challengers looking to usurp her

Under any normal circumstances Aryna Sabalenka would not have lost her third-round match at the Cincinnati Open last week. For all of her unforced errors, indecisiveness and the obvious tension surrounding her tennis, the world No 1 had led the unheralded Sára Bejlek 5-1 in the first set tie-break and then 4-1 in set two. She gave herself more than enough chances to close out a comfortable win.

Instead Sabalenka returns to New York trying to find a path through her greatest crisis since she first reached No 1 in the rankings more than three years ago. That straight-sets loss in Cincinnati extended a mediocre 17-7 record dating back to the beginning of April during which she has not reached a final. She has just one more chance to turn her fortunes around as she tries to claim her first grand slam title of the year at the US Open, the tournament she has won on the last two occasions.

The hollowing out of Tennis.com is a warning for American sports journalism

The Guardian

By: Tim Joyce

28 August 2026 at 12:00

The site once paired news and scores with distinctive voices. Its overhaul under Sinclair Media is the latest sign that serious tennis writing in the US is becoming endangered

A few weeks ago, as I often do, I went to the Tennis.com site to get an update about a match and to check out the commentary from my fellow tennis journalists. I was taken aback when, instead of the usual colorful graphics and info, I was greeted with a rudimentary-looking homepage that displayed only scores and rankings.

At first I thought it was a glitch of some sort. But sadly, no. As it turns out, Tennis.com, originally the online site of Tennis Magazine, is under a complete overhaul and will no longer be the home of esteemed writers such as Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo, robbing fans of unique and personal takes on the sport. It appears the longest running American tennis-specific publication is no longer alive in any form.

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