The stars of the tennis tour head to Flushing Meadows for the fourth and final grand slam of the season - the 2026 US Open. Can Aryna Sabalenka defend her title and overcome a handful of grand slam near misses? Our tennis guru, Ace, is here with his US Open outright preview and best bets for the tournament.
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2026 US Open Preview - Women's Draw
The women’s game is as competitive as it has been in some time, with many of the top players capable of winning the US Open tournament on their day. Let’s look at each of the quarters and see if we can find some outright bets that are appealing.
Quarter 1
The defending champion Aryna Sabalenka headlines the draw as the number one seed, but her lead is not as big as it once was. She has certainly had her fair share of stumbles over the last couple of months and it feels as though there perhaps isn’t the fear for opponents across the net compared to previous years. It should be a reasonably comfortable first two rounds, however things get pretty tricky quickly from there. A potential 3rd round vs Barbora Krejcikova, 4th round vs Diana Shnaider, and quarter final against Marta Kostyuk or Wimbledon champ Linda Noskova could all lead to some headaches based on lead-in form, with the likes of Taylor Townsend and Clara Tauson probably the most dangerous of the unseeded players in this section. At the current price, I think there are better uses of your money than relying on Sabalenka to navigate a handful of awkward match-ups in her current form. Is she most likely to progress? Yes. Is she the best value in the section? No. My eyes are actually drawn to Kostyuk at the $7 mark.
Marta Kostyuk Quarter 1
$7.00 (0.5u)
Quarter 2
This section may not have the pure firepower of the first quarter, but there are some interesting names and potential match-ups in this section. I have consistently backed Jessica Pegula in some capacity in recent grand slams, but she just always finds one better. For what it is worth, her draw, if she produces a level somewhere near her best, is pretty reasonable early on, however there are some players capable of causing some trouble. Names at the top of that list are Karolina Muchova, a couple of months removed from a Wimbledon final appearance. There are also the likes of Elina Svitolina, Sorana Cirstea, Anna Kalinskaya and Leylah Fernandez, all capable of very solid tennis on their day. You could make a case for any of those listed, but it is a ‘no-bet’ at this stage.
Quarter 2 - No Bet
Quarter 3
Now this quarter looks to be a fun one. Mirra Andreeva at the top, Coco Gauff at the bottom, and Amanda Anisimova, Alex Eala, Iva Jovic, Sara Bejlek, Jelena Ostapenko and many more in between. You could make a case that each player I’ve mentioned there has a high enough ceiling to genuinely challenge or beat everyone in this quarter. For pure grit and determination, I’d say that Eala appeals, though she can be outgunned at times by the more powerful. At their absolute best, I rate Anisimova’s first-strike tennis fractionally above both Gauff and Andreeva on these courts. I don’t quite think the books have assessed that the same way, so I think I will look to make a small play on Anisimova in this section, though I am most wary of Coco.
Amanda Anisimova Quarter 3
$5.00 (0.75 units)
Quarter 4
With some question marks surrounding the fitness of number 2 seed Elena Rybakina, there are some significant opportunities for the rest of the fourth quarter. The most obvious player, and one that will be tough to beat, is Iga Swiatek. That being said, I do feel she actually has one of the tougher first round match-ups of anyone in this section in Wang Xiyu, so she will need to be right on her game from the outset. I think the Round 1 match may be trickier than Rounds 2 and 3, so I may watch and wait on that first round before considering a bet. I just cannot back Rybakina with the injury question mark coming in here. It was quite innocuous and she reported it as being a worsening of something she had been managing for a while, so it is tough to see that having improved in such a short space of time. A player that could take advantage? Naomi Osaka. Her draw is looking pretty solid, and she has shown she can match it with the top couple of players in recent head to heads, so I will be keeping an eye on her. Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari can give a good account of themselves, as can Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic, but I’d need to see a bit more from them coming into this one to entertain them winning 5 (or 7) matches in New York.
Naomi Osaka Quarter 4
$3.50 (0.5u)
Summary
Happy to bet around Sabalenka in Quarter 1 and avoid Quarter 2 when it comes to betting the top half pre-tournament. I’d consider Kostyuk for a bet, though beating Sabalenka is a tough outcome, so I will keep that staking small (and potentially add a potential ML bet if the market has fallen back in love with the world number 1). In the bottom half, it’s Anisimova as the quarter winner for me (JUST, from Coco Gauff), with the only pre-tournament preference in Quarter 4 being Naomi Osaka. If Rybakina has overcome her injury issues and progresses to the semis, then well done to her, but with Swiatek having a tricky round 1 match, my preference pre-tournament lies with Osaka.
Also Backing: Kostyuk/Osaka - $81 (0.1u) at Ladbrokes
Name the Finalists - Kostyuk/Anisimova
$101 (0.1u)
2026 US Open Preview - Men's Draw
No Jannik Sinner in New York means there is a massive opportunity for several men’s tennis players to win their first Grand Slam title. Who can make a deep run at the US Open? Check out Ace’s outright previews and best bets below.
Quarter 1
Normally this section would revolve around Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, however this time we have Alexander Zverev on the top line of the draw (and the second line of betting). Zverev has seen a decent amount of market support off the back of Sinner’s withdrawal and Alcaraz returning from a long-term injury, so there is not a great deal of meat on the bone when it comes to his prices to either win the quarter or win the tournament. To be confidently stepping into some of those prices, I’d have wanted to see a better, more consistent patch of form this side of Wimbledon. Should he make a deep run? Probably, yes. Is it worth backing him at the current prices? Probably not. There are certainly some interesting names in this section of the draw, headlined by Rafael Jodar and Lorenzo Musetti. Both can beat anyone on their day, but are also still capable of misfiring for periods of time. In previous years I’d have been able to lean into Casper Ruud and suggest this is a pretty big opportunity for the Norwegian, but form and fitness issues have me looking elsewhere. At $11, Alex De Minaur is the one whose price interests me most. His consistency and ability to make opponents play extra balls should translate well to best-of-five tennis, and his section of the draw gives him a realistic path to the latter stages. I’d rather back him to win a quarter than an outright.
Alex De Minaur Quarter 1
$11 (0.5u)
Quarter 2
Now this feels as though it is about as good an opportunity as Taylor Fritz is going to receive in terms of taking home his maiden grand slam title on home soil. It is a pretty generous pocket of the draw with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli the top seeds in this section. Perhaps a case could also be made for Jakub Mensik, though I do have my doubts over his ability to maintain a level near his best across the longer format. A great spot for Fritz to take advantage, though Learner Tien would be another who would be a tricky quarter final opponent. If I am mainly concerned by a potential quarter final match-up with Tien or FAA, I am happy to jump on the Fritz train here.
Taylor Fritz Quarter 2
$2.90 (0.75u)
Quarter 3
Here is another massive opportunity. Rewind a few years and a quarter of the draw featuring Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic would have been an absolute nightmare. Heading into the US Open this year though, these names no longer carry anywhere near the same fear factor for opponents. Although I do not have a desire to be wildly against Medvedev in any capacity, he certainly does make it hard to make a case for him at the same time. If there was one tournament where I would contemplate backing him to regain some of his past form and energy on court, it would be here in New York, where he has thrived on being the villain at times. Djokovic feels like a player to avoid early days – he should be too good for many, but is the juice worth the squeeze when you consider the unknowns in his level and fitness over the longer best-of-5 format. To me, the best value in this section lies with the Americans in Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima, given their position in the draw and their early opposition. Of the two, Tiafoe gets the betting nod at the current prices. His upside in New York is pretty well established from past performances, and at $8 I think there is enough room in the price to take the chance.
Frances Tiafoe Quarter 3
$8.00 (0.5u)
Quarter 4
Are we going to see a level that is anywhere near the best of Carlos Alcaraz? I just don’t feel compelled to confidently step into any sort of number around the current odds for the world number two. Coming to a Grand Slam after an extending injury break, and then rattling off seven best-of-5 set matches in a row, seems like something I am keen to bet against. Ben Shelton is the first name that stands out in this quarter as a player who is capable of beating Alcaraz if he plays his very best, but in the same breath I can sit here and comfortably say that I would be in no way surprised to see Shelton lose in round 1 to Tallon Griekspoor. Of the rest, I am sitting and waiting for Jiri Lehecka to take his game to the next level and start to be a genuine challenger at the top of the ATP, and this draw looks decent, albeit with Carreno Busta across the net in Round 1. The other key name to keep an eye on is Arthur Fils, though he also has a tricky Round 1, taking on Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rather than take the short prices around Alcaraz, Fils or Shelton, I’m happy to split my interest between Lehecka and Tsitsipas at much bigger odds.
Also Backing: Stefanos Tsitsipas Quarter 4 - $41 (0.25u) at Ladbrokes
Jiri Lehecka Quarter 4
$23 (0.5u)
Summary
So much opportunity, but getting on the right side of this draw may require taking a few chances. With doubts surrounding several of the obvious favourites, I’m happy to go wider in the quarter-winner markets rather than force a short-priced tournament outright. Fritz is the strongest of the plays for me, while De Minaur and Tiafoe appeal at bigger prices and Lehecka and Tsitsipas give us two genuine outsiders to oppose Alcaraz in Quarter 4.
