Alcaraz to open US Open title defence against Safiullin as Williams sisters split singles draws
The US Tennis Association’s draw for the 2026 US Open places defending champion Carlos Alcaraz against Roman Safiullin, while Venus Williams is set to face Sofia Kenin after a final wild card allocation.
The draws for the 2026 US Open were released on Thursday, setting the stage for main draw play to commence on Sunday. The tournament’s governing body, the US Tennis Association, has finalised the opening round matchups, highlighting a significant return for defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and a notable wildcard entry for Venus Williams.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, is scheduled to face Roman Safiullin in the first round. This will be the Spaniard’s first singles match since April, following a right wrist injury that forced him to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon. His return to singles competition comes after a mixed doubles appearance with Serena Williams, where he appeared to need time to regain his competitive edge.
Safiullin presents a specific challenge for the defending champion, having upset Alcaraz at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris in 2023. Although Alcaraz avenged that loss at the Paris Olympics the following year, Safiullin also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this year, defeating Andrey Rublev and Joao Fonseca before losing to Novak Djokovic.
On the women’s side, the draw features a potential narrative of what might have been. Venus Williams, aged 46, received a wild card to enter the singles draw. The US Tennis Association initially held a spot that could have been allocated to her sister, Serena Williams, a six-time US Open champion returning to tennis for the first time since 2022.
However, the 44-year-old Serena Williams opted to compete only in doubles, missing a potential first-round meeting with her sister. Consequently, the association awarded the final wild card to American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion. The random draw has since paired Williams and Kenin for an opening round contest.
The seeding for the tournament also reflects recent Grand Slam performances, with Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion, named as the No. 1 seed in New York. The institutional decisions regarding wildcard allocations and seeding have shaped the initial competitive landscape for the final Grand Slam of the season.
