Five biggest storylines entering 2025 U.S. Open

The final tennis major of the year — the 2025 U.S. Open — begins on Monday, Aug. 18. 

If World No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz prevail, they would have shared the last eight Grand Slams between them, continuing a trend seen in men's tennis during the dominance of the Big 3 (Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer) for nearly two decades. 

In contrast, the women's title is seemingly up for grabs. The North American major hasn't seen a back-to-back champion since Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014, which creates a sense of parity that hints at another first-time winner getting their moment. 

The Joker's Flushing Meadows swan song?

Djokovic sounded like a man who had played his last French Open and Wimbledon after being routed by Sinner in consecutive semifinals. The Serbian even admitted he could no longer match the level of his younger peers — and rightfully so. Father Time has caught up with him, too. Injuries affected his performance in the first three majors of the year and forced him to withdraw from the entire hard-court swing leading to Flushing Meadows. 

If Djokovic doesn't win the U.S. Open, he would go two full years without a major — the first time since 2009-10. Tennis fans are not accustomed to seeing him limp out of slams over and over again. All signs indicate he's very close to the finish line.

Will Victoria Mboko announce her arrival?

Teenage sensation Victoria Mboko shocked the world by capturing the recent Canadian Open, a prestigious WTA-1000 event, just a few months after qualifying for her first major at Roland-Garros. The 18-year-old began the year ranked 333rd but has risen to 24th in quick time, announcing herself as a legitimate force in women's tennis. 

The Canadian's meteoric rise means she'll no longer have to go through a gauntlet of qualifying matches to make the U.S. Open main draw. Instead, she walks into the final major of the year with expectations, with many already crowning her as a future grand-slam winner. The event gives her a chance to showcase her talents to a larger fanbase.

Is Sinner set to go 4/4 in hard-court majors?

The Italian is 3-for-3 on hard court majors since he captured the 2024 Australian Open title, putting together a run that rivals Federer's in the mid-2000s and Djokovic's between 2013 and 2016. If he can go 4/4 with back-to-back U.S. Open titles, he'll join Federer as the only player in the Open Era to win four consecutive hard-court majors. 

Additionally, he would match Alcaraz's tally of five Grand Slam titles, further fueling a rivalry that appears set to dominate men's tennis for the foreseeable future. Last year, he dropped only two sets en route to his first title at Flushing Meadows. Nobody would blink an eye if he produced a similarly dominant two-week run. 

Will the Tigress learn to use her claws again?

If you didn't check the final score, you'd think Aryna Sabalenka won all three majors this year, except she didn't. 

At the Australian Open final, she lost to Madison Keys after dominating the first set. At the French Open final, she faltered again, this time against Coco Gauff after winning the first set. And at Wimbledon, she choked again, in the semifinal, against Amanda Anisimova, a huge underdog who failed to qualify for the main draw the year before. 

The string of high-stakes losses has led some to give her the worst label in sports: a choker. Fair or not, anyone who watched those three matches would find it hard to disagree. Can the reigning U.S. Open champion regain her killer instinct?

One step closer to ending the 22-year drought?

Last year, Taylor Fritz became the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2006 to reach a U.S. Open final. Although Sinner routed him, Fritz offered something that American men's tennis was missing for years: hope. 

The second-best American men's player in the world, Ben Shelton, has only added to the optimism this year, with his maiden WTA-1000 title, and following it up with another deep run at Cincinnati. Will Fritz or Shelton end the 22-year drought of a men's singles champion at the home major? The latter is convinced that either he or Fritz will get the job done in the not-so-distant future. 

"I have no doubt one of us is going to get it at some point," Shelton said of the elusive major. "Who knows who it is? You guys just got to wait and see."