The US Open 2026 begins on 30 August with a star-studded opening day featuring Jessica Pegula, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic all entering their campaigns at Flushing Meadows. A strong British presence will also feature prominently, with nine players from the United Kingdom competing in the main draw—the largest contingent since 1981—including Cameron Norrie, Toby Samuel, Jacob Fearnley and Katie Boulter.
According to the official tournament schedule, Pegula was set to face Elena-Gabriela Ruse on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the opening match, with Medvedev following against Hugo Gaston in the day session. The night session on the main court featured Djokovic taking on Mariano Navone, with the 39-year-old Serbian chasing a 25th Grand Slam title in a men's draw significantly weakened by Jannik Sinner's absence from the field.
In the women's singles, 19th seed Jasmine Paolini opened against Veronika Erjavec, while 27th seed Barbora Krejcikova faced Kamilla Rakhimova. Both matches began at 4pm BST on 30 August. Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, was seeking to break a month-long winless streak with a strong opening performance. The Czech holds a 1-0 head-to-head record against Rakhimova, having defeated the Uzbek player 6-4, 6-2 in the third round at this same tournament in 2021.
How did the early matches unfold?
Krejcikova and Rakhimova began their contest on Court 17 with the Czech player taking control through aggressive groundstroke play. After Rakhimova seized an early 1-0 lead following a net error from Krejcikova, the seeded player responded with powerful serving and heavy hitting to level the match at 1-1, demonstrating the form she hoped would mark the beginning of her return to winning ways.
Paolini and Erjavec traded service breaks to reach 1-1 in their opening set. Paolini's best previous result at the US Open came in 2024 when she reached the fourth round, the same year she finished as runner-up at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Erjavec, ranked 106th in the world, was enjoying a career-best year after climbing to a peak ranking of 84 in May. The 26-year-old Slovene had won only one match across all Grand Slam tournaments and was making her main draw debut at Flushing Meadows.
What was the broader day-one schedule?
According to the day's order of play, the programme extended well beyond the featured matches on Arthur Ashe. Cameron Norrie was scheduled to compete against Luca Van Assche on Court 5 as part of the British contingent's opening-day involvement. Additional first-round contests included Tommy Paul facing Coleman Wong, Leylah Fernandez taking on Shuai Zhang, and Jiri Lehecka meeting Pablo Carreno Busta.
The women's singles first round continued throughout 30 August with multiple seeded players entering their campaigns. The tournament's singles main draw ran from 30 August through 13 September 2026, according to the official competition schedule.
Why was Djokovic's path particularly significant?
The 39-year-old Djokovic faced a notably open men's field following Sinner's withdrawal from the draw. His section of the bracket could later feature Tomas Etcheverry, Brandon Nakashima or Andrey Rublev, underlining a challenging route ahead despite the absence of the world's top-ranked player. Djokovic's pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam title represented one of the tournament's central narratives heading into the opening day.
What happens next?
Following the day session matches, Djokovic was scheduled to face Navone in the night session on Arthur Ashe, with Venus Williams also competing against Sofia Kenin on the marquee court. Women's singles first-round play continued on 30 August with additional matches involving other seeded competitors, while the tournament's full singles draw progressed through 13 September 2026.
Key Facts:
- Nine British players competed in the main draw on 30 August, the largest contingent since 1981
- Djokovic pursued his 25th Grand Slam title in a men's field without top-ranked Jannik Sinner
- Krejcikova sought to end a month-long winless streak against Rakhimova, whom she had previously defeated 6-4, 6-2 at the US Open in 2021
- Paolini's best US Open result came in 2024 when she reached the fourth round
- The singles main draw ran from 30 August to 13 September 2026
