US Open 2026 qualifying Day 1 begins Monday, August 24, with the first round taking place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. Play starts at 11:00 AM ET on the outside courts, with 128 men and 128 women each chasing one of just 16 qualifying spots per gender in the main draw.
Frenchman Arthur Gea enters as the top seed in the men’s qualifying draw. World No. 97 Polina Kudermetova is the top seed on the women’s side. Both will look to win three straight matches this week to reach the main draw for the first time.
Qualifying runs four days total, Monday, August 24 through Thursday, August 27. Each draw has 128 players and three rounds. The first round alone accounts for 64 men’s matches and 64 women’s matches, 128 combined. They are split across Monday and Tuesday since there are too many matches to complete in a single day. The second round and final round are each played in a single day, with Thursday’s final round producing the 32 total qualifiers who advance to the main draw.
Monday’s order of play covers the first half of the men’s and women’s first-round matches across the tournament’s outside courts. The official draw sheet and live scores are published on the US Open’s own scores page. This section will be updated with confirmed Day 1 results as matches conclude throughout the day.
On-demand replays are available on ESPN+ throughout the tournament.
The USTA raised qualifying payouts by roughly 16% this year as part of a record $108 million total prize pool, up 20% from 2025.
Even players who lose in the first round of qualifying now earn more than ever before at the US Open, part of a broader push by the USTA to support lower-ranked competitors.
Making the main draw through qualifying has produced some of the tournament’s most memorable runs in Grand Slam history. Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp qualified into the 2021 US Open and reached the quarterfinals, the first qualifier to do so since Gilles Müller in 2008. Every player competing this week is chasing that same long-shot breakthrough.
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US Open 2026 qualifying tournament is set to run through Thursday, August 27, with participants vying for entry into the last Grand Slam main draw of the year. Following several days of tough qualifying action, 16 men and 16 women will secure places in the singles main draws. The way will be paved for two weeks of outstanding tennis in New York.
US Open 2026 main draw kicks off Sunday, August 30, when the big names will grace the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in their pursuit of the final Grand Slam of the season. Fans will be treated to spectacular first round showdowns, favorites, rising stars and upsets during the first week. US Open 2026 will culminate with the men’s singles final on Sunday, September 13, and the women’s singles title match on Saturday, September 12.
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