Demon’s tough draw and Tiley’s $150 million US Open splash

Alex de Minaur faces a potentially career-defining fortnight in New York as younger rivals emerge to threaten his top-10 position amid a prolonged form dip.

The year’s fourth and final grand slam, the US Open, begins on Sunday night (AEST), with de Minaur again headlining the Australian assault as the No.6 seed in a men’s singles draw so far featuring seven compatriots, while Daria Kasatkina leads the country’s five players in the women’s event.

De Minaur starts against a qualifier, but has difficult projected rivals beyond that, including Botic van de Zandschulp (second round), 31st seed Zizou Bergs (third round), No.12 seed Rafael Jodar (fourth round) and top seed Alexander Zverev (quarter-finals).

The 27-year-old has advanced to the US Open quarter-finals the past two years – and three times overall – but lost in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.

De Minaur, who married British player Katie Boulter on Wimbledon men’s finals day in July, has also won no more than two matches at any of his three tournaments since leaving London, and his ranking has slipped from a career-best No.5 to 7.

That downturn from de Minaur’s typically lofty standards has coincided with hot streaks from rising stars Arthur Fils and Jodar, who are on the verge of making their top-10 debuts.

Fils, 22, beat Australia’s seven-time major quarter-finalist in straight sets last week en route to the Cincinnati Masters title, while 20-year-olds Learner Tien and Jakub Mensik are also inside the top 20 and increasingly looming.

Jodar, 19, amassed a 10-3 record in the lead-in American hardcourt events, including making the Canadian Masters semi-finals and the Washington Open final. The Spaniard drew Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

The US Open men’s championship race appears to be as open as it has been in years, with Jannik Sinner (knee) withdrawing and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz (wrist) returning for his first event since April.

The likes of Roland-Garros titlist Zverev, 24-time grand slam-winning legend Novak Djokovic, Fils, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli and even Jodar would fancy their chances of lifting the trophy.

James Duckworth, Rinky Hijikata, Adam Walton, Aleks Vukic, Alexei Popyrin and wildcard Dane Sweeny are Australia’s other men’s representatives. Hijikata and Duckworth drew seeded rivals Auger-Aliassime and Matteo Arnaldi, respectively.

Popyrin reached the last 16 in New York two years ago, but has not won a grand slam match in 2026 and his ranking has plummeted to No.130. He, too, has a qualifier as his first-round opponent.

Joining Kasatkina, who also married her long-time partner Natalia Zabiiako post-Wimbledon, in contesting the women’s singles are Kim Birrell, Talia Gibson, Maya Joint and wildcard Taylah Preston.

Kasatkina starts with former top-tenner Paula Badosa, while Gibson drew Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic and Joint faces Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, who was ranked in the top 20 as recently as May. Samsonova defeated Joint in three sets in Toronto a fortnight ago.