US Open: 5 unseeded American stars to watch – ft. Taylor Townsend, Alex Michelsen
The US Open gets underway on Monday and, as always, there is a strong American contingent looking to take their home Grand Slam by storm.
Plenty of attention will be on Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the women’s draw, while Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton headline home interest in the men’s draw.
However, there is a huge pool of talent across both men’s and women’s draws.
Ahead of US Open action, we look at five unseeded US stars to watch.
Taylor Townsend
One of the form players of the summer, Townsend is a top-50 ranked singles player for the first time – and now looks to ride that form into her home major.
After winning the Wimbledon doubles title, the 28-year-old lost in Canadian Open qualifying, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
And she thrived once in the draw, beating fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko on her way to the last eight, before coming through qualifying to reach the round of 16 in Cincinnati.
A popular figure within the US game, the world No 48 could be primed to star in New York.
Her Draw: Townsend begins her campaign against Martina Trevisan, before a potential round two versus 26th seed Paula Badosa.
Alex Michelsen
Michelsen is making headlines for all the wrong reasons at the moment, with the world No 52 lucky not to be defaulted in his Winston-Salem final loss to Lorenzo Sonego.
However, there is no denying that Michelsen, celebrating his 20th birthday today (August 25th) is an immense talent and in great form.
The 20-year-old will make his top-50 debut on Monday and has reached two finals this summer, reaching a second straight final in Newport before his Winston-Salem run.
The Californian made his US Open debut last year, reaching round two.
His Draw: Michelsen faces US qualifier Eliot Spizzirri in round one and could then face world No 1 Jannik Sinner in a blockbuster round two clash.
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McCartney Kessler
Kessler received a wildcard into the main draw but might need one in the future – after a stunning run to a maiden WTA title in Cleveland.
The 25-year-old, from Georgia, received a wildcard into the 250-level event but beat Wang Xinyu and Anastasia Potapova to make a first WTA final, where she downed top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
That run will propel her inside the top 70 of the WTA Rankings on Monday, following a summer that also saw her qualify for the Wimbledon main draw.
Kessler also won an ITF title in Landisville earlier this August, the former Florida Gator is one to keep an eye on in New York.
Her Draw: Kessler has a tough opener versus 19th seed Marta Kostyuk, though she’ll approach this match full of confidence.
Zachary Svajda
Five years on from his US Open debut, 21-year-old Svajda is in the main draw once again and could be set for a significant breakthrough as he closes in on the top 100 of the ATP Rankings.
Svajda lost in Winston-Salem qualifying last week but ultimately reached the third round as a lucky loser, and a round two win over Francisco Cerundolo means he will be world No 102 on Monday.
This will not be the Californian’s first US Open campaign, having made his debut as a 16-year-old in 2019, and reaching round two in 2021 before a further showing in 2023.
Having also qualified for the Newport and Atlanta main draws this summer, the wildcard may be primed for a big open.
His Draw: Svajda has a tricky draw against 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, though does have more experience at Flushing Meadows than the Italian.
Iva Jovic
One of the big hopes of US tennis, Jovic will be making her Grand Slam singles debut at Flushing Meadows this coming week – after an impressive year in junior Slam action.
The 16-year-old reached the semi-final of the Wimbledon girls’ singles and has reached all three girls’ doubles finals alongside Tyra Caterina Grant – winning in Melbourne and SW19.
The Californian is a former Orange Bowl champion in both singles and doubles and also starred for America in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in 2023.
It will certainly be fascinating to see how she fares in her first big step up to the senior game.
Her Draw: Jovic is up against the experienced Magda Linette in round one, with 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova a potential round two opponent.
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