The US Open could be drawn into the wider dispute between leading players and the Grand Slams, with tennis expert Jon Wertheim saying there have been “rumblings” that a boycott of the mixed doubles event may be possible.

The issue sits inside an ongoing battle over prize money and revenue sharing that has involved players such as Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka since March 2025. In a letter sent to the four events, the group called for a bigger share of tournament revenue, more investment in player welfare, and the formation of a Grand Slam player committee.

That push has already produced visible signs of protest. At the French Open this year, many players reduced their media duties to just 15 minutes in an effort to underline their position, even though the tournament’s prize fund reached €61.7 million, up 9.53% on 2025.

Their financial demand is specific: the players want the four Grand Slams to allocate 16% of revenue to prize money, rising to 22% by 2030. Sabalenka also made clear in May that she would consider a boycott if progress remained slow.

“I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah,” said the world No 1 at the time.

“I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.”

Wimbledon’s response offered a different tone. Its prize money climbed to £64.2 million, still short of the reported £71 million player demand, yet the players did not limit media access during the event because of what was described as the “positive nature” of discussions with officials.

With the season’s final Grand Slam approaching, Wertheim argued on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast that the US Open and the USTA are unlikely to move quickly toward a revenue-sharing model. He also suggested that any withdrawal from mixed doubles would not be enough to derail the event.

“The US Open, USTA, they are not going to agree readily with any sort of revenue sharing model,” analysed Wertheim.

“And yeah, the question is always, what these things is how much leverage do the players have? And there have been rumblings about mixed doubles.

“What I was told is that there are players who are happy to play, who are sort of on a wait list, who haven’t been tapped yet, but if, Jannik Sinner is a name that’s been thrown around, Aryna Sabalenka has been very vocal.

“If those players choose not to play in the mixed event as a form of protest, they’ll still be okay to fill the field. Obviously, you’d rather have the two current world number ones than not, but I don’t think it’s fatal to this mixed doubles event.”

Carlos Alcaraz has fallen to No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and is set to be seeded third at the US Open, a position that could put him in the path of top opposition earlier than he would prefer at a Grand Slam.

The seven-time major champion has already missed the Madrid Open, Italian Open, French Open, Queen’s Club Championship and Wimbledon because of injury, and he is also absent from the upcoming Canadian Open. His return now appears close, though, with the Spaniard named on the entry lists for both the Cincinnati Open and the US Open.

Before the setback, Alcaraz sat at No. 2 and was locked in a close fight for No. 1 with Jannik Sinner. Over the past three months, however, he has lost more than 5,000 ranking points, with the biggest losses coming at the French Open (2,000), Wimbledon (1,300) and Italian Open (1,000).

With Alexander Zverev’s French Open title changing the picture above him, the 23-year-old will return in Cincinnati from third place and faces a difficult task if he is to climb back to No. 2 before New York. Alcaraz is only 320 points behind Zverev, but he will also lose 1,000 points in Cincinnati as the defending champion.

Zverev has 400 points to defend at the Canadian Open and another 400 in Cincinnati, so Alcaraz must defend his title in Mason and hope the German exits early at both events.

At Flushing Meadows, Sinner is already secure as the top seed, while Zverev is likely to be seeded No. 2. That arrangement could leave Alcaraz facing Sinner in the semi-finals and Zverev in the final.

The recent history between Sinner and Alcaraz underlines how often they have been meeting late in events. Their last eight matches have all come in finals, and the last time they met before a final was at the 2024 French Open, when they played in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz could also be drawn against Novak Djokovic earlier than usual. The 24-time Grand Slam winner is currently seventh in the rankings, which means the two could meet in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.

Jack Draper and Grigor Dimitrov are not yet guaranteed a place in the 2026 US Open main draw, with both players outside the direct entry cut and now reliant on qualifying or a wildcard.

The pair have slipped out of the ATP top 100, leaving them on the alternate list for Flushing Meadows. Dimitrov is currently ranked No 142, with Draper five places behind him. World No 101 Francisco Comesana is the lowest-ranked player to earn direct entry, while more than 40 players sit ahead of Draper and Dimitrov in the queue.

Draper’s season has been heavily disrupted. He has played only 13 top-level matches in 2026 after beginning the year late because of an arm injury that kept him out of the Australian Open. He later picked up a knee injury during the build-up to the French Open. Draper eventually returned at the Eastbourne Open, where he reached the semi-final, but he was then forced to miss Wimbledon because of his long-standing arm issue. After starting the year at No 10, he now sits at No 147, though he could climb a few places soon with a run of events scheduled, including next week’s Washington DC Open and the Brownsburg ATP 75 Challenger.

Dimitrov has also endured a difficult year. He lost in the first round of the Australian Open and fell in qualifying at Roland Garros. A wildcard brought him into Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round before losing to Arthur Fery from Great Britain.

Fery’s Wimbledon surge helped lift him into the top 40, and he is now ranked No 36. That rise has earned him a direct Grand Slam main-draw place for the first time.

Holger Rune is another notable name on the entry list as he tries to return after the Achilles injury he suffered last October. Stan Wawrinka does not appear on the list.

The draw is led by Jannik Sinner, followed by Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Taylor Fritz. Alcaraz remains the defending champion after beating Sinner in last year’s final.