The field at the 2025 US Open has been drastically narrowed as the excitement builds towards the men’s and women’s finals in the second week of the Grand Slam. Now the intensity rises several levels further as the finish line gets closer. Players know that the US Open final is the last chance for Grand Slam glory this year, but who will get their hands on the coveted silverware?
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Final Slam highlight of the year
The iconic Flushing Meadows provides the stunning setting for the US Open finals, and massive crowds pack themselves into the impressive complex for what is arguably the most raucous and pumped-up tennis atmosphere anywhere. The spectacular Arthur Ashe Stadium, which holds more than 23,000 people and has a retractable roof, is a fitting venue for the finals of one of the most prestigious prizes in the sport.
The prize money
The winners of the 2025 US Open will walk away with a lump sum of $5m each, which is a 39% increase from last year’s prize money. Overall, the prize pot on offer at this year’s US Open went up 20% from 2024 to $90m. Here’s the breakdown:
- Champion – $5,000,000
- Losing finalist – $2,500,000
- Losing semi-finalist – $1,260,000
- Losing quarter-finalist – $660,000
- Fourth-round loser – $400,000
- Third-round loser – $237,000
- Second-round loser – $154,000
- First-round loser – $110,000
Mixed doubles finals – what happened?
There was a lot of hype about the 2025 US Open mixed doubles tournament as it was played before the singles tournaments started, rather than at the same time as them. Due to the new prize money on offer, the mixed doubles attracted the world’s top singles players, who teamed up to take on the challenge.
So, instead of the draw being full of specialist doubles players, there were newly formed pairs such as Jack Draper/Jessica Pegula, Casper Ruud/Iga Świątek, Emma Raducanu/Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz/Elena Rybakina taking part.
Somewhat fittingly, the only specialist doubles partnership in the draw won the title. The duo of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori successfully defended their US Open mixed doubles title by defeating Casper Ruud and Iga Świątek in straight sets to earn the $1m winners’ prize.
The men’s top eight singles seeds
The first two big casualties from the top eight of the men’s seeds were due to injury. Britain’s Jack Draper, one of the main pre-tournament contenders in the US Open outright winner betting market, withdrew ahead of his second-round match against Zizou Bergs with an arm injury.
Injury also put American Ben Shelton’s campaign to an end, as he was forced to retire ahead of a deciding set in his third-round match against Adrian Mannarino due to a shoulder problem.
The first big name to fall to an on-court defeat then was third seed Alexander Zverev, whose wait for an elusive Grand Slam title goes on. The German was eliminated in the third round by Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Alcaraz entertains
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz arguably looked the most fluent of the top seeds through the early rounds. He quickly found his groove on the hard-court surface and eased into the quarter-finals by beating the unseeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, before knocking over Jiri Lehecka in less than two entertaining hours once there.
While Alcaraz played up to the crowd, the more measured Jannik Sinner had to fight back from dropping the opening set of his third-round match against Denis Shapovalov, but still got the job done after the wobble.
Novak Djokovic had a couple of patchy moments and looked to be struggling physically in what is his first tournament since his Wimbledon semi-final exit. The four-time US Open champion, however, powered through his fourth-round match against Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets as he bids for a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Stat Attack: Novak Djokovic will join greats and current joint Open Era leaders Roger Federer and Pete Sampras on five US Open titles if he claims the honours on Sunday.
The women’s top eight seeds
The first big upset in the women’s US Open draw was America’s Madison Keys crashing out in the first round against Renata Zarazúa, the latter defying massive match odds. The 2025 Australian Open champion Keys, who racked up 89 unforced errors in the match, said that nerves had got the better of her.
A couple more top-eight seeds tumbled in the third round. Young superstar Mirra Andreeva bowed out in straight sets against Taylor Townsend, while seventh seed Jasmine Paolini was defeated by Markéta Vondroušová in straight sets.
Sabalenka impresses
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka looked as powerful as ever through the early stages of the US Open, cruising through to the last eight untroubled. Sabalenka, the reigning champion, has remained the outright favourite since before the tournament started.
Stat Attack: Aryna Sabalenka is looking to reach the US Open final for the third year running.
This year’s surprise Wimbledon winner, Iga Świątek, quietly moved through the first three rounds without drama, and Jessica Pegula’s progress to that stage meant that the only one of the top four seeds not to get to the quarter-finals was former champion Coco Gauff.
Coco Gauff had some nervy moments in the second round, before improving to win her third-round match comfortably enough. However, the American was then surprisingly ousted from her home Grand Slam event by 23rd seed Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.
British hopes fade fast
Cameron Norrie was the last British player standing in the draw. However, despite briefly leading against Novak Djokovic in their third-round match with an early break in the third set, Norrie couldn’t handle the power of the former champion’s comeback.
Emma Raducanu started the tournament in fine form, rattling off quick wins in the first two rounds. However, she then ran into former Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina in the third round and was steamrolled by her opponent, who put on a perfect show of clinical power tennis. Both Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal lost in the first round.
The draw
Plotting the brackets of the draw can help with predicting the potential outcome of the US Open, and things look as if they favour the number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka, in the women’s draw. The highest-rated opponent she could meet in the semi-finals would be fourth seed Jess Pegula, against whom Sabalenka holds a 7-2 career record.
Stat Attack: Each of the last six Women’s US Open finals has been won by a different player.
That leaves the bottom half of the draw more crowded because of Anna Animsova, Iga Świątek and Naomi Osaka, who is now on the radar, having sent a top-three seed packing. The quarter-final clash of Anisimova and Świątek is expected to be key to who the most likely finalist from the bottom half of the draw will be.
Sinner vs Alcaraz again?
Top seed Jannik Sinner and second seed Carlos Alcaraz are on opposite sides of the men’s draw. The big anticipation is that the two will again contest a Grand Slam final, as they did at this year’s French Open and Wimbledon, where they traded titles. Alcaraz won in Paris, and Sinner was triumphant in London. They are the best two players in the game at the moment by some distance.
Even though there have been concerns over Novak Djokovic’s physical condition, the Serbian could be a spanner in the works for the top seeds. Only the seventh seed for this year’s tournament, Djokovic landed in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz, meaning a potential semi-final clash with the Spaniard.
However, Djokovic faces a stern test to get to that point, because he will have to fight fourth seed Taylor Fritz for the privilege of reaching the final four. All of this means that reigning men’s champion Jannik Sinner’s path to the final, because of other seeds falling, has opened up much more than anyone else’s.
Women’s finals – 6th September, 4pm
Aryna Sabalenka should arguably have won a lot more Grand Slams in her career. This year, for example, she lost the finals of the Australian and French Opens to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, respectively, despite being the favourite for both events.
She has to be hungrier than ever to get the US Open in the bag, to avoid finishing the year empty-handed. She is also defending the title, which is a big motivation, so she will be expected to cross the finish line if she gets there.
That leaves Iga Świątek as potentially the biggest danger to Sabalenka from the other side of the draw. Despite not having a great year form-wise, she has still been to at least the semi-final of this year’s other Slams, winning Wimbledon. The Polish star is also a former US Open champion.
Last five women’s US Open finals
- 2024 – Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula
- 2023 – Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka
- 2022 – Iga Świątek defeated Ons Jabeur
- 2021 – Emma Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez
- 2020 – Naomi Osaka defeated Victoria Azarenka
The last woman to successfully defend a US Open title was Serena Williams in 2014. Since she hung up her racquet as a professional, the only female to have won the US Open more than once is Naomi Osaka, who took the 2018 and 2020 titles.
Stat Attack: Only two of the last eight women’s US Open finals have gone to a deciding set.
Men’s finals – 7th September, 2pm
It’s difficult to look past an Alcaraz vs Sinner men’s final. It will take something special from an opponent in a best-of-five Grand Slam match to knock either of them over. This is the big modern rivalry at the top of the men’s game, and both are former US Open champions.
Despite Alcaraz gaining most headlines because of his star power, Sinner has had the better year, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Even in his French Open final loss to Alcaraz, he pushed the Spaniard to the limit, and Sinner is also the more natural hard-court player of the two.
Stat Attack: Three of Jannik Sinner’s four Slam titles have come on hard court.
As for the other contenders, Djokovic’s strength and stamina could be a stumbling block for him, while last year’s runner-up, Taylor Fritz, is in the best form of his career, but still has a long way to go to match the status of Alcaraz and Sinner.
Last five men’s US Open singles winners
- 2024 – Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz
- 2023 – Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev
- 2022 – Carlos Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud
- 2021 – Daniil Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic
- 2020 – Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev
Our expert prediction
The unknown outcomes are what all tennis bettors are trying to predict, and this weekend’s 2025 US Open finals will complete the story of who will be crowned the 2025 singles’ champions.
You can follow along with all of the latest odds from a tremendous range of tennis betting markets at Tonybet, right up to live betting odds on the men’s and women’s singles finals.
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