Round of 16 action begins today at the 2026 U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., and the schedule opens with Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz headlining the day session. Ben Shelton takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas under the lights tonight, while Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe are also in action.
That gives Us Open Today a clear turning point: the field is down to the final 16, and the day now shifts from survival to a direct path toward the quarterfinals. Sabalenka and Alcaraz are both trying to get back there, and Shelton’s night match carries the same prize of moving one round closer.
The draw also still carries a reminder of how quickly momentum can change in New York. Alexandra Eala had opened with straight-set wins against Mary Stoiana and Oleksandra Oliynykova, but her run ended last night when Iva Jovic beat her in more than three hours and three sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The result showed the difference between a fast start and the final stretch of a major, where one long match can erase days of clean work.
There was no shortage of other pressure points around the tournament on the eve of today’s play. Tien won a five-set match against Jakub Menšík that lasted three hours and 24 minutes and now meets Karen Khachanov in the fourth round for a spot in the quarter-final. On the women’s side, Elena Rybakina completed the final step into the final 16 after beating Yuliia Starodubtseva in a match that turned on a first-set tiebreak ending 8-6, and Naomi Osaka, who defeated Elise Mertens in three sets, is next for Rybakina.
That is the shape of Us Open Today: the marquee names are just arriving on center stage, while the players who have already survived the early rounds are trying to hold on long enough to make the next jump. For Eala, the run is over; for Sabalenka, Alcaraz and the others on the schedule, the next result decides whether the tournament opens into something bigger or closes the door on the quarterfinals.
