Six American men are seeded at the 2026 US Open and tennis great Mats Wilander believes Taylor Fritz has by far the best chance to win his home Grand Slam.

It has been a while since an American has won the men’s singles title with Andy Roddick the last man from the United States to lift the trophy and that was 23 years ago when he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 final.

There will once again be high hopes this year that the drought will come to an end as Ben Shelton will lead the American contingent in terms of seedings at Flushing Meadows as he is seeded eighth and is followed by Fritz (ninth), Frances Tiafoe (11th), Learner Tien (14th), Brandon Nakashima (16th) and Tommy Paul (20th).

Of the six, Fritz has the best result in New York as he finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner in 2024, while Tiafoe has reached the semi-finals twice and Shelton made it to the last four once.

Tiafoe, meanwhile, is the in form American man as he is fresh off a runners-up finish at the Cincinnati Open and, although Wilander feels the 28-year-old has the potential, he feels Fritz is ahead of him in terms of title-winning ability.

US Open News

“Tiafoe probably has the most potential, but I think Taylor Fritz plays at a very high level, even when he plays poorly. And I think that’s what sets him apart from the others,” the Swede told Eurosport.

“He doesn’t give you the match. He fights until the end. And if he plays well, he has all the weapons at his disposal. So for me, the American favourite is Taylor Fritz. Tien is just a step away. Ben Shelton is a surprise; he can beat anyone.”

But the American men are not favourites with the likes of French Open champion Alexander Zverev, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic ahead of them in the queue.

“In my opinion, despite his recent disappointing results, Zverev is the number one favourite, although not by a huge margin,” he said. Djokovic and Alcaraz are probably in second place, and then there are players like Fritz, Ben Shelton, and others. But Zverev, yes, is much stronger than he’s shown in the last two weeks.”

Zverev is the top seed at Flushing Meadows following Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal due to injury, but he lost early at both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open while there are question marks over Alcaraz’s level as the US Open will be his first singles event since he injured his wrist in April.

Djokovic, meanwhile, has played only one match since Wimbledon and that was a second-round loss in Cincinnati.