- Jannik Sinner withdrew from the US Open on Aug. 21 with a right knee injury that has sidelined him since July.
- Carlos Alcaraz returns from a four-month wrist layoff as the tournament’s betting favorite at +175 on Bovada.
- Alexander Zverev is the next-shortest price at +300, with Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton both listed at +750.
- The US Open runs Aug. 30 through Sept. 13 at Flushing Meadows, where Alcaraz is defending his title.
NEW YORK – Carlos Alcaraz is the outright favorite in the US Open men’s odds at +175 on Bovada, the shortest price of any man in the 2026 field, after top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdrew from the tournament with a right knee injury that never fully healed from his Wimbledon run.
Sinner’s Withdrawal
Sinner, the ATP’s top-ranked player, pulled out of the US Open with a right knee injury that flared up after he won Wimbledon in July, ESPN reported. He had not played since beating Alexander Zverev last month and missed the Canada and Cincinnati Masters events while receiving treatment.
It is the first Grand Slam Sinner has missed since his 2019 US Open debut, and just the second time an ATP No. 1 has skipped the tournament since the rankings began in 1973. His exit removes the one man whose résumé matched Alcaraz’s, and it is the single biggest reason the field now reads top-heavy toward one player instead of two.
Alcaraz’s Price
Alcaraz, the defending champion and current No. 2 in the ATP rankings, confirmed his own return after four months out with a right wrist injury that cost him the French Open, Wimbledon and both North American hard-court Masters stops in Montreal and Cincinnati, ESPN reported. He last played a match in April.
Bovada still installed him at +175 (implies about 36.4%), a gap over the field wide enough that anyone betting against him needs a specific case for his rust, not just a live number to bet into.
The Rest Of The Contenders
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | +175 |
| Alexander Zverev | +300 |
| Ben Shelton | +750 |
| Novak Djokovic | +750 |
| Rafael Jodar | +1000 |
| Arthur Fils | +1400 |
| Taylor Fritz | +1400 |
| Daniil Medvedev | +2800 |
Zverev, at +300, is the only man within 20 percentage points of Alcaraz’s number, making him the more defensible price for anyone looking to fade the favorite rather than reaching further down the board.
Djokovic and Shelton share the next tier at +750, an identical price that tells bettors the market rates their live paths as equal rather than favoring either one over the other. Shelton’s number already looked shaky before the draw was even set, and Cincinnati made the case against betting Ben Shelton’s US Open odds.
Rafael Jodar follows at +1000, with Arthur Fils and Fritz next at +1400 and Medvedev at +2800, prices long enough that any of them would need a run through the draw most bettors are not currently pricing in.
The US Open field takes shape as legal sports betting markets around it, with the legal US Open betting board centered on Alcaraz’s title defense. The men’s singles final is set for Sept. 13, the last day of a fortnight Alcaraz enters as both the defending champion and the market’s clear favorite.
