NEW YORK – The US has a massive American condition for open men’s brackets at any time in the past quarter, with two leaders, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, starting the tournament with dominant performances on Sunday.
The No. 6 seed and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Shelton needed just 2 hours and 7 minutes to pass the Buse of Peru 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 qualifying Ignacio.
For the second year in a row, Shelton was the opening act at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which instead of Monday, he made his debut at the start event on Sunday.
Fritz was the fourth-place seeded at Flushing Meadows a year ago, runner-up to Giannik Sinner and was about 10 minutes less in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over yet another US man, Emilio Navana, who is a wildcard entry at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
In all, there are 23 men on the field from their host countries, but the most are the most, as the same number was portrayed in what Fritz called “the most important tournament for American Americans.” There are 25 American women.
“I think the competition between all of us is a competition between all of us,” Fritz said of the men.
This marks the first major by two American men seeded in the top eight since the 2007 US Open (No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 6 James Blake). They are all chasing the same award. It is the first American Grand Slam Singles trophy since his victory in New York in 2003.
But this is quite apart at this point, but it’s quite apart, especially given that the Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz have won each of the past seven major titles.
“As soon as you start looking ahead, you come across your feet,” Shelton, who lost to a sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals in January, lost to Alcaraz in the fourth round of the French Open in June and to a sinner in the Wimbledon Quarter Final in July.
“This is certainly one,” Shelton said of the US Open, where he reached the Final Four in 2023.
He accumulated more than twice the winners of buse, including one swirling forehand that looked like his idol, creating moments worthy of highlights on Sunday.
Shelton scored points on 26 of his 33 trips to the net, saving all five of Buse’s five break chances despite finishing with five aces. Since its launch in 2024, Shelton is 21-0 against an unseeded opponent in the slam.
Fritz went 13-13 on the net, pushing all four breakpoints he faced aside, he said.
Fritz has won 22 of his last 27 games since the end of the French Open.
Shelton and Fritz will be off for two days before playing a two-round match on Wednesday. Shelton will face Pablo Lamas Lewis’ 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-2 winner Pablo Carreno Busta, with Fritz waiting for the winner of Sebastian Baez vs. Lloyd Harris.
In the other men’s singles, Spanish 18 seed Alejandro Davidevich Fokina defeated Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday. Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik, No. 16 seed passed Chile’s Nicholas Jarry 7-6 (5), 6-3 and 6-4.
Italian Luciano Dadeli sowed in 32nd place, beating Australian Linky Hijikata in a straight set, while Frenchman Arthur Linderneck needed four to clear Spain’s Roberto Carveros Baena 7-6 (2), 7-5, 4-6 and 6-2.
Tomas Machac (21) and Jiri Lehecka (20) were among the other seeded players moving forward.
No. 7 seed and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic faced 19-year-old California learner Tien in a night session.
ESPN research and Associated Press contributed to this report.