2022 US Open Tennis: Preview, schedule, how to watch the stars in action

On Monday 29 August 2022 the eyes of the tennis world will turn to Flushing Meadows for the fourth and final grand slam of the year, the US Open.

Across two weeks, players will compete on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the chance to be immortalised in tennis history.

And with so many intriguing storylines set to unfold at this edition, the action in New York is sure to court the attention of fans everywhere.

The qualifiers for the tournament are taking place ahead of the main event: from Tuesday 23 August to Friday 26 August.

Wildcards were announced on 17 August and include four-time Olympic gold medallist Venus Williams, fellow American Sofia Kenin and 2020 champion Dominic Thiem.

Headlining the event is the news that this grand slam will likely be the last competitive tennis tournament 23-time major winner Serena Williams will ever play.

Earlier this month, in an article in Vogue magazine, the 41-year-old announced her intentions to retire. Williams said she was “evolving away” from the sport to grow her family.

Regarded by many as the greatest to ever play the sport, the four-time Olympic gold medallist will enjoy her swan song in front of a home crowd where she is six times a winner.

Will it be a fairy-tale ending for Williams who is just one singles grand slam title away from equalling the record of Margaret Court?

If her ambitions are to go all the way she must first defeat Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in the opening round. Victory against Kovinic will then likely set her up for a clash with number two seed Anett Kontaveit in the second.

Reigning champion 19-year-old Emma Raducanu will among those trying to thwart Williams. But the route before the Briton is not easy. She has drawn France's Alize Cornet at the start of the defence of her title. The 32-year-old Cornet is currently ranked 37 and is contesting her 63rd grand slam.

World No1 Iga Swiatek meanwhile is on the hunt for a change in fortunes.

The Polish star started the year in scintillating form, sweeping the French Open as she went 37 matches undefeated.

The 21-year-old's first stumble came at the third round of Wimbledon where her match-winning streak came to an end. And since then, she has been struggling to regain traction.

At the recent Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati Swiatek lost in straight sets to Madison Keys in the round of 16. If the number one seed was hoping for an easier time of it in New York she hasn't had the luck of the draw.

Five Grand Slam champions, including Spain's Garbine Muguruza. find themselves in her quarter as well as the rising American prospect Jessica Pegula.

Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur meanwhile finds herself in the same side of the draw Williams and Kontaveit.

2022 US Open: Can Rafael Nadal capitalise on an open field?

The men’s singles field will be no less competitive than the women's.

2021 champion Daniil Medvedev will face a host of challengers led by this year’s Australian and French Open winner Rafael Nadal.

For the first time in three years the 36-year-old Spaniard will be touching down in New York and on the agenda will be extending his advantage over rival Novak Djokovic in total number of major singles titles won.

As it stands, Nadal is currently sitting on 22 with the Serb on 21.

Djokovic, the former world number one and three-time US Open winner, will not be competing in the US after announcing his withdrawal from the two-week tournament on Thursday (25 August).

Also set to miss out on the action are Roger Federer, who is due to return from injury at next month's Laver Cup, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Alexander Zverev. The world number two is out of contention owing to an injury sustained at the French Open earlier this year.

The omission of Federer, Djokovic and Zverev opens out the field to charges from the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, and Norway's Casper Ruud, who are all chasing their first grand slam win.

Fortunately for four-time champion and number two seed Nadal he looks to have the most favourable draw of the lot.

The Spaniard will start his US Open run against Australia's Rinky Hijikata before likely coming up against his first real challenge in the fourth round where current projections see him facing either Frances Tiafoe or Diego Schwartzmann.

Medvedev, on the other hand, faces a tougher battles in the opening stages.

In-form Nick Kyrgios could cause the number one seed some early trouble as well as Felix Auger-Aliassime who enjoyed a considerable run at last year's event.

2022 will also mark the one-year anniversary of Alcaraz’s breakthrough run in New York.

As teenagers Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez ripped up the script in the women’s singles draw the young Spanish player also captured the imagination in the men's with his own quarterfinal run.

Though Alcaraz was eventually forced to withdraw against Auger-Aliassime due to injury, he proudly showed the world why he could be the heir-apparent to the 'Big Three.'

To convert himself from contender to champion Alcaraz could have to negotiate Italy's Jack Sinner as well as recent winner at the Cinnicinati Masters, Boran Coric, who triumphed over US Open title favourite Tsitsipas in the final to win.

2022 US Open: Schedule, sessions and match times

The US Open tournament will feature a 128-player singles draw, a 64-strong doubles draw and a 32-team mixed doubles draw.

Matches will take place from the 29 August to 11 September with the singles finals taking place on the second weekend.

Below is a complete schedule all sessions times at are in ET (UTC+4).

Full schedule still to be released and subject to change.

Monday 29 August

11:00 – men's and women’s first round singles

19:00 – men’s and women’s first round singles

Tuesday 30 August

11:00 - men’s and women’s first round singles

19:00 – men’s and women’s first round singles

Wednesday 31 August

11:00 – men’s and women’s second round singles

11:00 - men’s and women’s first round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s second round singles

Thursday 1 September

11:00 – men’s and women’s second round singles

11:00 men’s and women’s first round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s second round singles

Friday 2 September

11:00 – men’s and women’s third round singles

11:00 – men’s and women’s second round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s third round singles

Saturday 3 September

11:00 – men's and women’s third round singles

11:00 – men's and second round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s third round singles

Sunday 4 September

11:00 – men’s and women’s round of 16 singles

11:00 – men’s and women’s third round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s round of 16 singles

Monday 5 September

11:00 – men’s and women’s round of 16 singles

11:00 – men’s and women’s third round doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s round of 16 singles

Tuesday 6 September

12:00 – men’s and women’s quarterfinals singles

12:00 – men’s and women’s quarterfinals doubles

19:00 – men’s and women’s quarterfinals singles

Wednesday 7 September

11:00 – women's doubles quarterfinals

11:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair singles first round

11:00 – quad wheelchair singles quarterfinals

12:00 – men’s and women’s quarterfinals singles

19:00 – men’s and women’s quarterfinals singles

Thursday 8 September

11:00 – men's doubles semi-finals

11:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair singles quarterfinals

11:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair doubles quarterfinals

11:00 – quad wheelchair doubles semi-finals

11:00 – boys' and girls’ junior wheelchair singles quarterfinals

19:00 – women's semi-finals singles

Friday 9 September

12:00 - men’s doubles final (or mixed doubles final)

12:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair singles semi-finals

12:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair doubles semi-finals

12:00 – quad wheelchair singles semi-finals

12:00 – boys' and girls’ junior wheelchair singles semi-finals

15:00 – men's semi-finals singles

19:00 – men's semi-finals singles

Saturday 10 September

12:00 – mixed doubles final or men’s doubles final

12:00 – men's and women’s wheelchair doubles final

12:00 – quad wheelchair doubles final

12:00 – boys' and girls’ junior wheelchair singles final

16:00 – women's singles final

Sunday 11 September

12:00 – men’s and women’s wheelchair singles final

12:00 – quad wheelchair singles final

13:00 – women's doubles final

16:00 – men's singles final

2022 US Open Tennis: How to watch

The 2022 US Open Tennis grand slam will be broadcast in the USA on ESPN and ESPN2.

Those in Europe can follow the action on Discovery+ and Eurosport, while those in the UK can find the tournament on Amazon Prime.

For more information regarding international broadcasting see the US Open official site.

Geographical restrictions may apply.