Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in the final, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(8–6) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2020 US Open. It was his first and only major title, following three previous runner-up finishes. Thiem was the first man to come back from two sets down in a US Open final in the Open Era, the first to do so overall since 1949, and the first to do so in any major final since Gastón Gaudio at the 2004 French Open. Both players served for the championship in the final set (Zverev at 5–3 and Thiem at 6–5), but both were broken at 30. This was the first time that the US Open title was decided by a fifth set tie-break, 50 years after the rule was introduced in 1970.

Thiem's victory made him the first man born in the 1990s to win a singles major, the first Austrian to win a singles major since Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open, and the first new male major singles champion since Marin Čilić won the 2014 US Open. The gap between Čilić and Thiem's titles was the longest between two new major singles champions in the history of men's tennis, surpassing the previous longest gap between Juan Martín del Potro and Andy Murray respectively at the 2009 and 2012 editions of the US Open. It was also Thiem's 17th and last career ATP Tour title. Thiem remains the last player to date with a one-handed backhand to win a major singles title. Zverev was the youngest man to reach a major final since Novak Djokovic at the 2010 US Open, the first German to reach a major final since Rainer Schüttler at the 2003 Australian Open and the first German man to contest the US Open final since Michael Stich in 1994. This was the first (and thus far only) men's final at any major to be contested by two players born in the 1990s.

Rafael Nadal was the reigning champion, but chose not to participate due to both safety concerns related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the short amount of time between the US Open and the rescheduled European clay court season. This marked the first time since the 1999 US Open that both Nadal and Roger Federer (who was recovering from a knee surgery) were absent from a major.

There were no qualifiers this year. The ATP rankings valid on August 3 (being the rankings from March 16) were used to determine the main-draw entry list.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the tournament during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. After being broken to trail 6–5 in the first set, Djokovic frustratedly hit a ball towards the baseline and wound up hitting a line judge in the throat. Djokovic's unbeaten 26–0 2020 season, as well as his 29-match winning streak (extending back to the 2019 Davis Cup Finals), ended as a result. Djokovic was the first player to be defaulted from a major since Stefan Koubek at the 2000 French Open.

Djokovic's ejection from the tournament guaranteed a first-time major finalist in the top half of the draw. His disqualification also meant this would be the first major since the 2004 French Open not to feature any of the Big Three in the semifinals. This would mark just the second time in the Open Era in which none of the quarterfinalists had previously won a major, the first instance of this rare occurrence was the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. Additionally, it was the first major men's singles tournament not to have been won by Djokovic, Federer or Nadal since Stan Wawrinka at the 2016 US Open.List of Open Era Grand Slam men's singles finals Additionally, it meant this would be the first major won by a player under the age of 30 since the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. For the first (and only) time in major history, all of the male quarterfinalists were born in the 1990s.

Seeds All seedings per ATP rankings.

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Players

Seeded players SeedRankPlayerPoints beforePoints defendingPoints wonPoints afterStatus11 Novak Djokovic 10,860 180 0 10,860Fourth round, defaulted against Pablo Carreño Busta 23 Dominic Thiem 7,135 10 2,000 9,125Champion, defeated Alexander Zverev 35 Daniil Medvedev 5,890 1,200 720 5,890Semifinals, lost to Dominic Thiem 46 Stefanos Tsitsipas 5,095 10 90 5,175Third round, lost to Borna Ćorić 57 Alexander Zverev 3,630 180 1,200 4,650Final, lost to Dominic Thiem 68 Matteo Berrettini 2,940 720 180 2,940Fourth round, lost to Andrey Rublev 710 David Goffin 2,555 180 180 2,555Fourth round, lost to Denis Shapovalov 811 Roberto Bautista Agut 2,540 10 90 2,620Third round, lost to Vasek Pospisil913 Diego Schwartzman 2,265 360 10 2,265First round, lost to Cameron Norrie1014 Andrey Rublev 2,234 180 360 2,414Quarterfinals, lost to Daniil Medvedev 1116 Karen Khachanov 2,120 10 90 2,200Third round, lost to Alex de Minaur 1217 Denis Shapovalov 2,075 90 360 2,345Quarterfinals, lost to Pablo Carreño Busta 1319 Cristian Garín 1,900 45 45 1,900Second round, lost to Mikhail Kukushkin 1420 Grigor Dimitrov 1,885 720 45 1,885Second round, lost to Márton Fucsovics1521 Félix Auger-Aliassime 1,806 10 180 1,976Fourth round, lost to Dominic Thiem 1622 John Isner 1,805 90 10 1,805First round, lost to Steve Johnson1723 Benoît Paire 1,738 45 0 1,738Withdrew and tested positive for COVID-191824 Dušan Lajović 1,695 45 10 1,695First round, lost to Egor Gerasimov1925 Taylor Fritz 1,545 10 90 1,625Third round, lost to Denis Shapovalov 2027 Pablo Carreño Busta 1,500 90 720 2,130Semifinals, lost to Alexander Zverev 2128 Alex de Minaur 1,485 180 360 1,665Quarterfinals, lost to Dominic Thiem 2230 Nikoloz Basilashvili 1,395 90 10 1,395First round, lost to John Millman2331 Dan Evans 1,384 90 45 1,384Second round, lost to Corentin Moutet2433 Hubert Hurkacz 1,353 10 45 1,388Second round, lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina2518 Milos Raonic 1,950 0 45 1,995Second round, lost to Vasek Pospisil2626 Filip Krajinović 1,503 10 90 1,583Third round, lost to David Goffin 2732 Borna Ćorić 1,355 45 360 1,670Quarterfinals, lost to Alexander Zverev 2829 Jan-Lennard Struff 1,405 45 90 1,450Third round, lost to Novak Djokovic 2936 Guido Pella 1,310 10 10 1,310First round, lost to J. J. Wolf [WC]3037 Casper Ruud 1,279 10 90 1,359Third round, lost to Matteo Berrettini 3138 Marin Čilić 1,225 180 90 1,225Third round, lost to Dominic Thiem 3239 Adrian Mannarino 1,191 10 90 1,271Third round, lost to Alexander Zverev

Other entry information

Wild cards

Protected ranking Andrey Kuznetsov (130) Mackenzie McDonald (83) Jack Sock (119)

Alternates Ernesto Escobedo Marcel Granollers (withdrew due to focus on doubles)

Withdrawals

– not included on entry list& – withdrew from entry list Rank date: March 16, 2020

Notes

References

External links 2020 US Open – Men's draws and results at the International Tennis Federation