Daniil Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 US Open. It was his first major title. Medvedev was the third Russian man, after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, to win a major singles title.

Dominic Thiem was the reigning champion, but did not participate due to an ongoing wrist injury. This wrist injury would eventually lead to his retirement from the sport in 2024.

Djokovic was aiming to become the second man in the Open Era, after Rod Laver in 1969, to complete the Grand Slam. He was also attempting to win an outright record 21st major singles title and surpass his Big Three counterparts, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. By reaching the final, Djokovic tied Federer's record of 31 men's singles major finals contested, and repeated his 2015 achievement of reaching all four major finals in a season. This marked Djokovic's sixth runner-up finish at the event, the most at a men's singles major and ATP Tour event overall.

By defeating world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to beat a top 3 ranked-player in singles at the US Open since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. He was the youngest male quarterfinalist at a singles major since Michael Chang at the 1989 French Open, and the youngest at the US Open in the Open Era; he would win the title the following year. Botic van de Zandschulp was the first Dutchman to reach a singles major quarterfinal since Sjeng Schalken at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and the first qualifier to do so at the US Open since Gilles Müller in 2008.

Seeds

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Seeded players The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of August 23, 2021. Rank and points before are as of August 30, 2021.

As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system, players are defending the greater of their points from the 2019 and 2020 tournaments.

SeedRankPlayerPoints before Points defending from 2019 or 2020Points wonPoints afterStatus 1 1 Novak Djokovic 11,113 180 1,200 12,133 Runner-up, lost to Daniil Medvedev 2 2 Daniil Medvedev 9,980 1,200 2,000 10,780 Champion, defeated Novak Djokovic 3 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 8,350 (150)† 90 8,350^ Third round lost to Carlos Alcaraz 4 4 Alexander Zverev 8,240 1,200 720 7,760 Semifinals lost to Novak Djokovic 5 7 Andrey Rublev 6,400 360 90 6,130 Third round lost to Frances Tiafoe 6 8 Matteo Berrettini 5,533 720 360 5,173 Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic 7 10 Denis Shapovalov 3,580 360 90 3,310 Third round lost to Lloyd Harris 8 11 Casper Ruud 3,455 90 45 3,440^ Second round lost to Botic van de Zandschulp [Q] 9 12 Pablo Carreño Busta 3,325 720 10 2,650^ First round lost to Maxime Cressy [Q] 10 13 Hubert Hurkacz 3,128 45 45 3,128 Second round lost to Andreas Seppi 11 14 Diego Schwartzman 2,980 360 180 2,800 Fourth round lost to Botic van de Zandschulp [Q] 12 15 Félix Auger-Aliassime 2,828 180 720 3,368 Semifinals lost to Daniil Medvedev 13 16 Jannik Sinner 2,750 35 180 2,895 Fourth round lost to Alexander Zverev 14 17 Alex de Minaur 2,555 360 10 2,218^ First round lost to Taylor Fritz 15 18 Grigor Dimitrov 2,511 720 45 1,836 Second round retired against Alexei Popyrin 16 19 Cristian Garín 2,510 45 45 2,510 Second round lost to Henri Laaksonen [Q] 17 20 Gaël Monfils 2,503 360 90 2,233 Third round lost to Jannik Sinner 18 21 Roberto Bautista Agut 2,405 90 90 2,405 Third round lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime 19 22 John Isner 2,238 90 10 2,171^ First round lost to Brandon Nakashima [WC] 20 23 Lorenzo Sonego 2,227 45+125‡ 10+20 2,097^ First round lost to Oscar Otte [Q] 21 25 Aslan Karatsev 2,109 (125)§ 90 2,074 Third round lost to Jenson Brooksby [WC] 22 24 Reilly Opelka 2,206 45 180 2,341 Fourth round lost to Lloyd Harris 23 26 Ugo Humbert 2,090 45+90‡ 10+45 2,045^ First round lost to Peter Gojowczyk [Q] 24 27 Daniel Evans 2,074 90 180 2,164 Fourth round lost to Daniil Medvedev 25 28 Karen Khachanov 2,010 90 10 1,965^ First round lost to Lloyd Harris 26 29 Cameron Norrie 1,975 90 10 1,930^ First round lost to Carlos Alcaraz 27 30 David Goffin 1,933 180 10 1,766^ First round lost to Mackenzie McDonald 28 31 Fabio Fognini 1,734 10 10 1,744^ First round lost to Vasek Pospisil 29 32 1,723 180+194‡ 10+60 1,429^ First round lost to Marco Trungelliti [Q] 30 36 Marin Čilić 1,650 180 10 1,493^ First round retired against Philipp Kohlschreiber [PR] 31 37 Alexander Bublik 1,633 90 45 1,588 Second round lost to Jack Sock [WC] 32 38 Filip Krajinović 1,589 90 10 1,544^ First round lost to Guido Pella † Because the 2020 tournament was non-mandatory, the player was defending 150 points from his 19th best result instead of 90 points from the 2020 US Open. ‡ The player was also defending points from one or more 2019 ATP Challenger Tour tournaments. Those points were frozen in 2020 as a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system. § The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2019 or 2020 and is defending points from a 2020 ATP Challenger Tour tournament (Ostrava) instead. ^ Because the 2021 tournament was non-mandatory, the player substituted his 19th best result in place of the points won in this tournament.

Withdrawn players The following players would have been seeded, but withdrew before the tournament began.

Rank Player Points before Points defending from 2019 or 2020 Points after Withdrawal reason 5 Rafael Nadal 7,815 2,000 5,815 Left foot Injury 6 Dominic Thiem 6,995 2,000 4,995 Right wrist injury 9 Roger Federer 4,125 360 3,765 Right knee surgery 33 Stan Wawrinka 1,715 360 1,355 Left foot injury 34 Milos Raonic 1,694 45 1,649 Right leg injury 35 Borna Ćorić 1,674 360 1,319^ Right shoulder injury ^ Because the 2021 tournament was non-mandatory, the player substituted his 19th best result in place of zero points for this tournament.

Other entry information

Wild card entries

Qualifiers

Lucky losers

Protected ranking Philipp Kohlschreiber (96)

Withdrawals

‡ – withdrew from entry list before qualifying began @ – withdrew from entry list after qualifying began § – withdrew from main draw

See also 2021 US Open – Day-by-day summaries

Explanatory notes

References

External links