NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Wimbledon winner Jannik Sinner lead the fields for the U.S. Open that begins next month.
The U.S. Tennis Association announced the direct entry lists Tuesday for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season. Based on the July 20 rankings on the WTA and ATP Tours, the cutoff was No. 102 for the women and No. 101 for the men.
Sabalenka tops the women's rankings and will arrive in Flushing Meadows trying to become the first woman to win three straight U.S. Open titles since Serena Williams from 2012-14.
Sinner will be trying to regain the title that Carlos Alcaraz took from the 2024 champion when they met in last year's final. The top-ranked Italian is coming off his fifth major championship, when he beat French Open champion Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz, who has missed the last two majors because of a wrist injury but hopes to return during the North American hard-court swing, is ranked No. 3 and entered in the field.
The U.S. led the way with 14 men and 14 women earning direct entry. No. 102 Anastasia Zakharova was the last woman and Filip Misolic, who used a protected ranking at No. 101, rounded out the men's list.
Misolic was one of eight players (five women, three men) to use a special or protected ranking.
The remainder of the 128-player fields will be filled through wild cards given by the USTA — Williams would be expected to get one if healthy and planning to play after the 44-year-old returned to tennis but injured her knee in a first-round loss at Wimbledon — and qualifying tournaments the week before the main draw begins on Sunday, Aug. 30.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after winning against Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Republicans are choosing nominees Tuesday to challenge Democrats who hold top offices as the GOP searches for a path back to power in a battleground state it used to dominate.
U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, who represent neighboring districts in metro Phoenix, offer a clash of styles in the race to take on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, considered the most endangered Democratic governor in the country this election cycle.
With President Donald Trump's endorsement and support from the grassroots turnout machine of the conservative group Turning Point Action, Biggs says he can unite the party going into a general election.
Schweikert says his low-key, pro-business, fiscal conservatism can win back voters turned off by a string of Trump loyalists like Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor four years ago.
Both parties have hotly contested primaries to replace Schweikert in the highly competitive 1st Congressional District.
Republicans also are picking nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, key posts with power over elections in a state that was pivotal for Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in 2020.
Election officials in Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and two-thirds of the state's voters, said two polling sites had power outages, and voters were directed to other nearby locations. Several polling places also had technical problems earlier in the day, including connectivity issues with electronic poll books, that were resolved.
Maricopa County has been an epicenter of election conspiracy theories since Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020, and handling of elections is closely scrutinized.
Biggs built a national profile as chair of the House Freedom Caucus from 2019 to 2022 and as a staunch defender of Trump. He assisted the president’s attempt to block the certification of his loss in the 2020 election, voting against accepting Electoral College votes from Arizona and other battleground states after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
He has always represented safe Republican seats and is a veteran of factional brawls within the GOP. Before going to Congress, he nearly lost his post as state Senate president during a confrontation with then-Gov. Jan Brewer, also a Republican, over her push to expand Medicaid.
Schweikert has walked a tightrope with Trump, carefully keeping his distance without antagonizing him. That has helped him win a string of tough races in a competitive House district — a track record he says will help him win over swing voters and beat Hobbs — but has left him isolated from Trump's “ Make America Great Again ” base.
Democrats have focused their attacks on Biggs, whom they plan to portray as an extremist focused on helping Trump and not Arizonans.
Schweikert’s 1st District is a top battleground in the fight for a congressional majority. Anchored in Scottsdale, it is home to many of the white, highly educated and affluent voters who have soured on the GOP under Trump.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee controversially threw its support behind Marlene Galán-Woods, a former television news anchor who used to be a Republican. Her late husband, Grant Woods, was the Republican attorney general in the 1990s and later became a vocal Trump critic.
Galán-Woods’ chief opponent, Amish Shah, is an emergency medicine doctor and former state legislator who was the nominee in 2024 but lost narrowly to Schweikert.
On the Republican side, former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely has Trump’s endorsement. But he has been dogged by criticism for living outside the district — he resides in Biggs’ district and originally was running there until Trump endorsed a rival in that contest.
Feely faces Joseph Chaplik, a former state legislator popular with many of the GOP’s grassroots activists, and businessperson John Trobough.
In Tucson, retired Marine drill instructor JoAnna Mendoza is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination to challenge second-term Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who also has no primary opponent. The seat is perennially competitive in general elections and is a top pickup target for Democrats in November.
Meanwhile, the GOP primary for the safe Republican seat Biggs is vacating has turned salacious: Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is endorsed by Trump, came under scrutiny for alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of power.
The county attorney cleared him of criminal wrongdoing, and Trump reiterated his endorsement this month. Lamb dismissed the allegations as “slander and lies.”
He faces Daniel Keenan, who owns a construction company.
Associated Press writer Josh Kelety contributed.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Feely.
Former Arizona Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, who is running for the Republican nomination for the 1st Congressional District in the upcoming primary election, speaks at the opening of the Arizona legislature, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jay Feely, left, a Republican candidate for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, shakes hands with a voter at a polling place on Arizona primary election day, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Fountain Hills, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Democratic candidate for Arizona's 1st Congressional Dr. Amish Shah poses, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Marlene Galán-Woods, a Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District in Arizona, smiles as she speaks with a campaign volunteer at a voting location as voters cast their ballots on primary election day, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
FILE - Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., debates with his Republican opponents in the 2026 AZ Clean Elections governor primary debate, June 17, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Diannie Chavez/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
