The final Grand Slam of 2016 begins on Monday with a new retractable roof the big change awaiting the players in New York City. The retractable roof is ready for operation atop Arthur Ashe Stadium so even if there is rain (though this first week looks pretty dry) action will continue to roll on at least one court at the US Open. There is also a new grandstand stadium (the third largest at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center), and this will be the last year that the old grandstand is used and the last year for the Louis Armstrong Stadium. The old grandstand and Louis Armstrong Stadium will be torn down and replaced be a new, larger, and roofed Louis Armstrong Stadium which will be ready in 2018.

Serena Williams on the women’s singles side is still the oddsmakers favorite and #1 seed. Williams lost in the semifinals of the US Open last year, two wins from a calendar slam, and also lost in the final of the Australian Open and French Open before finally winning her 22nd grand slam title at Wimbledon. Williams recently lost in the third round of the Olympics so there are certainly plenty of people who don’t believe she’ll win in New York City. Williams would face Simona Halep in the quarterfinals if both stay on track. The US has a real shot at three quarterfinalists as Venus Williams is the #6 seed and would have Agnieszka Radwanska to deal with in the quarterfinals before a potential semifinal showdown with her sister. Madison Keys is the #8 seed on the opposite side of the bracket with Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals and Angelique Kerber in the semifinals as potential big time showdowns.

The games begin tomorrow! Good luck to the 39 American singles players competing in the 2016 @USOpen pic.twitter.com/HjWKhx1ZrQ

— USTA (@usta) August 28, 2016

Sloane Stephens would have been the #25 seed but withdrew because of a foot injury while Coco Vandeweghe is the #28 seed but would run into Keys in the third round. One other interesting thing to watch will be the fate of Serena Williams in the WTA rankings after the US Open. Williams has been first in the rankings since February 18, 2013 and is one week away from tying Steffi Graff’s record of 186 straight weeks leading the rankings. The question is once the US Open is over if she’ll set a new record of 187 weeks or be bumped to second by any of three challengers who have a shot at #1, Kerber, Muguruza and Radwanska.

On the men’s side for the first time this century (and surely the first time ever right?) there are no American men among the top 16 seeds. The US does have four seeded players but by seed line all would need an upset to advance to the round of 16 and that’s a real statement about where US men’s tennis is right now. Steve Johnson is the top American as the #19 seed and the 26-year-old former two-time NCAA champion from USC is certainly not your traditional rising tennis talent. Johnson made it to the round of 16 at Wimbledon (his best ever Major finish), made the quarterfinals at the Olympics, and then reached the quarterfinals at the Western and Southern Open (his best ever Masters 1000 level finish). It would seem the stage is set well for Johnson to really jump into the American tennis spotlight in New York City over the next couple weeks. Johnson would face David Ferrer in the third round and Dominic Thiem is in his quarter. A run to the quarterfinals where he’d likely face Stan Wawrinka is certainly a possibility.

3rd on court 5 tomorrow. Pumped and ready to go! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

— Brian Baker (@BBakesTennis) August 28, 2016

John Isner is the #20 seed with Richard Gasquet a likely third round opponent. Isner will need to challenge his inner Sam Querrey though to go any further as his quarter is topped by US open favorite and #1 seed Novak Djokovic. Jack Sock is also near Isner and Djokovic in the draw as sitting as the #26 seed he’d face Djokovic to reach the semifinals. Sock’s quarter of the draw would see him facing Marin Cilic in the third round and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of 16. Querrey is the #29 seed and is in the same quarter as Johnson. Querrey would face Dominic Thiem in the third round.

The US has two seeded men’s doubles teams to keep an eye on. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are the #3 seed while Rajeev Ram and his South African teammate Raven Klaasen are the #7 seed. The two teams are on opposite sides of the bracket and both exited the US Open in 2016 before the quarterfinals last year. On the women’s side Coco Vandeweghe is teamed with Martina Hingis of Switzerland as the #6 seed. They are on the same half of the bracket as the all-American #9 seeded team of Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears. The other side of the bracket features #10 seed Vania King and Romania’s Monica Niculescu and #12 seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands and the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova. Vandweghe did reach the semifinals last year playing with Anna-Lena Gronefeld while her teammate Hingis won the women’s doubles tournament last year with Sania Mirza.

Monday’s action is highlighted by a few prominent US matches. #8 Madison Keys will be facing fellow American Allison Riske in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the final match of the night. #26 Jack Sock faces fellow American Taylor Fritz in Louis Armstrong Stadium as the fourth match of the AM session, no earlier than 5:30 PM ET. #20 John Isner is second up on the new grandstand where he’ll face fellow American Francis Tiafoe. Two matches later on that court Bethanie Mattek-Sands faces #13 Johanna Konta.

Samantha Crawford leads off court 17 with a matchup against #24 Belinda Bencic, #28 Coco Vandeweghe is second on court 13 against Naomi Osaka, and Shelby Rogers faces #27 Sara Errani in the second match on court 12. There’s also one other all-American matchup as Madison Brengle faces Kayla Day in the fourth match on court four.

The WTA and ATP both had an important tournament between the Olympics and the US Open. The Western and Southern Open was a Masters 1000 level event for the ATP and a Premier 5 level event for the WTA. Steve Johnson advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles tournament before losing 6-7(8), 2-6 to Grigor Dimitrov. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan advanced to the men’s doubles semifinals before losing 3-6, 6-7(5) to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. In women’s doubles Coco Vandeweghe advanced to the final with partner Martina Hingis of Switzerland before losing 5-7, 4-6 to Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova.

US Open Coverage:
TV: ESPN 1-6 PM ET, ESPN2 6-11 PM ET
Online: WatchESPN has full coverage of multiple courts on their app/website
Live Stats: US Open Website, US Open App
Twitter: US Open, ESPN Tennis
Schedule of Play: US Open Website