The rise of college tennis is noticeable at the 2026 US Open
The world has become globalized, and tennis is a clear demonstration of this. New pathways to the elite have been successfully opened in recent years, and attending college tennis is becoming increasingly common. This is not surprising, considering the success many who went through the NCAA have had, making the jump to professionalism more mature after taking advantage of the spectacular facilities and quality of training and competition in American college tennis.
This season marks a turning point in the NCAA's influence on the ATP circuit, as over 20 players who passed through college tennis have appeared in all four Grand Slams. In this US Open 2026, a total of 22 men have honed their skills in the NCAA before making the leap to professionalism, some with as much success as Ben Shelton or Rafael Jódar.
22 men who played college tennis are in the #USOpen main draw this year. There have been more than 20 at each of the four majors this season.
These numbers account for nearly 15% of all main draw men's singles participants at Grand Slams. Big contrast with the 4% representation… pic.twitter.com/BCFQcC9BT2— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) August 28, 2026
This data represents 15% of the total tennis players in the US Open 2026 bracket, a figure that, when compared to the barely 4% in 2016, highlights how much the NCAA pathway has democratized as an ideal precursor to making the jump to the ATP circuit.
There are increasingly numerous and successful examples of players choosing to attend the American university structure, many of whom are international. Rinderknech and Vacherot are clear examples of this, as well as the British Arthur Fery, one of the revelations of the season so far.
There will be great attention to see how far they can go, and what seems certain is that this trend of greater relevance of college tennis still has room to continue growing in the coming years.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El auge del tenis universitario se hace notar en el US Open 2026