Updated Aug. 23, 2026: The last piece of the Challenge system plays out today. The four-player US Open Qualifying Wild Card Challenge is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23 on courts 4-7 during the opening day of Fan Week, with the winner taking the final place in the qualifying draw that begins Monday. Separately, the tournament’s discretionary main-draw wild cards were completed on Saturday: Sofia Kenin and Patrick Kypson took the last two, which were awarded outside this Challenge.
Updated Aug. 18, 2026: Both Challenge winners have been formally entered. The USTA confirmed its US Open main-draw wild cards on Tuesday, and JJ Wolf and Carol Young Suh Lee appear on the men’s and women’s lists on the places they earned here. Wolf is one of five Americans among the seven men named, alongside Martin Damm, Michael Zheng, Jack Kennedy and Sebastian Gorzny. Lee joins Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Reese Brantmeier, Thea Frodin, Leolia Jeanjean and Taylah Preston on the women’s list. One place in each draw remains unassigned. The full wild card picture is tracked here.
Updated Aug. 14, 2026: Both races are settled. JJ Wolf and Carol Young Suh Lee have won the men’s and women’s Challenges and will enter the US Open main draw on wild cards. Lee took the women’s race on the strength of the final two counting weeks, qualifying for and then winning the WTA 125 in Warsaw after qualifying for and reaching the second round of the WTA 250 in Prague, a finish that lifted her above the names that had led the published standings for most of the window. Caroline Dolehide finished second on 122 points and Elvina Kalieva third on 120. Wolf clinched on the men’s side when Andres Martin, who had moved into second place, went out of the Challenger 75 in Brownsburg, Indiana. Wolf banked 125 points for winning the Challenger 125 in Vancouver, his first title at that level since 2021, and he won this same Challenge in 2022 before reaching the third round in New York. The men’s window formally runs to Aug. 16, but no result now available can change the order. Wolf came through qualifying at the Cincinnati Open this week, where results do not count toward the Challenge either way.
Updated Aug. 11: The women’s Challenge closed Sunday, Aug. 9, and the USTA has not yet named a winner. The last published standings had Elvina Kalieva leading Caroline Dolehide by 18 points. Neither did much to change that in the final counting week, the W100 in Landisville, Pennsylvania, where the title went to Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel and its 100 points therefore left the Challenge pool: Kalieva lost her opening match and Dolehide reached the quarterfinals. Both women have since been given main-draw wild cards into the Cincinnati Open, confirmed by the WTA alongside Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Darja Vidmanova and Lois Boisson. Cincinnati sits inside the qualifying window but its results are excluded from the Challenge for both fields, so neither player’s total moves this week. The men’s Challenge runs to Aug. 16, with JJ Wolf leading Michael Zheng by 87 points after his Challenger 125 title in Vancouver. Both are in the Cincinnati qualifying draw this week, which does not count toward either total.
The men’s race has one counting week left. This page will be updated when the winners are confirmed.
The US Open Wild Card Challenge is the route by which one American man and one American woman play their way into the US Open main draw on results rather than reputation. It runs across the summer hard-court swing, and it is the most meritocratic of the eight singles wild cards the tournament hands out.
How the Challenge works
Players accumulate ranking points from eligible hard-court tournaments during a fixed window. The totals are cumulative but capped: only a set number of results count, so a single deep run matters more than steady accumulation.
The men’s wild card goes to the American with the highest total of ATP singles ranking points from his best four results over five weeks, counting outdoor and indoor hard-court events at M25 level and above anywhere in the world. The women’s goes to the American with the highest total of WTA points from her best three results over four weeks, counting events at W35 level and above. Points earned in qualifying count alongside main-draw points.
Key dates
- Challenge began: week of July 13, for both men and women
- Women’s Challenge ends: Sunday, Aug. 9
- Men’s Challenge ends: Sunday, Aug. 16
- US Open main draw: Aug. 30 – Sept. 13
Why Cincinnati does not count
Results from the Cincinnati Open are excluded for both the men and the women. It is the largest hard-court event inside the Challenge window and the one carrying the most ranking points, and none of it registers. A contender who receives a Cincinnati wild card gains a valuable week for her ranking and nothing at all for this race. The exclusion keeps the Challenge focused on the Pro Circuit and Challenger events that its target players actually contest.
Who is eligible
Any American who would otherwise reach the main draw is excluded, including players entering on a protected ranking. If the player topping the standings earns direct entry before the wild card is awarded, it passes to the next eligible American on the list. Ties are broken by the better singles ranking on the Monday after the Challenge closes.
That structure means the leaderboard alone never settles it. A contender climbing fast enough to enter on ranking effectively removes herself from the Challenge by succeeding at it.
Where the race stands
At the halfway point Dolehide led the women’s standings after winning the W100 in Evansville, Indiana, the biggest title of her career. Elvina Kalieva has since moved ahead of her, reaching the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Memphis to lead by 18 points, with Ayana Akli third after reaching the final of the W75 in Lexington, Kentucky. Zheng, a two-time NCAA singles champion, led the men at the same stage, but JJ Wolf has since taken over at the top by winning the Challenger 125 in Vancouver and now heads Zheng by 87 points. Andres Martin is third. Wolf has won this before. He took the 2022 Challenge and reached the third round at that year’s US Open, and was ranked inside the top 40 as recently as 2023, which makes him the rare contender chasing a wild card back to a level he has already held.
Kalieva lost her opening match at the W100 in Landisville, Pennsylvania, while Dolehide won hers, leaving the two within reach of each other going into the final weekend. That defeat locks Kalieva’s total, because Landisville was the last counting event open to her. The Landisville final is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 9, the same day the Challenge closes. Dolehide cannot simply add whatever she earns there, though. The women’s standings count each player’s best three results across the four weeks, so points from Pennsylvania have to displace her own lowest counting result before they move her past Kalieva. Zheng has since entered the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship with Reese Brantmeier, and is in the Cincinnati Open qualifying field — a week that will not count toward his total here.
The Challenge as a launchpad
The USTA runs the same format for the Australian and French Opens, and the winners’ list is a reasonable predictor of who arrives next. Iva Jovic won the Roland Garros Challenge in 2025 ranked No. 120 and is now the youngest player in the WTA top 20. Learner Tien and Amanda Anisimova both won US Open Challenges in 2024 and are both now inside the top 20. Tommy Paul won two between 2017 and 2019 before reaching the top 10.
Recent US Open Wild Card Challenge winners
- 2025: Emilio Nava (first round); Caty McNally (second round)
- 2024: Learner Tien (first round); Amanda Anisimova (first round)
- 2023: Steve Johnson (first round); Kayla Day (first round)
- 2022: JJ Wolf (third round); Elizabeth Mandlik (second round)
- 2019: Ernesto Escobedo (first round); Kristie Ahn (fourth round)
The Challenge is one strand of a wider allocation. The full picture of who already holds a place in New York and who is still waiting sits in our US Open wild card tracker.
Frequently asked questions
What is the US Open Wild Card Challenge?
It is a USTA competition that awards a US Open singles main-draw wild card to one American man and one American woman based on ranking points earned at hard-court tournaments during a fixed summer window.
When does the 2026 US Open Wild Card Challenge end?
The women’s Challenge ends Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. The men’s Challenge ends Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026.
Do Cincinnati Open results count toward the Challenge?
No. Results from the Cincinnati Open are excluded for both the men’s and women’s Challenge, even though the event falls inside the qualifying window.
Who is eligible for the US Open Wild Card Challenge?
American players who would not otherwise reach the main draw. Anyone earning direct entry, including on a protected ranking, is ineligible, and the wild card passes to the next eligible American in the standings.
How many results count toward a player’s total?
The men count their best four results across five weeks. The women count their best three results across four weeks. Qualifying points count alongside main-draw points.
