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Sports · US Open 2026 · Men's Singles · Round of 128
Aleksandar Vukic vs Rei Sakamoto — 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4 3-6 6-4
 Rei Sakamoto✓ | 6 | 65 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
 Aleksandar Vukic | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
Final · Monday, August 31, 2026 · Round of 128
Result
Thirty-eight aces from Sakamoto, 22 from Vukic — 60 between them across five sets and two days. Sakamoto broke early in the first, led the second-set tiebreak 5-4 before a double fault cost him three straight points, took the third on his third break point of the tenth game, and lost the fourth after opening it with another double fault. He broke in the first game of the fifth, and when rain stopped play with him a break up he came back on Monday, won six points on serve and none other, and closed it out. Seventy-six winners to 50, 154 points to 142, 3 hours 19 minutes. It is his first Grand Slam main-draw win; he qualified by beating Kei Nishikori, who retires at the end of the season.
Aleksandar VukicRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
At this Stage
The Round of 128 is the widest the net ever gets: 64 matches a draw, spread across three days, every seed in action and every qualifier playing the biggest match of the year. This half of the bracket filled in late — qualifying ran a day long after rain pushed the last round to Friday, so these names were still blank slots on draw night. First-round losers leave with $140,000. The winner draws Damm or Tiafoe in the Round of 64.
What we know now
What I said beforehand
The preview, frozen before the first serve. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the pick worth anything.
Vukic is 30, ranked 95th, 15–20 on the season with an 81–86 career hard record; Sakamoto is a 20-year-old qualifier ranked 157th, 8–8, playing his first US Open main draw. They met in Tokyo qualifying last year and Vukic won 6-4 7-6(5). Experience, the head-to-head and a best-of-five format all point the same way, but a 51-point hard-court Elo gap is nothing, and Sakamoto is the one improving. Vukic in four.
The case for Aleksandar Vukic
59% to winHe has beaten Sakamoto already, on a hard court, in straight sets, and he has 167 career hard-court matches to the 20-year-old's 24. Best-of-five punishes inexperience more than any other format, and Vukic has played this tournament before.
The case for Rei Sakamoto
41% to winSakamoto is ten years younger, 8–8 against Vukic's 15–20, and has three qualifying wins on these courts inside the week. The hard-court Elo gap is 51 points — close to nothing — and their one meeting was a tiebreak away from going the other way.
Both cases written 2026-08-29, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
My locked pick: Aleksandar Vukic to advance ✗ WRONG
“He has already beaten Sakamoto on a hard court, and best-of-five rewards the 167-match experience gap.”
Locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Aleksandar VukicRei SakamotoPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-08-28.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Storylines
- Sakamoto, 20, is playing his first US Open main draw after qualifying.
- Vukic won their only meeting, Tokyo qualifying 2025, 6-4 7-6(5).
- The hard-court Elo gap is just 51 points — one of the tightest in the round.
Head to head
One meeting: Tokyo qualifying, 2025, Vukic 6-4 7-6(5) on hard.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Court & schedule: Court 7, Monday 31 August. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before; this one is on the board. (Official US Open order of play, as of 2026-08-30)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — was forecast at 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that could not be pushed back. The rain came in the morning and stopped before the final, which Ashe played with its roof open. It cleared from there: 15% overnight, 15% Monday, then dry and sunny. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.