Huntington's Jack Kennedy to face qualifier in first round of U.S. Open men's singles tournament

The U.S. Open’s main draw was revealed Thursday afternoon, though Jack Kennedy will have to wait just a bit longer to know his opponent in his Grand Slam debut.

The 18-year-old Huntington native will face either a qualifier or a lucky loser, which is a player that loses in the qualifier but makes it into the main draw if another player withdraws, in the first round of the U.S. Open men’s singles tournament. The match day and time were not immediately released, though first-round matches will be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Qualifying is scheduled to end Thursday.

The winner of Kennedy’s match will face either 10th-seeded Arthur Fils, from France, or Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, a finalist in the 2023 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.

Kennedy, a freshman at the University of Virginia, received a wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open by winning the singles title at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Aug. 16. He told Newsday last week that playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam is “definitely my biggest moment so far.”

“In my eyes, it's really just a dream come true and I'm really looking forward to getting to play there,” he said.

While it’s Kennedy’s first time in the singles main draw at the U.S. Open, it isn’t his first championship experience at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He won last year’s junior boys double title alongside Keaton Hance. He also played in singles qualifying and junior boys singles in 2024 and 2025.

Kennedy won his first professional tournament in April: the M15 Boca Raton, a clay court tournament in Florida on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.