In just a few hours, the YONEX US Open 2025 gets underway in Iowa, USA. As a BWF Super 300 tournament, it promises five days of high-level badminton—and a strong European presence fighting for podium finishes come Sunday.
The matches start at 9:00 AM local time (4:00 PM CEST), with today’s schedule featuring qualification rounds before the main draw kicks off later this evening with men’s and women’s doubles first-round matches.
European contenders in qualification
Although the majority of European athletes are directly placed in the main draw, a few are taking to the courts today in hopes of earning their place through qualification. In the women’s singles, Ukraine’s Yevheniia Kantemyr and Spain’s Clara Azurmendi will be in action. In the men’s singles, Germany’s Fabian Foth and France’s Anogat Roy will be fighting for main draw spots. There are no European pairs in the qualification stage for any of the three doubles categories.
Main draw
While many of the world’s top-ranked players have chosen not to participate in this year’s US Open, several notable names remain in the draw, including Chou Tien Chen (TPE), Kenta Nishimoto (JPN), and Beiwen Zhang (USA).
Europe is also well represented, even though several top-tier players are absent. Among the standout European names are Danish men’s doubles pair William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjær, who recently reached the final of the Thailand Open Super 500, defeating former world No. 1s Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto and top-seeded Fang-Chih Lee/Fang-Jen Lee—whom they may meet again this week.
Their first-round match will be an all-Danish clash, as they face compatriots Rasmus Espersen and Andreas Søndergaard. This will be the debut tournament for Espersen/Søndergaard after Søndergaard recently split from his former partner Jesper Toft, who is now focusing solely on mixed doubles with Amalie Magelund.
Young stars to watch
Among the rising stars to watch is Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova, named BEC Young Player of the Year, who faces Brazil’s Juliana Viana Viera in the women’s singles. Other seeded European women’s singles players include Line Christophersen (DEN) and Polina Buhrova (UKR), seeded sixth and seventh respectively.
In the women’s doubles, Buhrova teams up with Yevheniia Kantemyr as the fourth seeds and receive a bye into the second round.
Exciting mixed doubles matchup
One of the most intriguing first-round mixed doubles matches is an all-European affair between Germany’s Marvin Seiden/Thuc Phuong Nguyen and Spain’s Ruben Garcia/Lucia Rodriguez. Seiden and Nguyen, though newly partnered, have already claimed two titles from three appearances on the European Circuit. The US Open marks their first joint Super Series tournament.
European strength in men’s singles
The men’s singles category also holds promise for European success, with nine European players in the draw. Among them are Julien Carraggi (BEL), Kalle Koljonen and Joakim Oldorff (FIN), and France’s Arnaud Merklé, who arrives in strong form after winning the Denmark Challenge last month.
