Two-time defending champion

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

defeated

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...

in a rematch of the previous year's final, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1981 US Open. It was his third US Open singles title and fourth

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

singles title overall. It was Borg's fourth runner-up finish at the US Open, his career-best finish at the event. The final would mark the 14th and final meeting between the pair (with McEnroe's victory leveling the rivalry at 7–7) as well as the last major appearance of eleven-time major champion Borg, due to his later retirement from the sport. He left the venue before the trophy ceremony, emotionally distraught.

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below.

is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.

Draw

Key

* Q = Qualifier * WC = Wild card * LL =

Lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...

* r =

Retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Final eight

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

External links

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 1981 US Open Men's Singles draw1981 US Open – Men's draws and results
at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981 US Open - Men's Singles Men's singles US Open (tennis) by year – Men's singles