| Champ: |  Rafael Nadal |
| Runner: |  Kevin Anderson |
| Score: | 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Draw: | 128 (16 / 8) |
| Seeds: | 32 |
| Before Name: | US Open – Men's singles |
| After Name: | US Open – Men's singles |
See main article: article and 2017 US Open (tennis).
Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson in the final, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2017 US Open.[1] It was his third US Open title and 16th major title overall. It was also his first hard court title since January 2014.
Stan Wawrinka was the reigning champion, but did not participate due to a knee injury that ended his season prematurely. Wawrinka's withdrawal ended his streak of 50 consecutive major appearances, dating back to the 2005 French Open.[2] Reigning finalist Novak Djokovic also withdrew due to an elbow injury that ended his season, ending his streak of 51 consecutive major appearances, dating back to the 2005 Australian Open.[3] Accordingly, this was the first men's singles draw at the US Open since 1971 to include neither finalist from the previous year's tournament.
After the loss of Marin Čilić in the third round, a first-time major finalist was guaranteed from the bottom half of the draw. Anderson was the first South African man to reach the final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965, and at any major singles final since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open, as well as the lowest-ranked man to reach the US Open singles final since the ATP rankings began in 1973.[4] [5] Anderson was also the tallest major finalist in history, at 6 feet 8 inches.[6]
Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray were in contention for the world No. 1 singles ranking at the start of the tournament. Nadal retained the top ranking following Murray's withdrawal and Federer's loss in the quarterfinals.
Federer broke the men's singles record for total appearances at majors with his 71st participation. He was attempting to go undefeated at the majors for the season (having won the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships and not played the French Open), but lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals. Andrey Rublev became the youngest man to reach the US Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick in 2001, and Denis Shapovalov became the youngest man to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Michael Chang in 1989.[7] Sam Querrey became the first American man to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open since John Isner and Andy Roddick in 2011. Diego Schwartzman became the shortest man (5 feet 7 inches) to reach a major singles quarterfinal since Jaime Yzaga (also 5 feet 7 inches) at the 1994 US Open.
This tournament marked the first US Open main draw appearance of future world No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev; he lost in the first round to Shapovalov.
The following are the seeded players. Seeds are based on the rankings as of August 21, 2017. Rank and points before are as of August 28, 2017.
| Seed | Rank | Player | Points before | Points defending | Points won | Points after | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Rafael Nadal | 7,645 | 180 | 2,000 | 9,465 | Champion, defeated Kevin Anderson [28] | |
 Andy Murray | 7,150 | 360 | 0 | 6,790 | Withdrew due to hip injury[8] | |||
| 3 | 3 | Roger Federer | 7,145 | 0 | 360 | 7,505 | Quarterfinals lost to  Juan Martín del Potro [24] | |
| 4 | 6 | 4,470 | 45 | 45 | 4,470 | Second round lost to Borna Ćorić | ||
| 5 | 7 | Marin Čilić | 4,155 | 90 | 90 | 4,155 | Third round lost to Diego Schwartzman [29] | |
| 6 | 8 |  Dominic Thiem | 4,030 | 180 | 180 | 4,030 | Fourth round lost to Juan Martín del Potro [24] | |
| 7 | 9 | Grigor Dimitrov | 3,710 | 180 | 45 | 3,575 | ||
| 8 | 12 |  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 2,690 | 360 | 45 | 2,375 | Second round lost to  Denis Shapovalov [Q] | |
| 9 | 14 |  David Goffin | 2,525 | 10 | 180 | 2,695 | ||
| 10 | 15 |  John Isner | 2,425 | 90 | 90 | 2,425 | Third round lost to Mischa Zverev [23] | |
| 11 | 13 | Roberto Bautista Agut | 2,525 | 90 | 90 | 2,525 | Third round lost to Juan Martín del Potro [24] | |
| 12 | 19 | Pablo Carreño Busta | 2,225 | 90 | 720 | 2,855 | Semifinals lost to Kevin Anderson [28] | |
| 13 | 16 | 2,345 | 180 | 10 | 2,175 | First round lost to  Jordan Thompson | ||
| 14 | 17 | Nick Kyrgios | 2,325 | 90 | 10 | 2,245 | First round lost to John Millman [PR] | |
| 15 | 18 |  Tomáš Berdych | 2,310 | 0 | 45 | 2,355 | Second round lost to  Alexandr Dolgopolov | |
| 16 | 20 | Lucas Pouille | 2,210 | 360 | 180 | 2,030 | Fourth round lost to Diego Schwartzman [29] | |
| 17 | 21 | Sam Querrey | 2,095 | 10 | 360 | 2,445 | Quarterfinals lost to Kevin Anderson [28] | |
| 18 | 22 | Gaël Monfils | 1,915 | 720 | 90 | 1,285 | Third round retired against David Goffin [9] | |
| 19 | 23 |  Gilles Müller | 1,885 | 10 | 45 | 1,920 | Second round lost to  Paolo Lorenzi | |
| 20 | 24 | Albert Ramos Viñolas | 1,815 | 45 | 45 | 1,815 | Second round lost to Nicolas Mahut [Q] | |
| 21 | 25 | David Ferrer | 1,695 | 90 | 10 | 1,615 | First round lost to vs.  Mikhail Kukushkin [Q] | |
| 22 | 26 | Fabio Fognini | 1,580 | 45 | 10 | 1,545 | First round lost to Stefano Travaglia [Q] | |
| 23 | 27 | Mischa Zverev | 1,484 | 70 | 180 | 1,594 | Fourth round lost to Sam Querrey [17] | |
| 24 | 28 | Juan Martín del Potro | 1,460 | 360 | 720 | 1,820 | Semifinals lost to Rafael Nadal [1] | |
| 25 | 29 |  Karen Khachanov | 1,390 | 70 | 10 | 1,330 | First round lost to Lu Yen-hsun | |
| 26 | 30 | Richard Gasquet | 1,390 | 10 | 10 | 1,390 | First round lost to Leonardo Mayer [LL] | |
| 27 | 31 | Pablo Cuevas | 1,360 | 45 | 10 | 1,325 | First round lost to  Damir Džumhur | |
| 28 | 32 | 1,360 | 90 | 1,200 | 2,470 | Runner-up, lost to Rafael Nadal [1] | ||
| 29 | 33 | Diego Schwartzman | 1,280 | 10+90 | 360+45 | 1,585 | Quarterfinals lost to Pablo Carreño Busta [12] | |
| 30 | 34 | Adrian Mannarino | 1,255 | 10 | 90 | 1,335 | Third round lost to Dominic Thiem [6] | |
| 31 | 35 | Feliciano López | 1,250 | 45 | 90 | 1,295 | Third round lost to Roger Federer [3] | |
| 32 | 36 | Robin Haase | 1,168 | 10+48 | 10+45 | 1,165 | First round lost to Kyle Edmund | |
| 33 | 37 | Philipp Kohlschreiber | 1,135 | 10 | 180 | 1,305 | Fourth round lost to Roger Federer [3] |
The following players would have been seeded, but withdrew before the tournament began.
| Rank | Player | Points before | Points defending | Points after | Withdrawal reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5,690 | 2,000 | 3,690 | Knee injury[9] | ||
| 5 | 5,325 | 1,200 | 4,125 | Elbow injury[10] | ||
| 10 | 3,195 | 720 | 2,475 | Wrist injury[11] | ||
| 11 | 2,870 | 45 | 2,825 | Wrist injury[12] |
See main article: 2017 US Open – Men's singles qualifying.