New York. Thursday’s US Open draw appears to have been a little more lenient on Novak Djokovic than on Jannik Sinner, who has 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz and 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev in his draw.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Coco Gauff (3rd) could meet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2nd) in the semi-finals, whom she defeated in last year’s final.
World number one and winner of his first Grand Slam title in Australia in January, Sinner arrives in New York amid controversy following a double positive doping test (anabolic steroids) in March, of which he was cleared.
The 23-year-old Italian, as discreet as his tennis is explosive, will have a few matches to get his tournament off to a good start, starting with the American Mackenzie McDonald (93rd).
But if he is to win his second major trophy of the year and of his career, he will have to prove his worth: the draw promises Medvedev in the quarter-finals and then Alcaraz in the semi-finals before a possible final against Djokovic, the last three winners of the tournament.
A Sinner-Medvedev quarter-final would be the third Major duel between the two players this year: the Italian came back from two sets down to win the Australian Open final and the Russian took revenge, also in five sets, on the grass of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals.
But it is in New York that Medvedev has made his name: he pushed Rafael Nadal into a fifth set in the 2019 final, deprived Djokovic of the final Grand Slam of the calendar by beating the Serb in the 2021 final, and reached the final again last year.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be looking to win his third Grand Slam of the year after Roland Garros and Wimbledon, his fifth in total at 21 years of age.
Although he is still on a rare run of two consecutive defeats, in the final of the Paris Olympic Games against Djokovic and in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 against Gaël Monfils, he will face a player from the qualifiers in his debut at Flushing Meadows.
At the bottom of the draw, defending champion Djokovic (2nd) will begin his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam title against a qualifier, but his path will nonetheless be strewn with obstacles.
Winner this summer in Paris of the only major title missing from his incomparable list of achievements, the Olympic gold medal in singles, the Serbian could find himself in the third round facing one of the players in form on hard courts: the Australian Alexei Popyrin (28th), winner of the Masters 1000 in Montreal.
If he wins, Djokovic could find himself in the round of 16 against Frances Tiafoe (ranked 20th) or Ben Shelton (13th), whom he already defeated in three sets last year in the semi-finals.
In this year’s semi-finals, the Serbian could face 2020 finalist Alexander Zverev (4th) or 2022 finalist Casper Ruud (8th).
In the women’s draw, defending champion Coco Gauff (3rd) could meet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2nd) in the semi-finals, whom she defeated in last year’s final.
The American will first face Frenchwoman of Russian origin Varvara Gracheva (66th). Sabalenka’s first match will be against a player from the qualifying round.
The other semi-final could pit world number 1 Iga Swiatek, winner in 2022, against Elena Rybakina (4th) or Jasmine Paolini (5th), finalists this year at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Swiatek, the 2022 winner, will face a qualifier in the first round and should overcome her first test in the third round against Russian Mirra Andreeva (21st), whom she defeated in three sets in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati last week.
#Djokovic #Sinner #Alcaraz #favourites #Open
– 2024-08-23 05:37:17
