(New York) Novak Djokovic’s return to the U.S. Open after a year-long absence as he was not vaccinated against COVID-19 will be with a duel against a player who will be in his first career match at the tournament.
In the ladies, defending champion Iga Swiatek and one of the local favorites Coco Gauff were placed in the same quarter of the table, Thursday, during the draw.
The favorite Carlos Alcaraz, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2022, and the Italian Jannik Sinner, sixth seed, could again cross swords in the quarter-finals. Last year, Alcaraz beat Sinner in five sets in a game that ended at 2:50 a.m., the latest game to end in tournament history.
Main draw matches will begin on Monday.
Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime, seeded 15, will face American Mackenzie McDonald, ranked 39 in the world, in the first round. For his part, the veteran Milos Raonic will cross swords with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded seventh. Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov is out of the tournament due to a knee injury.
On the women’s side, Laval’s Leylah Annie Fernandez will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 22nd seed. If Fernandez wins, she could play compatriot Bianca Andreescu in the second round. Andreescu has a date with Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. For her part, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino will play against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig.
Djokovic is back where he won three of his 23 major titles. The 36-year-old Serb was unable to participate in the tournament last year as his vaccination status prevented him from traveling to the United States. He returned home for the first time in two years last week for the Cincinnati tournament. He defeated Alcaraz in the final in a duel lasting nearly four hours.
The challenge will be different for Djokovic in the first round next week. He will face Alexandre Müller, a 26-year-old Frenchman who is ranked No. 85 in the world and will be making his main draw debut at Flushing Meadows. Müller lost in the first round of qualifying in 2021 and 2022. He appears to be unlucky in Grand Slam draws, as he faced Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Sinner at Roland Garros.
Gauff, seeded sixth, defeated Swiatek recently en route to the title in Cincinnati. She had lost each of her first seven matches against the Pole, including the French Open final in 2022. Gauff is 11-1 since a first-round elimination at Wimbledon. She will play against a player from the qualifiers in the first round.
Alcaraz will have a date with Germany’s Dominik Köpfer, who reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in 2019.
The other quarterfinals could pit 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev against Andrey Rublev, Djokovic against Tsitsipas and Holger Rune against Casper Ruud.
In the ladies, the other quarterfinals could pit Elena Rybakina against Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka against 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula against Caroline Garcia.
Pegula, who has never made it past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam, faces the experienced Italian Camila Giorgi in the first round.
The venerable Venus Williams, 43 and two-time champion in the spotlight in New York, will face Spaniard Paula Badosa. The latter was ranked second in the world last year, but slipped to 46th.
The theoretical quarter-finals (based on seeds) of the 2023 edition of the United States Open which begin on Monday, according to the draw carried out on Thursday.