US Open draw: Alcaraz lands on Sinner’s side but avoids Djokovic
The Spaniard could face the Italian in the semi-finals, at the centre of the controversy over his double positive test. The Serbian, the reigning champion, can only face Carlos in the final.
With the world of tennis still reeling from the double positive test by world number one Jannik Sinner, the draw for the US Open men’s and women’s singles was held in New York on Thursday. Despite these violations of the anti-doping code, the Italian entered the US Grand Slam as top seed, having been cleared of blame by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which considered him the victim of involuntary contamination with the substance clostebol.
Another Alcaraz-Djokovic final on the cards?
Carlos Alcaraz could potentially find himself in the semi-finals with Sinner, because both players feature on the same side of the bracket, although not in the same section. The Spaniard, who avoids Novak Djokovic, the reigning champion, will begin his participation in the tournament against a player who came through the preliminary qualifiers, and should he progress, will not have to face the Serbian until a hypothetical final.
Alcaraz, the 2022 winner, could possibly face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (ranked 73rd) in the second round, British Jack Draper (25th) in the third, American Sebastian Korda (16th) in the round of 16 and Pole Hubert Hurkacz (7th) in the quarter-finals, before the hypothetical clashes with Sinner and Djokovic.
Nole will also face a qualifier, while the Italian will make his debut against the American Mackenzie McDonald (140). Last year’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev has been pitted against Serbian Dusan Lajovic (66).
Potential Gauff versus Sabalenka semifinal
As for the women’s singles draw, defending champion Coco Gauff will face France’s Varvara Gracheva and could possibly face last year’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. The recent Cincinnati Open winner will start out facing a yet-to-be-determined rival from the qualifying rounds.
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka will face No. 10 seed and former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in Round 1. World No.1 and 2022 champion Iga Swiatek and No. 4 Elena Rybakina will both face opponents from the preliminaries in the first round, with the Pole potentially coming face to face with Sabalenka or Paula Badosa in the final.
As for the other top seeds, Jasmine Paolini has been drawn against Bianca Andreescu, Jessica Pegula faces fellow American Shelby Rogers, Emma Navarro will take on Anna Blinkova, Madison Keys drew Czech Katerina Siniakova and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens meets Clara Burel. Another interesting Round 1 matchup sees 2021 winner Emma Raducanu against Sofia Kenin.