Although the world’s top racket Jannik Sinner (ATP-1) will not come to New York this year due to a knee injury, Carlos Alcaraz (ATP-3) will seek to defend the champion’s title, and this will be his first official tournament after a serious wrist injury.
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However, the draw does not promise an easy path for the Spanish tennis prodigy, and a serious threat awaits already in the first round, where he will face Roman Safiullin (ATP-98).
The very aggressive Russian defeated C. Alcaraz in Paris in 2023, and quite recently reached the Wimbledon round of 16, where he only lost to Novak Djokovic (ATP-5) after a tough fight.
In the round of 16, seeded second “Carlitos” will most likely face Tommy Paul (ATP-21) or Alexander Bublik (ATP-16), and in the quarterfinals – Ben Shelton (ATP-9) or Arthur Fils (ATP-11), who won the last two “Masters” tournaments.
In the lower half of the draw are players such as N. Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev (ATP-8), Frances Tiafoe (ATP-12), and Brandon Nakashima (ATP-17) – Alcaraz could possibly meet one of them in the semifinals.
Seeking his 25th “Grand Slam” trophy, Nole will start against Mariano Navone (ATP-48), and an intriguing battle against Stan Wawrinka (ATP-127) or Matteo Berrettini (ATP-43) awaits in the second round.
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Comfortably settled in the upper part of the table is the tournament’s top racket Alexander Zverev (ATP-2), who managed to avoid the most dangerous opponents.
Potential opponents on the German’s path include Lorenzo Musetti (ATP-14), Rafael Jodar (ATP-13), Taylor Fritz (ATP-10), Flavio Cobolli (ATP-6), or Felix Auger-Aliassime (ATP-4).
The main “US Open” tournament starting on Sunday will also mark the end of the “Grand Slam” careers of such legends as the aforementioned S. Wawrinka and Gael Monfils, while among the unseeded players is Stefanos Tsitsipas, who will face the French super talent Fils in the first round.
Before the start of the men’s singles competition, Joao Fonseca (ATP-26) and Ugo Humbert (ATP-30) withdrew due to injuries, and Holger Rune (ATP-133) postponed his return after a serious Achilles tendon injury.
- Stan Wawrinka – Matteo Berrettini
- Arthur Fils – Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Carlos Alcaraz – Roman Safiullin
- Lorenzo Musetti – Arthur Fery
- Novak Djokovic – Mariano Navone
- Casper Ruud – Juan Manuel Cerundolo
- Marin Čilić – Andrey Rublev
- Ben Shelton – Tallon Griekspoor
- Jiri Lehečka – Pablo Carreno-Busta
