NEW YORK – Carlos Alkaraz and Novak Djokovic begin their quest for another US open title and face potentially difficult American enemies.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams will return to the event at the age of 45 against No. 11 seed Carolina Verva, a former French open finalist who reached the semi-finals in New York for the past two years.
This was one of the early highlight matches after the draw took place on Thursday for a boys and women’s singles tournament.
They began on Sunday, and began a day before the past, with the recent pair of US Open Champions able to be tested early.
Second seed Alcaraz begins against Riley Opelka. The former top 20 player before the injury, Opelka is 6-foot-11 with a strong serve who rode the fourth round in New York in 2021.
Alcaraz won his lonely US open title the following year, adding four more Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic owns a record of 24 men, including four at the US Open. The seeded seventh faces 19-year-old left-handed learner Tien, who confused Danil Medvedev on his way to the fourth round of this year’s Australia Open.
Now, at age 38, Djokovic may have to beat 2024 open runner Taylor Fritz, the fourth seeded in the quarterfinals.
Williams handed the wild card from the American Tennis Association to the tournament, winning two of his seven Grand Slam single titles, making him the oldest player to compete in singles with the Flushing Meadows since 1981.
However, she faces someone who has shown the ability to raise the game in the biggest tournaments. Muchova reached the semi-finals in New York that later that summer and once again last year after falling to the French Open Finals.
The third seed Kokogoff, who won his first major title at the 2023 US Open, will face Australian Azilatum Janovich, who defeated Williams’ sister Serena in the final match of 2022.
The potential quarterfinal for the men’s side is Jack Draper, Sinner vs. No. 5, and the third Alexander Zverev vs. No. 8 Alex de Minaur is in the top half of the bracket. The bottom half is Alkaraz vs. No. 6 Ben Shelton and Fritz vs. Djokovic.
The women’s quarters could be in the upper half of the defending champions, No. 1 seed Arena Sabalenka vs No. 7 Jasmine Paolini and No. 4 Jessica Pegra vs No. 5 Mira Andreva. On the other side, we were able to see Swiatek’s Romp’s rematch at the Wimbledon Finals and No. 2 Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova at Australia’s Open Champion Gauff vs. No. 6 Madison Keys.
