Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a tough draw on his return to singles competition after a four-month injury layoff as he faces the in-form Russian Roman Safiullin in the first round of the US Open.
Alcaraz, the defending champion in New York, has not competed in singles since sustaining a right wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in April, with the Spaniard missing the French Open, where he was also the defending champion, and Wimbledon. He was understandably rusty and tentative with his first serve when making his first competitive appearance since the injury alongside Serena Williams in the mixed doubles event on Tuesday, with the pair losing in the quarter-finals and the 44-year-old Williams even outperforming him during large parts of their time on court. His opening match against the world No 98 Safiullin, who has risen more than 100 places in the world rankings this year after returning from injury and defeated Alcaraz indoors at the Paris Masters in 2023, will be a significant first challenge.
Between the uncertainty surrounding Alcaraz due to his lack of match play and the absence of the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, who was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury, the men’s Flushing Meadows draw is as open as it has been in years. As the second seed, Alcaraz’s section includes both the eighth seed, Ben Shelton, and the 10th seed, Arthur Fils, the winners of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open respectively, the two ATP Masters 1000 events leading up to the US Open. Fils will face a high-profile first-round opponent in the former world No 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The four-time champion Novak Djokovic will begin his latest attempt to become the oldest singles grand slam champion in the open era as the fourth seed in Alcaraz’s half of the draw. He faces Mariano Navone in the first round with the out-of-form seventh seed Daniil Medvedev the highest-ranked seed in the Serb’s quarter. Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion, is the top seed at a grand slam tournament for the first time and faces the Italian Lorenzo Sonego in his opener.
While a large group of players have an opportunity to make a career-defining breakthrough in the men’s draw, it will be difficult for the rank-and-file competitors to stop the strong group of elite players at the top of the women’s draw despite their differing form. Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion, will begin against Camila Osorio as she tries to hold on to her No 1 ranking after a difficult few months.
The highest ranked players in Sabalenka’s half are the in-form third seed, Jessica Pegula, a potential semi-final opponent, the Wimbledon champion and sixth seed, Linda Noskova, and the seventh seed, Karolina Muchova, the runner-up at Wimbledon. However, considering Sabalenka’s recent results, even a potential third-round match with the two-time grand slam champion and 27th seed, Barbora Krejcikova, cannot be taken for granted.
The strong bottom half of the draw, meanwhile, is overflowing with title contenders.. Elena Rybakina, the second seed, seemed to be in an ideal position to usurp Sabalenka at the top of the rankings but her form is uncertain after she was forced to retire from her quarter-final against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati last week due to a leg injury.
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Swiatek, the eighth seed, and the fourth seed, Coco Gauff, were the two most notable performers in the buildup to the US Open, winning in Toronto and Cincinnati respectively. Swiatek could face Rybakina in the quarter-finals, while the highest ranked player in Coco Gauff’s section is the French Open champion and fifth seed, Mirra Andreeva. Other contenders include the 13th seed and two-time champion Naomi Osaka, who could face Rybakina in round four, and last year’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova.
