U.S. Open draw: Sinner, Alcaraz together in top half

The 2024 U.S. Open men’s singles draw was revealed on Thursday afternoon. It produced a loaded top half, in which rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are on a collision course for the semifinals.

That leaves Djokovic on the other side with a favorable path to the final. The 37-year-old Serb could face either Ben Shelton or Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round, Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals, and Alexander Zverev in the semis. Jan-Lennard Struff is a potential second-round opponent for Djokovic.

A Sinner vs. Alcaraz semifinal showdown is the expected result, but neither one–especially not Sinner–can assume it’s a slam dunk. The top-ranked Italian has struggled with a hip problem this summer and now he has a steroid controversy dominating the tennis conversation. Sinner’s draw is a terrible one, too, with Daniil Medvedev in the same quarter and Americans Alex Michelsen and Tommy Paul as possible early opponents (second and fourth round, respectively). Alcaraz could meet Denis Shapovalov in round two, Jack Draper in round three, and Sebastian Korda in round four.

If the seeds all advance, quarterfinal matchups would be Sinner vs. Medvedev, Alcaraz vs. Hubert Hurkacz, Zverev vs. Casper Ruud, and Djokovic vs. Rublev.

First-round showdowns to watch are Shelton vs. Dominic Thiem, Zverev vs. Emil Ruusuvuori, Draper vs. Zhizhen Zhang, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis, Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Jakub Mensik, Alexander Bublik vs. Jerry Shang, Holger Rune vs. Brandon Nakashima, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Full PDF draw at the U.S. Open website

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