NEW YORK – Novak Djokovic will launch his bid to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam at the US Open against a qualifier, but his path gets much tougher with potential clashes against Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev.
French Open runner-up and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on former champion Andy Murray in the pick of the first round matches. Murray is now ranked 114th in the world as he has struggled to regain full fitness after undergoing hip re-surfacing surgery in 2019.
In the women’s draw held in New York, top seed Ash Barty opens her campaign against Russian Vera Zvonareva while defending US Open champion Naomi Osaka will face Marie Bouzkova.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev will launch his bid to win his first major title against veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Zverev, who could be Djokovic’s semi-final opponent, has been the form player coming into Flushing Meadows, having upset the Serb on way to the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and then rolling to victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.
Last year Zverev was denied a maiden major at the US Open after being beaten in the final by Dominic Thiem, who is unable to defend his title due to a wrist injury.
Main draw action at the US Open starts on Monday, with the tournament being held with fans this year after taking place in a secure bubble last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s tournament has already witnessed several high-profile withdrawals, with Thiem being joined on the sidelines by Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
French Open finallist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will compete at the US Open after sorting out her visa issues that had forced her to withdraw from the Cincinnati tune-up event.
Pavlyuchenkova, 30, was unable to travel from Montreal to Cincinnati earlier this month due to visa issues and had hoped to get it in time for the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows in New York.
“Miracle happened, I got my visa,” Pavlyuchenkova, who is seeded 14th at the US Open, wrote on Twitter according to Reuters.
“Thanks for all supportive messages, it was a very stressful time and it’s a shame athletes still have to deal with this nonsense. Anyway, this off-court battle is over and I’m finally on my way to New York.”
The main draw of the US Open gets underway in New York on Monday. Pavlyuchenkova faces American Alison Riske in the first round.
Pavlyuchenkova competed at the Tokyo Olympics where she lost to eventual champion Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles competition but she captured gold in the mixed doubles event with Andrey Rublev.
The leading seeds had another tremendously successful day as the first round of US Open qualifying concluded.
After all five Top 10 seeds in action won their opening-round matches, the remaining five Top 10 seeds also went undefeated on Wednesday as the field of 128 was whittled down to 64.
16 spots are available for qualifiers into the main draw — as well as at least three more spots for lucky losers, following the unfortunate withdrawals of six-time US Open champion Serena Williams, her sister two-time US Open champion Venus Williams, and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
No.1 seed Ana Konjuh of Croatia led the field into the second round. The World No.87, who is having a resurgent season after years of recurring injuries, ousted Irina Fetecau of Romania, 7-6(2), 6-3, to win her first match of the week.
Konjuh had the best Grand Slam performance of her career to date at the 2016 US Open, where she reached the quarterfinals as an 18-year-old. That result helped her reach a career-high ranking of World No.20 in 2017 before she was set back by constant elbow injuries and surgeries.
This season, the Croat is back to winning ways, reaching her first WTA singles final in four years in Belgrade, and recently returning to the Top 100. But Konjuh was tested by Fetecau, with a 15-minute opening game that featured 11 deuces setting the stage.
Nevertheless, top-seeded Konjuh ultimately won 71 percent of her first-service points, compared to Fetecau’s 56 percent success rate behind that shot, and she gritted past the Romanian in an hour and 39 minutes.
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