Sinner, Alcaraz on US Open SF collision course

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are on a semi-final collision course at the US Open, it was revealed on Thursday afternoon when the draw was released.

Sinner and Alcaraz played in one of the most memorable matches in recent memory in the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, when they battled late into the night for more than five hours before the Spaniard prevailed. Alcaraz went on to lift the trophy and become World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

If they meet this year, it will be in the last four. Top seed Sinner will begin his tournament against American Mackenzie McDonald, against whom he owns a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record. They most recently met in last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, where the Italian prevailed in three sets.

Second seed Novak Djokovic and third seed Alcaraz will both begin their tournament against a qualifier.

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Sinner could need to beat former World No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals and Alcaraz in semi-finals just to reach the final at the season's final major. Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, headlines the bottom half of the draw.

The Italian's top quarter of the draw is loaded with dangerous opponents. Beyond fifth seed Medvedev, who will face Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the first round, other players in the quarter include 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, Paris Olympics fourth-place finisher Felix Auger-Aliassime, #NextGenATP standouts Arthur Fils and Jakub Mensik, 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka and surging Italian Flavio Cobolli, the 31st seed.

The first seeded opponent Sinner could face is 26th seed Nicolas Jarry, the big-hitting Chilean, who won their only previous meeting in 2019 in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Alcaraz, the 2022 champion who has won the past two majors (Roland Garros and Wimbledon), also faces a tricky path. If he advances past a qualifier in the first round, he will take on former World No. 10 Denis Shapovalov or big-hitting Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. 

Jack Draper, the 25th seed, looms as a potential third-round opponent for Alcaraz. The Briton upset the Spaniard earlier this year at Queen's Club.

Djokovic has not played since capturing the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, so he will try to find his form immediately at Flushing Meadows against a qualifier. The four-time US Open champion will then play countryman Laslo Djere or German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Last year, Djere took a two-set lead against Djokovic in the third round of this tournament before falling in five sets.

First-round matches to watch include Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti against big-serving Reilly Opelka and last year's US Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton against 2020 champion Dominic Thiem, who is retiring later this year.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]