NEW YORK: Carlos Alcaraz was put on a US Open collision course with Novak Djokovic on Thursday as the draw for the men’s and women’s singles tournaments were revealed.

Spanish star Alcaraz faces a potentially awkward route to the final where a possible showdown with world number one Jannik Sinner could be waiting at Flushing Meadows.

Alcaraz, who could supplant Sinner as world number one depending on results in New York over the next fortnight, will have to hit the ground running starting from Sunday.

The Spaniard faces big-serving American hope Reilly Opelka in the first round.

If the tournament follows seedings, the 2022 US Open champion will meet former world number one Djokovic in the semi-finals.

Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title, will begin his campaign against Learner Tien in the opening round.

Seventh seed Djokovic leads Alcaraz 5-3 in previous meetings, and defeated the Spaniard over four sets in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year.

The 38-year-old Serbian icon’s form remains a mystery though heading into the final Grand Slam of the season. Djokovic has not played since his run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon last month.

Top seed and defending champion Sinner meanwhile will begin his campaign against Czech Vit Kopriva in the opening round.

The 24-year-old Italian, who retired during the first set of his Cincinnati Open final with Alcaraz earlier this week, could meet Britain’s Jack Draper in the quarter-finals.

In the women’s singles draw, world number one and defending Aryna Sabalenka will open her campaign against Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova, the world number 109.

Second seed Iga Swiatek, the reigning Wimbledon champion and 2022 US Open winner, is in the other side of the draw and begins her bid for a seventh Grand Slam singles title against Colombia’s Emiliana Arango.

Swiatek’s path to the final could see her meet 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff in the semi-finals. Gauff faces Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round.

Elsewhere, Venus Williams faces a daunting task if she is to prolong what could be her farewell US Open appearance beyond the first round. The 45-year-old US tennis icon was granted a wild card into the first round of the tournament, some 28 years after she reached her first US Open final as a 17-year-old in 1997.

Venus faces Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova in the first round.

ERRANI, VAVASSORI RETAIN MIXED DOUBLES CROWN

On Wednesday, Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori retained their mixed doubles title, overcoming Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 in the competition’s re-imagined format that drew some of the top singles players.

The defending champions, who needed a wild card entry into the competition that prioritised singles rankings, relied on their veteran experience to outfox the Polish-Norwegian duo.

The packed house at Arthur Ashe Stadium cheered wildly when Vavassori clinched it with a lethal forehand and hoisted Errani into the air in celebration, as the pair walked away with a $1 million prize.

“We are doing something in these two years amazing,” said Vavassori, who also won the French Open title with Errani earlier this year. “We showed today that doubles is a great product.”

Swiatek and Ruud had never played together before this year and at first appeared completely outmatched as the Italians went up 3-0 in the first set.

Six-time Grand Slam singles champion Swiatek broke back with a superbly placed volley in the seventh game but that momentum evaporated as her double fault helped the defending champions to another break in the eighth.

Vavassori then closed the first set with an unreturnable serve.

The Italians went up a break in the second set in the seventh game but Ruud and Swiatek broke back in the 10th and levelled the match when the Pole struck a backhand winner in the 12th.

Errani and Vavassori went up 4-0 in the tiebreak and were helped to the finish line after a double fault from Swiatek.

“We pushed to the end, we tried to make it competitive,” said Swiatek, standing on the same court where she won the U.S. Open singles title three years ago.

Organisers have tested a novel format for the competition this year, hosting it during the week before the main singles draw with eight entries based on combined singles rankings of players and eight wild cards.

It was an undeniable marketing success with a star-studded lineup that included Alcaraz and Djokovic, but the format rankled some who felt it unfairly excluded veteran doubles players.

Hundreds of fans had lined up in the rain outside Arthur Ashe Stadium 90 minutes before the first of two semi-final matches on Wednesday, hardly the crowd one might have expected for the penultimate stage of the mixed doubles in past years.

“Playing with all these people is something incredible for us,” said Errani. “This one is for all the doubles players who couldn’t play this tournament.”

Published in Dawn, August 22th, 2025