The US Open
Sinner, Alcaraz on US Open SF collision course
Djokovic will face a qualifying match in the first round
August 22, 2024
Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner is the top seed at the US Open.
By ATP staff
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are on course to clash in the semi-finals of the US Open, it was revealed on Thursday afternoon when the draw was made.
Sinner and Alcaraz played one of the most memorable matches in recent memory in the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open, where they battled into the night for more than five hours before the Spaniard prevailed. Alcaraz went on to lift the trophy and became World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
If they meet this year, it will be the last four years. Top seed Sinner will start his tournament against American Mackenzie McDonald, who has a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record. They recently met at last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, where the Italian won in three sets.
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Alcaraz will begin their tournament against the qualifiers.
Sinner may need to beat former world No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals and Alcaraz in the semi-finals just to reach the final of the season’s final major tournament. Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, headlines the bottom half of the points.
The first quarter of the Italian break is full of dangerous enemies. Apart from fifth seed Medvedev, who will face Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in the first round, other players in the quarters include 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, Olympic fourth-place finisher Felix Auger-Aliassime, #NextGenATP standouts Arthur Fils and Jakub Mensik, Champion 2016 Stan Wawrinka and rising Italian Flavio Cobolli, the 31st seed.
The first opponent Sinner may face is 26th-seeded Nicolas Jarry, a top-scoring Chilean who won the last meeting in 2019 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Alcaraz, the 2022 champion who has won the last two majors (Roland Garros and Wimbledon), also faces a tricky approach. If he gets through the first-round qualifier, he will face former world No. 10 Denis Shapovalov or top-seeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Jack Draper, the 25th seed, appears to be Alcaraz’s third round opponent. The Briton upset the Spaniard earlier this year at Queen’s Club.
Djokovic has not played since winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, so he will try to find his form quickly in Flushing Meadows when he faces the qualifiers. The four-time US Open champion will then play either Laslo Djere or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Last year, Djere led in two sets against Djokovic in the third round of the tournament before falling in five sets.
First-round matches to watch include Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti against top seed Reilly Opelka and last year’s US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton against 2020 champion Dominic Thiem, who will retire later this year .
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