US Open men’s draw: Nadal with Alcaraz, Medvedev to Kyrgios, must-see first-rounders

With Novak Djokovic having made the decision to formalise his withdrawal from the tournament just before the US Open draw ceremony, held this Thursday at noon in New York, there will be no rearrangement of the table as had been the case in Melbourne.

The draw therefore served the noteworthy purpose, among other things, of determining who of Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal, considered the two main favorites (but by little…) in their respective capacities as world No. 1 (but also holding the title) and best player of the season, would have the best or the worst picture.

Quite frankly, it’s hard to say. (See the full draw here)

Rafael Nadal, seeded No 2, inherited in his part of the draw the main scarecrow of the tournament, namely his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, whom he could therefore meet in the semi-finals. If he reaches this stage, moreover, the Mallorcan would have a good chance of becoming world No. 1 again. But this is another story.

Especially since Nadal, who has no inspiring wins under the belt before this year’s final Grand Slam, could have a complicated match from the second round against Fabio Fognini, who famously defeated Nadal from two sets to love down at the Open in 2015. Fortunately for him, he will have a seemingly ideal first round, against the Australian wild-card Rinky Hijikata, to get into the groove and accumulate the playing time he will sorely need.

For his part, Daniil Medvedev has a relatively affordable first week while being strewn with thorns, like one of the two Frenchies (Arthur Rindernknech or Quentin Halys) in the second round, or possibly the American revelation Ben Shelton in the third round. But then, he would encounter significant turbulence in the round of 16 with a gala meeting against Nick Kyrgios, who has just beaten him in Montreal. Provided, however, that the Australian is in the same predisposition as this summer and that he gets rid of the formidable Roberto Bautista Agut beforehand.

The US Open singles draw can be found here: Men’s singles | Women’s singles

Matches we want to see

Nick Kygios – Thanasi Kokkinakis (potential round of 16) – Unmissable. The two great Aussie friends won the doubles together at the Australian Open at the start of the year, they had played against each other in the final of the junior tournament in Melbourne in 2013 (victory for Kyrgios), but they are never faced on the big circuit. How are they going to live with this?

Pablo Carreno Busta – Dominic Thiem (round one): Two great champions but also two great specialists of the US Open face to face from the first round: the Spaniard has twice (2017 and 2020) reached the semi-finals of a tournament that the ‘Austrian won in 2020 under closed-door conditions. A big test in any case for the latter to see where he is in his process of comeback at the highest level.

Francisco Cerundolo – Andy Murray (round 1) – We like that one. Because the young Argentinian is a player on the rise, semi-finalist this year in Miami but also winner this summer of his first title in Bastad. And because Andy Murray (almost) always puts on a show wherever he goes. Because he knows each time that it may be the last…

Other popcorn matches:

• Alexander Bublik – Hugo Gaston
• Filip Krajinovic – Alex de Minaur
• Jack Draper – Emil Ruusuvuori
• Kyle Edmund – Casper Ruud
• David Goffin – Lorenzo Musetti
• Sebastian Baez – Carlos Alcaraz
• Cameron Norrie – Benoit Paire

Matches we want to see in week one

Third round: [3] Carlos Alcaraz – [25] Borna Coric – The Spanish nugget against the incredible return of the Masters 1000, that would be worth its weight in popcorn. A hot-shot distributor match in perspective. We want it.
Third round: [17] Grigor Dimitrov – [11] Jannik Sinner – Obviously prerequisite: a Dimitrov at his “prime”, facing a Sinner who should be true to himself anyway. There too, there should be some nice shots.
Third round: Richard Gasquet – [2] Rafael Nadal – It’s not so much for the suspense, obviously, because we’re not going to “sell” you a possible victory for the Biterrois against a man on whom he lost 17 times out of 17. But it’s for nostalgia, the symbol , the image. This may be the last big meeting between these two childhood friends.

Other notable week one matchups that could happen:

• Second round: Dominic Thiem – Hugo Gaston
• Third round: Daniil Medvedev – Ben Shelton
• Third round: Stefanos Tsitsipas – Maxime Cressy
• Third round: Andy Murray – Matteo Berrettini

Quarter-final matchups (if the seeds hold)

• [1] Daniil Medvedev – [6] Felix Auger Aliassime
• [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas – [5] Casper Ruud
• [3] Carlos Alcaraz – [8] Hubert Hurkacz
• [2] Rafael Nadal – [7] Cameron Norrie

Medvedev’s path to the title

• R1: Stefan Kozlov
• R2: Arthur Rinderknech or Quentin Halys
• R3: [31] Nikoloz Basalashvili
• R16: [16] Roberto Bautista Agut or [23] Nick Kyrgios
• QF: [6] Felix Auger-Aliassime
• SF: [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas
• F: [2] Rafael Nadal

Nadal’s path to the title

• R1: Ricky Hijikata
• R2: Fabio Fognini or Aslan Karatsev
• R3: [32] Miomir Kecmanovic
• R16: [14] Diego Schwartzman or [22] Frances Tiafoe
• QF: [7] Cameron Norrie or [9] Andrey Rublev
• SF: [3] Carlos Alcaraz or [8] Hubert Hurkacz
• F: [1] Daniil Medvedev

You might also like this

Serena’s last dance, popcorn first-rounders, Swiatek’s path – what you need to know about the US Open women’s singles draw

tennis majors

Serena Williams, defending champions, Tickets, schedule: 12 questions about the 2022 US Open – updated with prize money

tennis majors