World number one Novak Djokovic’s path to a 2020 US Open title could include a semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev under the tournament draw unveiled on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Serbian star, a 17-time Grand Slam winner who has captured five of the past seven men’s singles Slam crowns, begins his quest for a fourth US Open title against 107th-ranked Damir Dzumhur.
Austrian second seed Dominic Thiem, who pushed Djokovic to five sets before falling in this year’s Australian Open final, was placed on the opposite end of the bracket, setting up the possibility of a rematch in the championship match on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
With fellow Big Three players Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer absent, Djokovic has a prime chance to close the gap on his record rivals in a field of 128 that is missing several standouts.
The tournament begins on Monday in a spectator-less quarantine bubble at the US National Tennis Center in New York, with Covid-19 testing and other measures designed to safeguard players from the deadly virus that forced Wimbledon to be called off.
Djokovic would meet either Britain’s Kyle Edmund or Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the second round with US 16th seed John Isner a potential fourth-round foe. His highest-ranked possible quarter-final opponent would be Belgian seventh seed David Goffin.
The other draw quarter in the upper half of the men’s bracket has Greek fourth seed Tsitsipas and Germany’s fifth-seeded Zverev as possible quarter-final opponents.
In the women’s section, third seed Serena Williams has tricky path in search of record 24th Slam.
Serena could see plenty of fellow Americans in her record quest, including Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in a semi-final match.
She could meet 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the third round and 2017 US Open runner-up and seventh seed Madison Keys in a quarter-final before a chance at Kenin in the semis and potentially Czech top seed Karolina Pliskova in the final.
And that’s not even counting a possible fourth-round matchup against Greek 15th seed Maria Sakkari, who ousted Williams from this week’s US Open tuneup event in New York.
Williams lost in the US Open and Wimbledon finals each of the past two years, and with the England grass event wiped off the schedule by the pandemic, the US Open marks a chance to break through and claim a seventh title on the same courts where she captured her first Slam crown in 1999.
Top seed Pliskova will open against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina with France’s Caroline Garcia or Italy’s Jasmine Paolini awaiting if she makes the second round. Croatian eighth seed Petra Martic could await in the quarter-finals.
Japanese fourth seed Naomi Osaka, the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open champion, could face Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals and Pliskova in a semi-final.