U.S. Open men's, women's draws released

The next showdown between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain could come in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

The men's and women's singles draws for the final Grand Slam event of the season were released on Thursday, and Sinner and Alcaraz are on the same side of the bracket as the No. 1 and 3 seeds.

Sinner will play American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round, while Alcaraz will face Australia's Li Tu.

When Sinner and Alcaraz squared off in the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2022, they needed more than five hours before Alcaraz came back for a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 victory en route to the title.

Since then, Sinner has risen to the No. 1 world ranking. His five ATP titles in 2024 include his first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, and the recent U.S. Open tune-up in Cincinnati, an ATP Masters 1000 event.

On the other side of the bracket are No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany. Djokovic drew Moldovan Radu Albot in the first round at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, and Zverev will meet Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori.

No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia stands as a potential quarterfinal challenger for Sinner. He'll open the tournament against Serbia's Dusan Lajovic.

In the women's draw, No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland will meet Russian Kamilla Rakhimova in the opening round. Swiatek is vying to win her sixth Grand Slam and her second this year. She captured the 2022 title in New York.

No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus -- the recent Cincinnati champion on the women's side and a two-time Australian Open champ -- will bid for her first Grand Slam outside Melbourne when she opens against Australia's Priscilla Hon. Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff in the final in New York last year.

Gauff, the No. 3 seed, will begin her title defense against France's Varvara Gracheva.

Japan's Naomi Osaka, the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Open winner, will open against No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Osaka is back after sitting out the 2023 season on maternity leave.

Rising star Jasmine Paolini of Italy, the fifth seed and a finalist at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year, faces 2019 U.S. Open champ Bianca Andreescu of Canada. Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic is the eighth seed and could run into Gauff in the quarterfinals.

The U.S. Open main draw begins Monday.

--Field Level Media