US Open men’s draw: Alcaraz will face Opelka in Round 1 and could meet Djokovic in the semis; Sinner with Zverev

Things are becoming more exciting in New York! The men’s singles draw was made on Thursday at Flushing Meadows, and it wasn’t kind to Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 champion and one of the favorites for the title.

The Spaniard will need to be focused right from the start of the tournament, as he faces Reilly Opelka in the opening round of the US Grand Slam. The world No. 66 is very tough to handle with his serve and already has nine wins against Top 10 players in his career, including two in 2025 on hard courts, against Novak Djokovic in Brisbane and Alex de Minaur in Cincinnati.

Carlos Alcaraz could also face Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals and Novak Djokovic in the semis before potentially playing world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final. A real uphill battle awaits the Spaniard, who comes into the tournament on a six-match winning streak on the ATP Tour.

Defending champion in New York, Jannik Sinner has been slightly more fortunate with the draw. The Italian will begin his campaign against Czech player Vit Kopriva, ranked No. 87 in the world. His projected quarterfinal opponent is Britain’s Jack Draper, before a possible semifinal clash with world No. 3 Alexander Zverev. After Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, he could meet Carlos Alcaraz in a third consecutive Grand Slam final.

The full men’s draw can be found here.

The most exciting first-round encounters

• Carlos Alcaraz – Reilly Opelka
• Novak Djokovic – Learner Tien

• Alexander Bublik – Marin Cilic
• Lorenzo Musetti – Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

The matches we’d like to see in the first week

• Round 2: Jannik Sinner – Alexei Popyrin
• Round 3: Alexander Zverev – Félix Auger-Aliassime
• Round 3: Andrey Rublev – Ugo Humbert
• Round 3: Alex de Minaur – Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Round 3: Holger Rune – Frances Tiafoe
• Round 2: Tomas Machac – Joao Fonseca

Jannik Sinner projected draw

• Round 1: Vit Kopriva
• Round 2: Alexei Popyrin or Emil Ruusuvuori
• Round 3: Denis Shapovalov, Yunchaokete Bu…
• Round 4: Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik…
• Quarter-final : Jack Draper, Lorenzo Musetti…
• Semi-final: Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur…
• Final : Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic…

Carlos Alcaraz projected draw

• Round 1: Reilly Opelka
• Round 2: Mattia Bellucci or Juncheng Shang
• Round 3: Luciano Darderi, Rinky Hijikata…
• Round 4: Daniil Medvedev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina…
• Quarter-final : Ben Shelton, Casper Ruud…
• Semi-final: Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic…
• Final : Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Jack Draper…