US Open preview: Who can challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic
- James Richardson
- 24 August 2023
The US Open men's singles title race is shaping up to be a battle between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic find themselves at opposite ends of the US Open draw but all the speculation ahead of the tournament centres around these two men.
Alcaraz and Djokovic have already contested two Grand Slam finals this year and their rivalry has become the dominant narrative in men's tennis.
The rest of the field will also have their eyes trained on the star men, whether in the hope of avoiding them or in their desire to topple the game's superpowers.
Alcaraz will begin his title defence against Germany's Dominik Koepfer in a match that the world No 1 won't want to even consider losing.
The first seeded player that Alcaraz could meet is Great Britain's Dan Evans who could meet the Spaniard in the third round in New York.
There is a distinct British flavour to the top quarter with No 16 seed Cameron Norrie bracketed to meet Alcaraz in the fourth round. Alcaraz holds a 2-0 head-to-head lead over Evans and a 4-2 advantage over Norrie.
The Spaniard has potentially tough last eight and semi-final matches in store if seeding holds as he is drawn against hard court Masters champions Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev respectively.
Sinner, the champion in Toronto, doesn't have an easy pathway to the last eight with a resurgent Alexander Zverev lurking as a potential fourth round opponent for the Italian.
For Medvedev, the last eight could hold a match against either Karen Khachanov or Andrey Rublev, his compatriots and fellow top 20 players and he could be in for an early test in the shape of Borna Coric, who is the first seed who could face the No 3.
Andy Murray faces Corentin Moutet to start but could be in for nothing but seeds from then out as he is drawn alongside No 19 seed Grigor Dimitrov and could then go on to meet Zverev in round three and Sinner in the last 16 before a potential date with Alcaraz in the last eight making a run to the semis for Murray something of a flight of fancy.
At the other end of the draw Djokovic looms over the draw with his imposing form thanks to a winning return to the United States in Cincinnati.
Djokovic doesn't have any notable early threats to deal with and his first seeded opponent could be compatriot Laslo Djere.
The other seeds in Djokovic's section are potential Round of 16 opponents Felix Auger-Aliassime and No 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo. Stefanos Tsitsipas could be set for an Australian Open final rematch in the last eight but he faces a potential last 16 meeting with home hope Taylor Fritz before he can take on Djokovic.
Tsitsipas opens his campaign against Milos Raonic while Wimbledon quarter-finalist is a possible third round opponent for the Greek No 1.
Holger Rune, who beat Djokovic in Paris late last season, is slated as a potential semi-final foe for the Serbian.
Rune headlines his quarter along with No 5 seed Casper Ruud with the Nordic pairing on a last eigh collision course.
Ruud, the beaten finalist in New York last year hasn't had the best hard court swing and could struggle to come through a section that includes home stars Sebastian Korda and Frances Tiafoe.
The draw has been relatively kind to Djokovic, while Alcaraz's path to the final looks to be the tougher of to two top seeds.
