US Open: Must-watch matches on Day 1 includes Novak Djokovic

The US Open begins in full on Monday. The first matches are set to get underway at 11 am ET. The day will end with Novak Djokovic playing on center court and Caroline Wozniacki playing in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Basically, you are going to need to call in sick for the fortnight so that you don’t miss any of the excellent tennis about to be played.

Women’s top-seed Iga Swiatek is scheduled to start relatively early in the day and will play Rebecca Peterson on center court (otherwise known as Arthur Ashe Stadium). Swiatek is the returning champion while Peterson was once ranked as high as 43 on the WTA tour. But Swiatek is very unlikely to lose this match.

10th-seeded Karolina Muchova was in the final of the French Open this year, but the furthest she has made it in the US Open was the fourth round in 2020. Her opponent, Storm Hunter, is better at doubles than singles. Still, Storm Hunter has to be one of the best names ever. This is one of the first scheduled matches of the day.

US Open Day 1: Some excellent matches to call off work for

Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina takes on Marta Kotsyuk in an afternoon match. Rybakina is a Grand Slam winner (Wimbledon 2022), but she has struggled mightily at the US Open. She has only made it as far as the third round (2021).

The women’s side of the day ends with sixth-seeded Coco Gauff, playing the most consistently good tennis of her life currently, taking on Laura Siegemund. I think Gauff can win the US Open this year as well as she is playing. I also think she could be a candidate for an early-round upset.

Caroline Wozniacki plays Tatiana Prozorova in the final match on Monday for the women. Wozniacki is a great story as she is trying to come back from taking a chunk of time off. She’s also a fan favorite.

Potentially one of the best men’s matches is early in the day and features great-serving Alexander Bublik and Dominic Thiem. Thiem won the US Open in 2020, but he has struggled with a lot of injuries since. He is only 29 years old but his body seems to be 50.

The men’s fourth and fifth seeds – Holger Rune and Casper Ruud, respectively, have afternoon matches that should give them no issues. Rune plays Roberto Carballes Baena. Ruud takes on Emilio Nava.

Two top Americans also play in the early afternoon. 10th-seeded Frances Tiafoe, who will definitely have the crowd on his side as always, plays fellow American Learner Tien. Ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz also plays an American, Steve Johnson. The two have already played six times in their careers and Fritz leads the head-to-head 4-2.

The next-to-last match on the men’s side has seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas going up against Milos Raonic. Raonic is a lot like Thiem in that he is only 32 years old, but seems 50. Tsitsipas has dipped in the rankings a bit lately but he has the game to make a run at the title.

Finally, Novak Djokovic will finish the day on center court against Alexandre Muller. The two have never played each other. Muller should likely have his departing plane ticket already booked for Tuesday.