Once again, Novak Djokovic faces a not-ideal path to an elusive 25th major. Djokovic got the worst draw among the top seeds for the US Open, which gets underway Aug. 30 in New York.
Djokovic, the No. 4 seed, likely will face top-50 opponents in his first two matches. He opens against No. 48 Mariano Navone. His second match likely would be against No. 43 Matteo Berrettini, an opponent Djokovic once played in a Wimbledon final.
Djokovic landed in the same quarter of the draw as Daniil Medvedev, the No. 7 seed. Five years ago, Medvedev beat Djokovic in the US Open final to deny Djokovic the calendar-year Grand Slam.
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Djokovic is also in the same half of the draw as Carlos Alcaraz, who is back to defend his US Open title after missing several months due to a wrist injury. To win the US Open at age 39, Djokovic might have to beat Alcaraz and then turn around and win a final less than 48 hours later.
Djokovic also got a lousy draw at Wimbledon earlier this summer. He managed to navigate his way to the semifinals but didn’t have much left in the tank in a loss against eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
Best draw
French Open runner-up and US Open No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli has the easiest draw in the field, based on the average world ranking of likely opponents. Cobolli won’t play anyone in the top 100 until his third match. He landed in the same quarter of the draw as Felix Auger-Aliassime – which means he’s not in the same quarter as Djokovic, Alcaraz or top seed Alexander Zverev.
Toughest draw for a top seed
No. 8 Ben Shelton didn’t get home-court advantage for his home-country slam. He is in the same quarter of the draw as Alcaraz. To get that far, he first must get through a tricky draw that could include back-to-back matches against top-60 opponents in the first two matches.
A round of 16 matchup looms against No. 10 seed Arthur Fils, arguably the hottest player on tour after a victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.
Best opportunity for an unseeded player
World No. 44 Jan-Lennard Struff was one of Wimbledon's surprises, reaching the quarterfinals as an unseeded player. He has the draw to repeat that script at the US Open.
The first seed he is scheduled to face, No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo, has never advanced past the second round in New York. Struff is also in the section of the draw most likely to produce a surprise – in other words, the section that doesn’t include Zverev, Alcaraz or Djokovic.
Worst draw
Filip Misolic got into the US Open on a protected ranking, but he probably won’t be around long to enjoy his stay in New York. If Misolic went on a miracle title run in New York, he'd face five opponents in the top 10.
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