Big guns set to collide
US OPEN: FEDERER COULD COME UP AGAINST DJOKOVIC IN QUARTERFINALS
Williams sisters likely to battle it out for family supremacy.
New York
Five-time champion Roger Federer could find himself up against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the US Open, where Serena and Venus Williams could meet in a third-round blockbuster.
Federer, the second seed, opens against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, anchoring a bottom quarter of the men’s singles draw that also features sixth-seeded Djokovic, the Wimbledon champion who beat the Swiss in the final at the Cincinnati Masters last week.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev and seventh-seeded Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, are also in Federer’s half of the draw. So is Australian Nick Kyrgios, the 30th seed who could face Federer in the third round.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal opens his defence against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in a rematch of their 2013 French Open final.
It will be a 31st career meeting between them, with Nadal leading the series 24-6. If he wins, Nadal could encounter fifth-seeded Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson in a rematch of last year’s Flushing Meadows final.
Andy Murray, playing his first Grand Slam since Wimbledon of last year and still battling to regain full fitness after hip surgery, was handed a relatively gentle return, drawing Australian James Duckworth, ranked 445th in the world, in the opening round.
If the Scot, who won his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2012, gets past Duckworth he will face either Fernando Verdasco or Feliciano Lopez in the second round before a possible third-round clash with thirdseed Juan Martin del Potro.
Argentina’s Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, opens against a qualifier.
Eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria received a nightmare draw: a first-round meeting with 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka, who received a wild card after missing last year through injury.
Wawrinka beat Dimitrov in the first round at Wimbledon in July.
On the women’s side, the Williams sisters feature in a talent-laden top quarter headed by world No 1 Simona Halep.
Serena, seeking a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title, is seeded 17th despite her world number 26 ranking, US Open officials taking into account her six titles at Flushing Meadows.
Serena opens against Poland’s Magda Linette, but her seeding won’t protect her from a possible third-round clash with her 16th-seeded sister.
It would be their earliest meeting in a Grand Slam since Venus beat Serena in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open.
But Venus faces a potentially difficult opener against 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who received a wild card as she continues her return from left wrist surgery.
Halep, gunning for a second Slam of the year after her victory at Roland Garros, opens against Estonian Kaia Kanepi, a quarterfinalist last year.
Sloane Stephens, the third seed, faces Russian Evgeniya Rodina, with the winner to face a qualifier in the second round.
Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, seeded fourth, faces Russian Margarita Gasparyan in the first round, while in the same quarter Maria Sharapova opens against a qualifier.
No 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who has battled injury since winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, faces a tough first-round clash with former US Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia. –
Left-hander Nishioka (right), ranked 177, saw his career derailed by a year-long absence due to torn knee ligaments in April 2017 just as he was making his way into the world top 60. Before his injury, the 22-year-old had reached the quarter-finals in Acapulco and the fourth round at Indian Wells, his maiden last-16 run at a Masters tournament. 6-Novak Djokovic (Srb) v Marton Fucsovics (Hun) Head-to-head: First meeting
The 26-year-old Fucsovics is on a career-high 40 and made the last 16 at the Australian Open in January where it needed Federer to stop him. The Hungarian went on to lift his first career title on clay in Geneva on the eve of the French Open, seeing off Stan Wawrinka on the way. Has yet to win a main draw match at the US Open. 1-Simona Halep (Rom) v
Kaia Kanepi (Est) Head-to-head: Halep leads 1-0
World No 44 Kanepi (right) made the quarterfinals at the US Open last year just as she did in 2010. She has also made the last eight at Wimbledon (2010 and 2013) and Roland Garros (2008 and 2012) so not the ideal opponent for French Open champion Halep who lost in the first round in New York last year to Maria Sharapova. 2-Caroline Wozniacki (Den) v
Samantha Stosur (Aus) Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads 7-5
Blockbuster first round features reigning Australian Open champion and two-time US Open runner-up Wozniacki (2009 and 2014) against Stosur who was the 2011 champion at Flushing Meadows. Stosur, 34, is ranked 64 in the world and has endured a mixed bag at the Slams this year. Lost in the first round in Australia to Olympic champion Monica Puig despite holding match point. 17-Serena Williams (US) v
Magda Linette (Pol) Head-to-head: First meeting
26-year-old Linette (right), ranked at 60, has never faced the American legend but if Serena needs advice she can ask her sister Venus who has defeated the Pole on two occasions. Linette made the third round of the Australian Open this year, defeating highly-rated Daria Kasatkina on the way. –