The 36-year-old Djokovic, who won the first two Grand Slams of the season — the Australian Open and the French Open — will start his US Open 2023 campaign against Frenchman Alexandre Muller, who is making his main draw debut, at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday morning.
The world No. 2 is bidding for his fourth US Open men’s singles tennis title.
If there were any doubts that Djokovic’s powers were on the wane, the Cincinnati Masters obliterated those. The 36-year-old saved championship point to edge Carlos Alcaraz in an instant-classic, four-hour final just over a week ago.
Interestingly, Spain’s Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon 2023 final, is the top seed at the US Open. The 20-year-old Alcaraz, who is bidding for his third Major title, will begin his title defence against Dominik Koepfer of Germany.
Key contenders such as No. 7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, facing former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, and 2022 finalist Casper Ruud also join the party.
Meanwhile, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will not play at the US Open 2023 due to a hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open earlier this year. Former world No. 1 Nadal, the four-time US Open champion, also sat out of this year’s French Open and Wimbledon.
In women’s singles, defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland will kick off her campaign against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
However, the world No. 1 Swiatek might need to see off home favourite Coco Gauff. The 19-year-old Gauff, who is placed in the same half of the draw, heads into the New York event with the Cincinnati Masters 2023 title under her belt. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also placed in the same half.
Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, will headline the second half of the draw. Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, is also lined up in the same half of the women’s singles draw.
Unfortunately, there’ll be no Indian tennis players in the singles main draw at the US Open 2023 after the likes of Ankita Raina, Sumit Nagal and Karman Kaur lost during the qualifiers.
In the men’s doubles section, India’s Rohan Bopanna will team up with Australian Matthew Ebden. The Indo-Australian duo, who reached the Wimbledon 2023 semi-finals, are seeded sixth in the tournament.
On the other hand, India’s Yuki Bhambri will partner Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner. The 31-year-old Bhambri had partnered compatriot Saketh Myneni in the previous three Grand Slams of the season.
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