Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper will both play qualifiers in the first round of the US Open - then it will get tougher.
Raducanu potentially faces ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the third round, while Jack Draper, who arrives as fifth seed, may need to play defending champion Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, a round earlier than last year when the World No 1 triumphed in their semi-final in New York.
As usual, the draw for the women’s and men’s singles has thrown up plenty of talking points ahead of the start of the final grand slam of the season on Sunday.
Mixed draw for Brits as Raducanu and Draper start with qualifiers
Raducanu can arrive at the US Open with some confidence having pushed World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka to a third-set tiebreak in Cincinnati and will start against a qualifier, having been a qualifier herself when she memorably went all the way in New York four years ago.
But there are other players in Raducanu’s section who also found form in Cincinnati. Her potential round-two opponent, the 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova, reached the semi-finals, where she lost to Jasmine Paolini, while her possible third-round opponent, in former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, defeated Sabalenka in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Draper has been short of matches since Wimbledon so starting against a qualifier of lucky loser is a kind enough start. But he faces an enormous challenge to repeat last year’s semi-final run, particularly because he will likely have Sinner in the way in the quarter-finals. Before then, Draper may need to fight through a succession of young guns, with Gabriel Diallo and either Lorenzo Musetti or Flavio Cobolli possible opponents.
The other Brits in the draw have it hard from the start. Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal start against seeded opponents in Marta Kostyuk and Beatriz Haddad-Maia respectively. Cameron Norrie, who is out of form since reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals, takes on former Australian Open semi-finalist Sebastian Korda while Jacob Fearnley plays the experienced Roberto Bautista Agut and could play third seed Alexander Zverev in round two.
Master Djokovic faces the Learner in tough US Open path
Novak Djokovic will begin his US Open campaign and quest for a 25th grand slam title without having played a match since his Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner. At 38, Djokovic only cares about the grand slams but his opening draw is one of the matches of the first round. He will start against the 19-year-old American Learner Tien, who defeated Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open and also has hard-court wins over Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev in his first season on tour.
As seventh seed, Djokovic may need to defeat both Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner if he is to win the US Open. His draw means he is on Alcaraz’s side, while he has also landed in the same quarter as top American and fourth seed Taylor Fritz, last year’s runner-up.
It’s a tough draw, while Alcaraz doesn’t have it any kinder. The Spaniard starts against big-serving American Reilly Opelka and a fired-up Ben Shelton could pose a problem if he backs up his sixth seed and makes the quarter-finals.
Sinner, meanwhile, will need to recover from the illness that forced him to retire from the Cincinnati Open final. A first round against Vit Kopriva shouldn’t be an issue even if Sinner isn’t 100 per cent by the time of his opening match. But Alexei Popyrin stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round last year and is a possible opponent in round two.
Swiatek in tougher side of draw to defending champion Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka may need to wait if she’s out for revenge at this year’s US Open. The World No 1’s three defeats in grand slams in 2025 have all come against Americans, in Madison Keys, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova, but they have all landed in the bottom half of the draw, joining Iga Swiatek. Of the top seeds, Sabalenka could face Jessica Pegula in a rematch of last year’s final in the semi-finals.
It’s tempting, therefore, to say that Sabalenka’s draw is kinder, but the problem is a potential quarter-final clash with Elena Rybakina, should the former Wimbledon champion get through a route that may include Emma Raducanu and Jasmine Paolini. Rybakina is coming back into form after a tough couple of years, and dismantled Sabalenka 6-1 6-4 in their Cincinnati Open quarter-final.
For Swiatek, who for many is the favourite for the US Open after backing up her surprise Wimbledon win by claiming the title in Cincinnati, the eyes are drawn to a possible quarter-final rematch with Anisimova, who lost 6-0 6-0 to the Pole in the Wimbledon final. Elina Svitolina is lurking in that section, too, and a semi-final against either Keys or Gauff at the US Open would be a blockbuster.
Gauff, though, has been out of form since winning the French Open and fired her coach before the start of the US Open. The third seed also faces a tricky opening opponent in Alja Tomlanjovic, who famously defeated Serena Williams in her final match at the US Open in 2022.
Former champion Venus Williams is an eye-catching presence in the draw having taken a wildcard for the US Open at the age of 45 and her match against two-time US Open semi-finalist brings star quality on both sides of the net.
Victoria Mboko is also one to watch after her Canadian Open victory, a result that means the teenager comes into the US Open as the 22nd seed. She plays former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in round one, and a potential third-round clash with 10th seed and last year’s semi-finalist Emma Navarro would bring intrigue.
