Sinner, Alcaraz on US Open SF collision course
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a are on a semi-final collision course at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a, it was revealed on Thursday afternoon when the draw was released./p
pSinner and Alcaraz played in one of the most memorable matches in recent memory in the 2022 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a quarter-finals, when they battled late into the night for more than five hours before the Spaniard prevailed. Alcaraz went on to lift the trophy and become World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings./p
pIf they meet this year, it will be in the last four. Top seed Sinner will begin his tournament against American a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mackenzie-mcdonald/mk66/overview'Mackenzie McDonald/a, against whom he owns a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record. They most recently met in last yearrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/paris/352/overview'Rolex Paris Masters/a, where the Italian prevailed in three sets./p
pSecond seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a and third seed Alcaraz will both begin their tournament against a qualifier./p
p[ATP APP]/p
pSinner could need to beat former World No. 1 and 2021 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a in the quarter-finals and Alcaraz in semi-finals just to reach the final at the season's final major. Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, headlines the bottom half of the draw./p
pThe Italian's top quarter of the draw is loaded with dangerous opponents. Beyond fifth seed Medvedev, who will face Serbian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dusan-lajovic/l987/overview'Dusan Lajovic/a in the first round, other players in the quarter include 2019 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/paris/96/2024/results'Paris Olympics/a fourth-place finisher a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/felix-auger-aliassime/ag37/overview'Felix Auger-Aliassime/a, #NextGenATP standouts a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-fils/f0f1/overview'Arthur Fils/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jakub-mensik/m0ni/overview'Jakub Mensik/a, 2016 champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stan-wawrinka/w367/overview'Stan Wawrinka/a and surging Italian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/flavio-cobolli/c0e9/overview'Flavio Cobolli/a, the 31st seed./p
pThe first seeded opponent Sinner could face is 26th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nicolas-jarry/j551/overview'Nicolas Jarry/a, the big-hitting Chilean, who won their only previous meeting in 2019 in 's-Hertogenbosch./p
pAlcaraz, the 2022 champion who has won the past two majors (a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a), also faces a tricky path. If he advances past a qualifier in the first round, he will take on former World No. 10 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/denis-shapovalov/su55/overview'Denis Shapovalov/a or big-hitting Dutchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/botic-van-de-zandschulp/v812/overview'Botic van de Zandschulp/a.nbsp;/p
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a, the 25th seed, looms as a potential third-round opponent for Alcaraz. The Briton upset the Spaniard earlier this year at Queen's Club./p
pDjokovic has not played since capturing the gold medal at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/paris/96/2024/results'Paris Olympics/a, so he will try to find his form immediately at Flushing Meadows against a qualifier. The four-time a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a champion will then play countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/laslo-djere/db63/overview'Laslo Djere/a or German a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jan-lennard-struff/sl28/overview'Jan-Lennard Struff/a in the second round. Last year, Djere took a two-set lead against Djokovic in the third round of this tournament before falling in five sets./p
pFirst-round matches to watch include a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a semi-finalist a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lorenzo-musetti/m0ej/overview'Lorenzo Musetti/a against big-serving a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a and last year's a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a semi-finalist a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a against 2020 champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-thiem/tb69/overview'Dominic Thiem/a, who is retiring later this year./p
p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p
nbsp;