Djokovic Seeded Fourth, Faces Albot at US Open

Novak Djokovic walked out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium alone on Sunday, while New York was only just waking up for the last Grand Slam of the season. It was a practice session with no crowd, but the tournament organizers had a message waiting for him on court, one that named him the greatest of all time right there on that stage.

A few hours later came the news that gave that practice its real context. The US Open draw is done, and Djokovic now knows both of his opening tests, one in singles and one in a doubles event that has an entirely new format this year.

Fourth seed, a clear path to the semifinals

Djokovic was drawn as the tournament’s fourth seed. Under the draw rules, that guarantees he cannot meet any of the top three seeds before the semifinals. The top seed is Alexander Zverev, the second is Carlos Alcaraz, who returns to competition as defending champion after a three month break, and the third is Felix Auger-Aliassime. Flavio Cobolli sits fifth right behind Djokovic, and the top eight is rounded out by Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton.

The position works in his favor for two reasons. Jannik Sinner has withdrawn because of injury, as previously reported, and Alcaraz is only just returning to the court after a long layoff, so no one knows what kind of rhythm he will be in.

In the first round, Djokovic faces Radu Albot, the world number 138 from Moldova. The two have never met before, so the match in New York will be their first ever head to head. Should he get past Albot, the second round brings the winner of Jan-Lennard Struff and Laslo Djere, meaning either the German or the Serbian representative.

The draw also handed Hamad Medjedovic work to do, as he plays in the main draw in New York for the first time in his career. His opponent is Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, whom he has already faced this season in Stuttgart and beaten 2-1.

Accounts differ on exactly when the tournament starts. Kurir reports that the main draw begins on August 30, while una.rs writes that August 26 is the tournament’s opening day. Both sources agree that this is the 144th edition of the US Open, with a prize fund of 75 million dollars.

Paired with Sabalenka against Fernandez and Tiafoe

A day before he takes the court in singles, Djokovic plays a far more unusual match. He is paired with Aryna Sabalenka in mixed doubles, the new format that became one of the main attractions of the so called Fan Week ahead of the main draw.

Their first round opponents are Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe, with the match set for Tuesday, August 25. The format is stripped down to the basics: sets are played to four games, no ad, and a 3-3 tie is decided by a match tiebreak to ten points. A single bad game can flip the whole thing there.

If Djokovic and Sabalenka get past the Americans, the next round brings the winner of Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils against Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The same section of the draw also holds the pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams, who came back to the court after a long break specifically for this event, meaning the two pairs could in theory meet in the semifinals. The first round and quarterfinals of the mixed doubles are played on Tuesday, the semifinals and final the next day, Wednesday, and the winning pair takes home a million dollars.

What comes next

All of this follows naturally from what Djokovic had already been handed as a gift this week, Sinner’s withdrawal and Alcaraz’s uncertain return to form. The draw has opened a clear path to the semifinals, but Albot is not an opponent to take lightly at the start. Matches exactly like this one, against an unfamiliar player from the lower end of the rankings, are precisely where bigger names than his have gone out before.

The first real test comes next week, but before that there is Tuesday in New York, where Djokovic first takes the court with Sabalenka, and only then faces Albot on his own.