In the draw held this afternoon, the Spaniards fell on the same side of the draw
Nadal will debut against the Australian Rinky Hijikata; Alcaraz against Báez and Medvedev against Stefan Kozlov, defending number one
Today, Thursday, the draw for the painting of the US Open 2022. The last ‘grand slams’ of the season, like every year, will bring us great nights at dawn to end a great summer for the world of tennis and with the fight for number one red hot. The Spanish Rafael Nadal, seed number twowill debut against the Australian Rinky Hijikata, number 198 in the world rankingwhile his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz will debut against the Argentine Sebastian Baez, number 37. Daniil Medvedevmeanwhile, will debut against the American stefan kozlovI defend his current status as number one in the world with that of Manacor close behind in the rankings ATP.
We are at the end of August and as every year it is time to see and enjoy the US Open. The New York tournament, last Grand Slam of the season, this year will be a key tournament in the fight for number one. Before the start of the competition, which will be next Monday, up to five tennis players have options to leave the Big Apple as number one in the ranking ATP. Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, and Daniil Medvedev will play, in the coming two weeks, to be the best tennis player on the planet.
The draw for the table was expected to be key to this outcome, since all the aforementioned tennis players need certain caroms to get out of USA with the number one under his arm.
The first racket in the world, Daniel Medvedevwill start his journey in Flashing Meadows against Stefan Kozlov, number 110 in the ATP ranking, and that he will play in front of his people. The Russian, could be seen with Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round, which would be a high-voltage duel before the final rounds. Then a hypothetical Aliassime Y Tsitsipas before the grand final, where if measured against Nadal, the two players who already starred in the final of Australiathey would decide the number one between them.
For Rafael Nadalwill start the tournament with the Australian Rinky Hijikata as a first round matchup, Aslan Karatsev or Fognini would follow in second, and Diego Schwartzman in eighth. Looking ahead to the second week, the draw has allowed him to cross paths with the British Cameron Norrie and the Russian Andrey Rublev as possible most powerful rivals for the quarterfinalswhile the Italian Jannik Sinner and the polish Hubert Hurkacz are potentially in the way of alcarazwhat a winner of the Masters 1,000 in Miami and Madrid this year, he would not face Nadal until the semifinals.
The New York tournament will not feature Serbian Novak Djokovic this year, three-time champion and finalist last year, who resigned from participating a few hours before the draw, not being able to access USA for his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. “Sadly, this time I will not be able to travel to NY for the US Open. Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. Good luck to the other players! I will keep myself in good shape and in a positive frame of mind and will wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon world of tennis!”, wrote the 21 times champion of ‘Grand Slam’ in your account Twitter.
After falling in his debut in Cincinnati against croat Borna Coricultimately champion, Nadal, who has only played one game since the last tournament Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury, he will fight in ‘Flushing Meadows’ for his fifth crown and extend his advantage in number of grand slams against Novak Djokovic, his main pursuer (possible 23 to 21).
The Spanish Pablo Carrenoamong others, recent champion of the Montreal Masters 1,000will have a first round against the Austrian Dominic Thiem, champion of this tournament 2020, but despite his recent injuries, he now occupies the position 231 in the world ranking.