Roger Federer has been handed a nightmare US Open draw as he could face close rival Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Federer and Djokovic met in the Cincinnati final where the Serb cruised to victory to complete his career golden masters. The two tennis legends are in the bottom quarter of the draw, where Federer could play erratic Australian Nick Kyrgios in the third round.
The 20 time grand slam champion will face Yoshihito Nishioka while Novak Djokovic begins his campaign against fast rising Hungarian, Marton Fucsovics. Other players in their section include Lucas Pouille, Richard Gasquet and Fabio Fognini.
The other quarter in the bottom half of the draw sees 2014 champion Marin Cilic and fourth seed, Alexander Zverev have fairly easy draws. The Croatian will play Marius Copil in the opening round with his toughest opponent awaiting in the last 16 against 10th seed David Goffin.
While the talented Zverev, who will play his first tournament under Ivan Lendl’s guidance will play a qualifier in round one as Kei Nishikori or Diego Schwartzman awaiting in the last 16.
The top half of the draw starts with top seed and defending champion, Rafael Nadal as he is looking to become the first man in a decade to defend his US Open title. The Spaniard will face compatriot David Ferrer in the first round, who will play his last ever US Open this year. Standing in Nadal’s way of a potential semi-final spot is Kyle Edmund, Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem.
The other quarter of the top half of the draw sees another blockbuster first round match between Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka. The duo recently met at Wimbledon, where the latter won in four sets and have been drawn to meet each other again. The likes of Milos Raonic and John Isner also stand in the way of Dimitrov reaching the quarter-finals in New York.
While third seed and 2009 champion, Juan Martin Del Potro starts with a qualifier in the first round with a potential third round meeting with Andy Murray awaiting the Argentinian. The 2012 champion, Murray will face Australia’s James Duckworth in the opening round as he looks to test out his fitness. A potential last 16 meeting with Borna Coric or Stefanos Tsitsipas looks likely for Murray or Del Potro, should they reach that far.
The US Open begins on Monday, with lots of twists and turns are expected in the men’s draw.
