Alex de Minaur appears to have been given a kind draw for the year’s final grand slam, but Australia’s perennial hope will face a precociously formidable obstacle if he wants to make it to the quarterfinals for the third straight year.
The world number six will face a qualifier in the opening round, with the final rounds of qualifying still to be played.
Should De Minaur get through a qualifier in the first round, he could be set up for clashes with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round, and a potential third-round duel with 31st seed Belgian Zizou Bergs.
Should de Minaur make it past round three, he is in line for a potential fourth-round clash with world number 13 Rafael Jódar, the brilliant 19-year-old Spaniard who crushed de Minaur in their only meeting at the Madrid Open on clay in April and who has since made giant strides on hard courts too.
The winner of that match would meet number one Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal, assuming this year’s French Open champion wins his opening four matches at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Jódar will meet another Australian, Thanasi Kokkinakis, who is battling back from injuries and is on a protected ranking, in the first round.
Others among the 13-strong Aussie contingent — which could be increased as three more were seeking qualification in Thursday’s final round — had tough draws, with Rinky Hijikata first up against Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and James Duckworth facing Italian 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi.
Novak Djokovic, down to number five in the rankings, launches his bid for a record-setting 25th slam singles crown against Argentina’s tough world number 48 Mariano Navone.
Newly restored as Australian women’s number one, Daria Kasatkina has been handed a bit of a horror run, with former world number two Paula Badosa, now down to 83rd in the rankings after injury woes, representing a dangerous first-round barrier.
If Kasatkina negotiates that, she will likely face former champion Coco Gauff in the second round.
Maya Joint will have her hands full again with Liudmila Samsonova, the big-hitting Russian who defeated her at the Canadian Open earlier in the month and at Wimbledon last year.
Defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who has been ailing, opens against Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
Men’s singles
Alex de Minaur (6) v Qualifier
Alexei Popyrin v Qualifier

Adam Walton v Yibing Wu (CHN)
Rinky Hijikata v Felix Auger-Aliassime (3) (Canada)
Aleksandar Vukic v Qualifier
James Duckworth v Matteo Arnaldi (30) (Italy)
Thanasi Kokkinakis v Rafael Jodar (12) (Spain)
Dane Sweeny (Wildcard) v Corentin Moutet (France)
Women’s singles
Maya Joint v Liudmila Samsonova (Russia)
Daria Kasatkina v Paula Badosa (Spain)
Kimberly Birrell v Petra Marcinko (Croatia)
Talia Gibson v Donna Vekic (Croatia)
Taylah Preston (Wildcard) v Alycia Parks (United States)
AAP/ABC
By
