(New York) Novak Djokovic’s return to the U.S. Open after a year-long absence as he was not vaccinated against COVID-19 will be with a duel against a player who will be in his first career match at the tournament.

On the women’s side, defending champion Iga Swiatek and one of the local favorites Coco Gauff were placed in the same quarter of the table on Thursday in the draw.

The favorite Carlos Alcaraz, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2022, and the Italian Jannik Sinner, sixth seed, could again cross swords in the quarter-finals. Last year, Alcaraz beat Sinner in five sets in a game that ended at 2:50 a.m., the latest game to end in tournament history.

Main draw matches will begin on Monday.

Among the Canadians

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, 15^e seeded, will face American Mackenzie McDonald, 39^e in the world rankings, in the first round. For his part, the veteran Milos Raonic will cross swords with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded seventh. Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov is out of the tournament due to a knee injury.

Among the women, the Lavalloise Leylah Annie Fernandez will face the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 22^e first in the series. If Fernandez wins, she could play compatriot Bianca Andreescu in the second round. Andreescu has an appointment with the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. For her part, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino will play against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig.

The return of Djokovic

Djokovic is back where he won three of his 23 major titles. The 36-year-old Serb was unable to participate in the tournament last year as his vaccination status prevented him from traveling to the United States. He returned home for the first time in two years last week for the Cincinnati tournament. He defeated Alcaraz in the final in a duel lasting almost four hours.

The challenge will be different for Djokovic in the first round next week. He will face Alexandre Müller, a 26-year-old Frenchman who occupies the 85^e world rank and who will make his main draw debut at Flushing Meadows. Müller lost in the first round of qualifying in 2021 and 2022. He appears to be unlucky in Grand Slam draws, as he faced Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Sinner at Roland Garros.

Gauff, seeded sixth, defeated Swiatek recently en route to the title in Cincinnati. She had lost each of her first seven matches against the Pole, including the French Open final in 2022. Gauff is 11-1 since a first-round elimination at Wimbledon. She will play against a player from the qualifiers in the first round.

Alcaraz will have a date with Germany’s Dominik Köpfer, who reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in 2019.

The other quarterfinals could pit 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev against Andrey Rublev, Djokovic against Tsitsipas and Holger Rune against Casper Ruud.

In the ladies, the other quarter-finals could pit Elena Rybakina against Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka against 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula against Caroline Garcia.

Pegula, who has never reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam, faces the experienced Italian Camila Giorgi in the first round.

The venerable Venus Williams, 43 and two-time champion in the spotlight in New York, will face Spaniard Paula Badosa. The latter ranked second in the world last year, but slipped to 46^e rung.

The theoretical quarter-finals

The theoretical quarter-finals (based on seeds) of the 2023 edition of the United States Open which begin on Monday, according to the draw carried out on Thursday.

• Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/seed N.1)–Jannik Sinner (ITA/N.6)
• Daniil Medvedev (RUS / N.3) – Andrey Rublev (RUS / N.8)
• Casper Ruud (NOR/N.5)–Holger Rune (DEN/N.4)
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/N.7)-Novak Djokovic (SRB/N.2)

• Iga Swiatek (POL/seed N.1)-Coco Gauff (USA/N.6)
• Elena Rybakina (KAZ/N.4)-Maria Sakkari (GRE/N.8)
• Caroline Garcia (FRA/N.7)–Jessica Pegula (USA/N.3)
• Ons Jabeur (TUN/N.5)–Aryna Sabalenka (BLR/N.2)