08/27/26 11:32:00
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08/27 11:31 CDT Carlos Alcaraz opens US Open title defense against Safiullin,
Venus Williams plays Sofia Kenin
Carlos Alcaraz opens US Open title defense against Safiullin, Venus Williams
plays Sofia Kenin
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Carlos Alcaraz will open the defense of his U.S. Open title
against an opponent who made a strong run at Wimbledon while the Spaniard was
sidelined with an injury.
Along with some interesting opening-round matches, the draws for men's and
women's singles Thursday delivered one what-could-have-been possibility: Had
Serena Williams decided to play, there could have been a Williams sisters
showdown in Round 1.
When Venus Williams was given a wild card into the event at 46, the U.S. Tennis
Association initially held one spot, which surely would have gone to Serena if
the six-time U.S. Open champion wanted to play after returning to tennis for
the first time since 2022. When the 44-year-old decided to only compete in
doubles, the USTA awarded that last wild card over the weekend to American
Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
On Thursday, Venus Williams and Kenin were randomly drawn to face each other.
Main draw play at the final Grand Slam tournament of the season begins Sunday.
Alcaraz is the No. 2 seed and will face Roman Safiullin. It will be Alcaraz's
first singles match since April, after the two-time U.S. Open champion was
forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury.
The Spaniard returned to play with Serena Williams in the mixed doubles
tournament and looked rusty. He may have to be sharper against Safiullin, who
reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, upsetting Andrey Rublev and Joao Fonseca
along the way before falling to 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak
Djokovic in four sets.
Safiullin also upset Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 at the time, in the ATP Masters 1000
in Paris in 2023. Alcaraz avenged that loss the following year at the Paris
Olympics in their lone other meeting.
Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion who became the No. 1 seed in New
York when Jannik Sinner pulled out with a knee injury, will open against
Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Two-time defending women's champion Aryna Sabalenka opens against Camila
Osorio. The top-ranked Sabalenka, who has struggled during the North American
hard-court season, could face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the No. 6 seed,
in the quarterfinals.
The other potential women's quarterfinals: No. 2 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 8 Iga
Swiatek, No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 7 Karolina Muchova, and No. 4 Coco Gauff
vs. No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, the French Open champion.
Pegula, who opens against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, would play the Williams-Kenin
winner in the second round.
The potential men's quarters: No. 1 Zverev vs. No. 6 Alex de Minaur, No. 2
Alcaraz vs. No. 8 Ben Shelton, No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. No. 5 Flavio
Cobolli, and No. 4 Djokovic vs. No. 7 Daniil Medvedev.
No. 10 seed Arthur Fils, coming off the title in the Cincinnati Open, faces
two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was once ranked No. 3, in
the first round. Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 U.S. Open champion who received a wild
card to play in his final Grand Slam tournament before retiring, faces Matteo
Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, to open a second straight major
tournament. Berrettini won in four sets --- all tiebreakers --- at the All
England Club.
Rublev, the No. 23 seed, faces 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. No. 13
Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the quarterfinals in New York last year, opens
against Britain's Arthur Fery, who lost to Zverev in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Some first-round matches won't be determined until the conclusion of the
qualifying tournaments, which were scheduled to finish Thursday. Potential
women's contenders such as No. 11 Marta Kostyuk and No. 17 Alex Eala were among
those waiting to see who they would face in their openers.
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