It wasn’t the gift that Carlos Alcaraz would have liked after winning the Cincinnati Masters title. Seeded second at the US Open, the Spaniard would have expected an easy path at the upcoming US Open. On the contrary, Alcaraz has been put in a brutal bottom half and will face some top stars early on in his campaign. Despite being in good form, the tough draw will worry his fans as Alcaraz has been playing some non-stop tennis of late after participating in the US Open mixed doubles event as well. On the contrary, Novak Djokovic should have it easy in New York.

The Serb is chasing his 25th Grand Slam title and will aim to dig deep in New York. He will open his campaign against American sensation Learner Tien. However, a qualifier or a lucky loser will await him in the second round. Further, his first meeting against a seeded player could be against Alex Michelsen in the third round. Djokovic has been placed in the same quarter as Holger Rune and could face Alcaraz in the last four.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz has a very tough draw at the US Open. Although he has had easy draws in the previous two major tournaments, it wasn’t third time lucky for him. He opens his campaign against the tall American Reilly Opelka, who could prove to be a strong contender. Further, Daniil Medvedev would await him in the fourth round. If Alcaraz emerges through that contest, he could potentially face Ben Shelton or Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals, with the challenge of Djokovic potentially looming in the last four.

Elsewhere, Jannik Sinner has also received a relatively easy draw as compared to Alcaraz. The Italian star, who recently battled illness, is in the same quarter as Jack Draper, with a potential meeting against Alexander Zverev in the last four. Even though the draw favors Sinner, many tennis bigwigs, including former world number 40 Ryan Harrison, feel that Alcaraz will prevail in the tournament.

Ryan Harrison picks Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner for the US Open title

While the duo of ‘Sincaraz’ has won each of the last seven Grand Slam titles among them, they go into the US Open as a hot favorite to continue that feat. Sinner has already won a couple of major titles this season, with Alcaraz prevailing at the French Open. This time around, American star Harrison feels that the Spaniard can emerge victorious in New York.

He said, “Yes. Absolutely he can. Carlos has the most creativity in the game. What he can do with the ball with spin, the way he can transition, it’s why he can disrupt Sinner. Sinner hits the ball so big and flat that he can literally overpower the rest of the tour. Carlos is physically fit and strong enough that he can withstand those big strikes from Sinner but he can also create spin, create slice, use the drop shot. We have talked about Carlos’s drop shot for years now.”

Further, he went on to add, “He transitions well. And now he is getting free points on serve, which is another thing you have to deal with if you are in the Sinner camp. So yes, absolutely, I think Carlos can be a champion in New York again and I’d go as far as to say I have Carlos as the favourite in New York this year.”

However, Alcaraz will have to be at his absolute best if he is to win the US Open title. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs at Flushing Meadows in the coming days.