By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, August 25, 2022
Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev in the 2019 US Open final. Will the top two seeds meet again on September 11th?
Photo credit: Garrett Ellwood/US Open/USTA
In the city that never sleeps, Daniil Medvedev seldom suffers sleepless nights.
World No. 1 Medvedev won't doze in crackling first quarter of the draw that could blow the top off the tournament.
More: Djokovic Withdraws from US Open
The 2022 US Open draws were conducted today at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The prospect of a blockbuster rematch between defending US Open champion Medvedev and Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios pops off the page.
Shortly before the draw, 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who is unvaccinated and therefore unable to enter the United States under current COVID-19 policy, withdrew. Wimbledon champion Djokovic joins Olympic gold-medal champion Alexander Zverev, rehabbing Roger Federer, Gael Monfils and Reilly Opelka out of the draw.
Still, there's plenty of talent on tap.
See the US Open men's draw here:
Medvedev's Demanding Draw
Arriving for his first Grand Slam since Roland Garros, Medvedev figures to face a challenging road in New York.
The Australian Open finalist fell to Nick Kyrgios in Montreal and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati and both are potential opponents in Flushing Meadows as is Felix Auger-Aliassime, who held a match point against Medvedev in Melbourne last January.
The top seed opens against American Stefan Koslov, in his US Open main-draw debut. After that, Medvedev could face:
*Round 3: No. 31 Nikoloz Basilashvili
*Round 4: Either No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut or No. 23 Nick Kyrgios
*Quarterfinals: No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime
*Semifinals: No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas
*Final: No. 2 Rafael Nadal
While Medvedev has shown when he's on his game he's one of the top two hard-court players in the world, he has not been as sharp recently.
How will he handle the immense pressure of defending a Grand Slam for the first time and have opponents like Tsitsipas and Kyrgios, who both dragged the lanky Russian out of his comfort zone to net at times in their wins, gave a glimpse of the game-plan required to beat Medvedev on hard courts?
Hall of Famer John McEnroe says emotional and tactical tests will shadow Medvedev in New York.
"Medvedev, it's tough to say, actually. You wonder what's going on in his head, obviously, with what's going on with that war," McEnroe told Tennis Now in an ESPN Zoom call to promote the network's US Open coverage, which begins Monday at noon on ESPN. "I can't imagine it's not playing a part in all these Russian players and what's going on in that part of the world. Having said that, I still think he's one of the favorites, one of the top two couple guys, no question about it.
"So that's obviously an interesting storyline to follow. And tactically there's a whole other thing. Obviously he plays so far back. It seems like that will catch up to him…they'll figure out, players should figure out a way to deal with that and he's got to adjust. We'll see if that adjustment is made or if it needs to be made. "
Rafa Returns
Empowered by sweeping two of the first three majors, Rafael Nadal carries an immaculate 19-0 Grand Slam record—and Grand ambition—into this US Open.
It's a dream draw for the 36-year-old Spanish superstar.
Rafa returns to New York for the first time since 2019 when he out-dueled Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller to capture his fourth US Open crown. Though skeptics doubted the king of clay could adapt his game to the fast Flushing Meadows hard-courts, Nadal has made the semifinals or better in his last three US Open appearances.
In fact, you can make the case Nadal has played some of his most dynamic tennis in New York. He attacked net more than 100 times defeating Medvedev in that 2019 final and his superb net skills could come into play again next week.
Here's a preview of Rafa's potential path to a third Grand Slam final of the season:
*First Round: Wild Card Rinky Hijikata (AUS)
*Round 2: Fabio Fognini (ITA) or Aslan Karatsev (RUS)
*Round 3: No. 32 Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
*Round 4: No. 14 Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
*Quarterfinals: No. 7 Cameron Norrie (GBR) or No. 9 Andrey Rublev (RUS)
*Semifinals: No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) or No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
*Final: No. 1 Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Oddsmakers Favorites
In Djokovic's absence, Medvedev is the favorite to successfully defend his US Open crown followed by 22-time major champion Nadal.
No surprises there.
Miami Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, whom Nick Kyrgios picked as his US Open favorite, is the third leading contender according to oddschecker.com.
These are the latest odds:
1. Daniil Medvedev +225
2. Rafael Nadal +380
3. Carlos Alcaraz +550
4. Nick Kyrgios +900
4. Stefanos Tsitsipas +1400
5. Jannik Sinner +1700
6. Taylor Fritz +2100
7. Matteo Berrettini +3100