Andy Murray given kind US Open 2018 draw but Johanna Konta is left to rue her misfortune
Next week, Andy Murray will enter his first slam as an unseeded player since 2006 – barring another last-minute withdrawal of the kind he staged at three of the last four majors.
Happily, the US Open’s seeding computer showed mercy on Thursday night as it threw up world No. 445 James Duckworth – the only man on the entry list ranked lower than Murray’s 378 – as his opening opponent.
Murray might have pulled out of Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament, leaving his slated opponent Benoit Paire to face a “lucky loser” from qualifying instead. But the signs suggest that he will dip a toe in the grand-slam water here, if only to see how his body responds to best-of-five-set tennis.
Duckworth is a 26-year-old Australian whose career graph peaked three years ago at No. 82 in the world. Having suffered a horrible sequence of foot and arm injuries, he used a protected ranking to squeak in by right.
This will be an interesting fixture for Murray. He has a 4-3 win-loss record since he began his comeback from chronic hip trouble at Queen’s in June. In four tournaments to date, he has yet to play an opponent ranked outside the top 100.
Clearly, Murray can be grateful that he did not land a big-hitter straight off the bat. But the chances of a deep run still look remote. Should he make it past Duckworth, he will come up against a dangerous Spaniard in his next match – either Fernando Verdasco or Feliciano Lopez – while third seed Juan Martin del Potro makes for a daunting potential third-round opponent.
Johanna Konta, the only British woman to earn direct entry, is also unseeded. But by contrast with Murray, her luck is stubbornly refusing to turn. Konta suffered a horrible draw and will play sixth seed Caroline Garcia in a battle between the French and British No. 1s.
At least Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie can both be satisfied with their outcomes, as Edmund prepares to face Paolo Lorenzi – the world No. 96 from Italy – while Norrie will come up against another Australian in world No. 108 Jordan Thompson.
At the last four slams, Edmund has been the last Briton standing in either singles draw. The first fellow seed on his potential path is No. 18 Jack Sock, who is in the middle of a disastrous winless streak dating back to May. In all probability, though, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal would be waiting in the fourth round, the same stage at which Edmund lost to Novak DJokovic – then the top man in the rankings – on his best run in New York in 2016.
The position of Djokovic – who is only seeded No. 6 because of last year’s injury problems – was the big question surrounding yesterday’s men’s draw. Nadal would have been delighted to see him land in the same quarter as Roger Federer. Mind you, Federer will probably face some awkward moments if he is to get that far, including a possible third-round showdown with Nick Kyrgios. Of the “Big Three” men, he has come out with the short straw.
Serena Williams, who was seeded No. 17 by the organisers despite a ranking of No. 26, was another big name to find herself lumbered with a tricky path. Williams will begin against Magda Linette, the world No. 60 from Poland, but could come up against sister Venus as early as the third round. And if she makes the second week, her route would then possibly encompass Simona Halep in the fourth round, as well as potentially Garbine Muguruza or Karolina Pliskova. All before she reaches the semi-finals.
Kind draw for Norrie
Aplogies, I failed to mention that Britain's No 2 has got a favourable first-round draw - up against the Australian world No 108 Jordan Thompson.
So there we go
Murray and Edmund have done well there, Konta not so much.
Federer v Djokovic would be a sensational quarter-final.
Dimitrov v Wawrinka and V Williams v Kuznetsova are the pick of the first-round matches.
The fourth and final quarter
This is the bottom half so the No 4 Alex Zverev seed is scheduled to meet Federer in the semis.
The No 7 seed Marin Cilic is also in this quarter, and has a nice looking draw. Nishikori, Goffin and the young American Tiafoe are other names to look out for here.
Murray's first-round opponent
Is the Aussie world No 445 James Duckworth. It's a very kind draw all things considered.
The hugely exciting Stefanos Tsitsipas is also in this quarter
This incidentally is in the top half, so Del Potro is seeded to meet Nadal in what would be a repeat of last year's semi (the pair have also met in the French and at Wimbledon this year).
Now for No 3 seed Del Potro's quarter - and it features Andy Murray!
Delpo got to the semis here last year, and will kick off against a qualifier.
In the third round he's drew to play Andy Murray, who begins against James Duckworth followed by either Feliciano Lopez or Fernando verdasco.
The stand-out match undoubtedly though is Grigor Dimitrov v Stan Wawrinka! That's a repeat of the Wimbledon first round. Crazily bad luck for Dimitrov to draw the 2016 champion.
Tough draw for Federer
Kyrgios followed by Fognini followed by Djokovic (all just projected of course!).
Federer possible route:
R1: Nishioka
R2: Paire
R3: Kyrgios
R4: Fognini
QF: Djokovic #USOpen— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) August 23, 2018
Djokovic is in Federer's quarter!
So they could meet in the last eight.
And Kyrgios and Federer are drawn to meet in the third round! That would be electric.
Next up it's Federer's quarter
Will Murray pop up here?
Now for the men's draw - Nadal v Ferrer in the first round!
That was the French Open final five years ago.
Nadal is then seeded to meet Britain's Kyle Edmund in the fourth round. Edmund will kick things off against the veteran Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
Other names to look out for in this quarter are Kevin Anderson and Denis Shapovalov, who could meet the unseeded Sam Querrey in the second round.
Anderson kicks off against Ryan Harrison and could meet last year's quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev in the second round. That's a tough draw.
That's a real shocker for Konta
She just can't catch a break at the moment.
Ostapenko could meet Sharapova in the third round
I would love to see that.
Projected women's quarterfinals at the #USOpen:
Top Half:
Halep/Serena/Venus vs. Muguruza/Pliskova
Stephens vs Svitolina
Bottom Half:
Garcia/Ostapenko vs. Kerber/Keys
Kvitova vs Bertens/Wozniacki— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) August 23, 2018
The third and final quarter
Ouch, another terrible draw for Britain's No 1 Johanna Konta, who is drawn against the No 6 seed Caroline Garcia.
Elsewhere, this section is headed up by No 4 seed Angelique Kerber, who is seeded to meet Wozniacki in the semi-final.
It's a spicy looking section overall, featuring last year's semi-finalists Vandeweghe and Keys, plus former grand-slam champions Sharapova and Ostapenko.
Kerber is seeded to meet Garcia in the quarters.
Angelique Kerber's quarter of the draw (in Woznaicki's half). Caroline Garcia vs. Johanna Konta in first round. Townsend vs. Anisimova, too. Keys and Vandeweghe, a finalist and semifinalist last year, could meet in third round. Petkovic vs. Ostapenko fun. pic.twitter.com/HC8gROeA0T
— TENNIS.com (@Tennis) August 23, 2018
The second quarter
This is in Halep's half. So we can't have a Halep v Stephens final.
Fewer big names in this quarter, with Svitolina looking to get past the quarters of a major for the first time.
V Williams v Kuznetsova...
Is a crazy first-round draw by the way.
The bottom quarter
Features Kvitova, Wozniacki, Bertens, Osaka and Sabalenka.
Wozniacki kicks off against former champion Sam Stosur.
Five past or present No 1s in that quarter
Halep
Venus
Serena
Muguruza
Pliskova
Kuznetsova
Number #1. Four former #1, three former champs, four former finalists. All in the same quarter.— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 23, 2018
It's a stacked quarter of the draw!
Both Williams sisters, Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova are all in the top quarter.
Venus and Serena are drawn to play each other in the third round.
It's women's then men's
Simona Halep, the No 1 seed will come out of the draw first.
The draw is about to begin
Meanwhile the backlash has begun...
Second year that #USOpen has done the draw behind closed doors earlier in the day, making this "draw ceremony" simply a draw reveal.
Crappy, indefensible strategy. While I don't think they're rigging anything, transparency should be the whole point of these events.— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 23, 2018
The draw actually took place earlier
So we're essentially just being told the results of that. That's a bit...weird.
Still chatter I'm afraid
The current executive is talking about the introduction of the shot clock, which is a first at grand-slam level.
The preamble has started
It's all so American, and we're told that there will be "double the amount of shops and concessions" on site at Flushing Meadows this year.
Nearly there
These tend to be long and drawn out affairs, but we should be under way shortly!
Top draw
Evening all, at 7pm this evening the US Open draw will get under way. With Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka unseeded on the men's side, there is the potential for some hugely exciting first-round matches.
Either of them could be paired with one of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or current champion Rafael Nadal. There's also the delicious prospect of Murray being drawn against Alexander Zverev, who has just brought in Murray's former coach Ivan Lendl.
On the women's side, Serena Williams is seeded 17th despite her world ranking of No 26, while Simona Halep is the top seed, and champion Sloane Stephens is seeded third.
A full list of the seeds is below.
Men's
1. Rafael Nadal, Spain
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland
3. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
4. Alexander Zverev, Germany
5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa
6. Novak Djokovic, Serbia
7. Marin Cilic, Croatia
8. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria
9. Dominic Thiem, Austria
10. David Goffin, Belgium
11. John Isner, United States
12. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain
13. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
14. Fabio Fognini, Italy
15. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
16. Kyle Edmund, Great Britain
17. Lucas Pouille, France
18. Jack Sock, United States
19. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain
20. Borna Coric, Croatia
21. Kei Nishikori, Japan
22. Marco Cecchinato, Italy
23. Hyeon Chung, South Korea
24. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia and Herzegovina
25. Milos Raonic, Canada
26. Richard Gasquet, France
27. Karen Khachanov, Russia
28. Denis Shapovalov, Canada
29. Adrian Mannarino, France
30. Nick Kyrgios, Australia
31. Fernando Verdasco, Spain
32. Filip Krajinovic, Serbia
Women's
1. Simona Halep, Romania
2. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark
3. Sloane Stephens, United States
4. Angelique Kerber, Germany
5. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
6. Caroline Garcia, France
7. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
8. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
9. Julia Goerges, Germany
10. Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
11. Daria Kasatkina, Russia
12. Garbiñe Muguruza, Spain
13. Kiki Bertens, Netherlands
14. Madison Keys, United States
15. Elise Mertens, Belgium
16. Venus Williams, United States
17. Serena Williams, United States
18. Ashleigh Barty, Australia
19. Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia
20. Naomi Osaka, Japan
21. Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania
22. Maria Sharapova, Russia
23. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic
24. CoCo Vandeweghe, United States
25. Daria Gavrilova, Australia
26. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus
27. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia
28. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia
29. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia
30. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain
31. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia
32. Maria Sakkari, Greece
