US Open 2021: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

The last grand slam of the year, the US Open will commence from August 30 and the draw for the same is out. Novak Djokovic, who is eyeing history at Flushing Meadows will go in as the top seed while 2019 runner-up Daniil Medvedev is seeded second.

Tournament Details:

• Tournament: US Open 2021
• Date: August 30-September 12, 2021
• Number of Entrants: 128 (Singles), 64 (Doubles)
• Venue: New York, NY, USA
• Surface: Hard Court
• Prize Money: $20,280,000
• Defending champion: Dominic Thiem

Top Seeds at the US Open 2021

• Novak Djokovic
• Daniil Medvedev
• Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Alexander Zverev
• Andrey Rublev

Top Half

First Quarter

Novak Djokovic will headline the first quarter of the draw and has been handed a very tricky draw. He will open his campaign against a qualifier and is expected to face German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round who opens against Tallon Griekspoor. 27th seed David Goffin will take on Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round and could face Kei Nishikori in the second round. Either Goffin or Nishikori will face Djokovic in the third round.

Russian 21st seed Aslan Karatsev will face Jaume Munar in the first round and is drawn alongside Australian Alex de Minaur who opens against Taylor Fritz. Another Aussie, Jordan Thompson and American Jenson Brooksby are also in the same bracket. The winner of the bracket will face Djokovic in the Round of 16.

Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz will face Egor Gerasimov in the first round and will face either Andreas Seppi or Marton Fucsovics in the next round. Hurkacz is drawn alongside Lorenzo Sonego, Laslo Djere and Denis Kudla.

2019 semifinalist and Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini will kickstart his campaign against Jeremy Chardy and is expected to face Stefano Travaglia in the next round. Berrettini could face fellow Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round. Hurkacz and Berrettini could face each other in the Round of 16.

1st Quarterfinal Prediction: Novak Djokovic vs Matteo Berrettini

Second Quarter

The second quarter of the draw will be headlined by 2020 runner-up Alexander Zverev who opens against Sam Querrey. The German 4th seed is expected to face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round and has been drawn alongside Alexander Bublik who opens against Yannick Hanfmann.

Italian teen sensation Jannik Sinner will lock horns against Max Purcell in the first round and could face Frenchman Gael Monfils in the third round. Monfils will face Federico Coria in the opener and will face either Steve Johnson or a qualifier in the second round.

9th seed Pablo Carreno Busta will face a qualifier in the first round and will face the winner of Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Sebastian Korda in the second round. Big serving American Reilly Opelka faces Soon-woo Kwon in the first round and could face Lorenzo Musetti in the second round. Opelka and Carreno Busta could lock horns in the third round. 7th seed Denis Shapovalov opens against Federico Delbonis and has been drawn alongside Olympic silver-medalist Karen Khachanov who takes on in form Lloyd Harris in the first round.

2nd Quarterfinal Prediction: Alexander Zverev vs Reilly Opelka

Third Quarter

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will headline the third quarter of the draw who faces 2-time champion Andy Murray in a blockbuster first round clash. The winner will take on either of Frenchmen- Adrian Mannarino or Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round. Cameron Norrie will face Carlos Alcaraz in another mouthwatering opening round clash.

In form Ugo Humbert will face a qualifier in the first round and will take on either Benoit Paire or Dusan Lajovic in the second round. Cristian Garin and John Millman are also in the same bracket.

5th seed Andrey Rublev will kickstart his campaign against a qualifier and has been drawn alongside 32nd seed Filip Krajinovic who opens against Guido Pella. Franced Tiafoe is also in the same bracket. Roberto Bautista Agut will face Australian showman Nick Kyrgios in the first round. As many as 3 qualifiers are present in this bracket of the draw which also consists of Felix Auger Aliassime.

3rd Quarterfinal Prediction: Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas

Fourth Quarter

Second seed Daniil Medvedev will headline the bottom quarter of the draw and will face French veteran Richard Gasquet in the first round. He is expected to face Dominik Koepfer in the second round and has been drawn alongside former US Open champion Marin Cilic who opens against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

15th seed Grigor Dimitrov will be up against American wildcard Sam Riffice in the opening round and could face Alexei Popyrin in the second round. Brit Daniel Evans will open his campaign against Thiago Monteiro and could go on to face Marcos Giron.

Eighth seed Casper Ruud will take on Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round and is expected to face Carlos Taberner in the second round. Taro Daniel, Facundo Bagnis, Gilles Simon and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are also placed in the same bracket.

American giant John Isner opens his campaign against fellow American Brandon Nakashima and will face a qualifier in the second round. 11th seed Diego Schwartzman faces Ricardas Berankis in the opener and could face Kevin Anderson in the second round.

4th Quarterfinal Prediction: John Isner vs Daniil Medvedev

Semifinals

The first semifinal will be a repeat of Olympics semifinal and will be played between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. It will be a very tough battle for Djokovic given Zverev’s unbeaten run since the Olympics. The match could go down the distance with Djokovic avenging the loss from Tokyo 2020.

The second semifinal will be an All-Russian battle between Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev. Both players have exceptional record on hard courts over the last one year. Medvedev will have a certain edge given his incredible form and big match temperament.

US Open Final: Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev

Final

The 2021 US Open final will be played between the top 2 seeds- Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. The match will be very tightly contested given the recent form and caliber of both players. However, Djokovic is expected to prevail and create history by becoming the first man to win 21 grand slam titles.

US Open Champion: Novak Djokovic

Also read: “Have to be reasonable with my expectations,” Andy Murray on the difficulties of struggling with current form