Photo: AFP / Takuya Matsumoto
New Zealand's Lulu Sun will play a lower-ranked first-round women's singles opponent at the US Open before a possible showdown with two-time grand slam champion Aryna Sabalenka.
World No 57 Sun will face 69th-ranked Italian Lucia Bronzetti first up at the year's final grand slam tournament starting in New York on Monday.
Victory for the 23-year-old will send Sun into a likely collision course with Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament second seed who was beaten by Coco Gauff in last year's final, before going on to bag a second successive Australian Open crown in January.
New Zealand's Lulu Sun celebrates winning against China's Zheng Qinwen during their Women's singles tennis match. Photo: AFP
Sun's last grand slam appearance - and her first since switching allegiance from Switzerland - was her heady quarter-final run at Wimbledon in June, where she became the first New Zealand woman to reach the last eight at the grass court tournament.
The Te Anau-born Sun showed she is in good form heading into her US Open debut, beating 89th-ranked Russian Erika Andreeva 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Monterrey Open in Mexico on Friday.
Her semi-final opponent will be either third seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova or seventh seed Yuan Yue of China.
US Open women's draw
The in-form Sabalenka, looking to go one further after finishing runner-up in New York last year, returns well-rested after a mid-year break to focus on her health.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts to a point Photo: PHOTOSPORT
She will be confident about her chances after winning the tune-up event in Cincinnati.
Sabalenka's fortnight may include a third-round date with Alexandrova (29) followed by a fourth-round clash with Madison Keys (14), Zheng Qinwen (7) in the quarters, defending champion Gauff (3) in the semis and Iga Swiatek in the final - if results all go to seeding.
Gauff, who last year became the first American to win a US Open singles title since 2017, will begin her title defence against Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva.
Coco Gauff of the United States reacts after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in their women's singles final at the US Open. Photo: AFP
Top seed Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam winner who reached the fourth round last year, will start against a qualifier and faces a potential quarter-final clash against Canadian Open champion and Cincinnati runner-up Jessica Pegula.
Among the more high-profile first-round women's matchups, four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, in her first New York appearance since becoming a mother, will face Latvian 10th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Sinner heads men's draw
Top seed Jannik Sinner, whose doping case has dominated the lead-up to the US Open, faces a tough road to the New York men's final.
Jannik Sinner of Italy after winning the Cincinnati Open men's singles final. Photo: photosport
Sinner won in Cincinnati this week to claim his fifth title of a breakout season before the revelation that he [avoided a ban over two positive tests in March as it was ruled the Italian bore no fault or negligence for the violations.
The Australian Open champion is projected to face 14th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round, 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev (5) in the quarter-finals, Carlos Alcaraz (3) in the semis and defending champion Novak Djokovic (2) in the final.
Djokovic, who has not competed since winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, will begin against a qualifier and is expected to meet Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the semis.
Men's world tennis number one Novak Djokovic. Photo: Photosport
Reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz, who lost the opening match of his only US Open tune-up event, will also start against a qualifier and could face Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Among the first-round matches to watch on the men's side is big-hitting Ben Shelton, who electrified the home crowds last year with a spirited run to the semis, against 2020 champion Dominic Thiem, who is retiring at the end of the year.
- Reuters/RNZ