{"id":2697,"date":"2026-08-27T16:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:45:27","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-and-novak-djokovic-path-to-us-open-final-as-top-seed-alexander-zverev-gets-favourable-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2697","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic path to US Open final as top seed Alexander Zverev gets favourable draw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Novak Djokovic face tricky first-round matches at the 2026 US Open, with the two all-time greats falling on the same side of the draw.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz<\/a> has not played a competitive singles match since suffering a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in mid-April but will return to action at Flushing Meadows as he attempts to defend his title.<\/p>\n

As world No 1 Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the tournament with a knee injury, French Open Alexander Zverev<\/a> is the top seed, and second seed Alcaraz is on the other side of the draw.<\/p>\n

Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> is seeded third and sits in Zverev\u2019s half of the draw, while 24-time major winner Djokovic could face Alcaraz in the semi-finals for the second straight year.<\/p>\n

Before that possibility, though, Zverev opens against the tricky Lorenzo Sonego, Auger-Aliassime takes on Rinky Hijikata, Djokovic<\/a> is up against former world No 29 Mariano Navone, who sits 49th in the rankings at the time of writing, whereas Alcaraz begins with the dangerous Roman Safiullin \u2013 who has a 1-1 head-to-head with the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n

More US Open News<\/h2>\n

Daniel Merida says what he\u2019s noticed about Carlos Alcaraz after practising with him at the US Open<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The ATP Tour\u2019s lack of ambition has just given Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic a boost ahead of the US Open<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as\u00a0<\/span>a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some other eye-catching first-round ties include the soon-to-be retired Stan Wawrinka against Matteo Berrettini, with the winner potentially facing Djokovic in round two.<\/p>\n

Moreover, former US Open champion Marin Cilic opens against 23rd seed Andrey Rublev, Cincinnati winner Arthur Fils takes on two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, and rising star Rafael Jodar will lock horns with Thanasi Kokkinakis first up.<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic\u2019s possible road to the final<\/h2>\n

Round one: Mariano Navone
\nRound two: Stan Wawrinka (WC)
\nRound three: Tomas Martin Etcheverry (27)
\nRound four: Brandon Nakashima (16)
\nQuarter-final: Daniil Medvedev (7)
\nSemi-final: Carlos Alcaraz (2)
\nFinal: Alexander Zverev (1)<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s possible <\/strong>road to the final<\/h2>\n

Round one: Roman Safiullin
\nRound two: Jenson Brooksby
\nRound three: Matteo Arnaldi (30)
\nRound four: Alexander Bublik (15)
\nQuarter-final: Arthur Fils (10)
\nSemi-final: Novak Djokovic (4)
\nFinal: Alexander Zverev (1)<\/p>\n

Alexander Zverev\u2019s possible road to the final<\/h2>\n

Round one: Lorenzo Sonego
\nRound two: Quentin Halys
\nRound three: Alejandro Tabilo (25)
\nRound four: Lorenzo Musetti (13)
\nQuarter-final: Alex De Minaur (6)
\nSemi-final: Felix Auger-Aliassime (3)
\nFinal: Carlos Alcaraz (2)<\/p>\n

Felix Auger-Aliassime\u2019s\u00a0possible road to the final<\/h2>\n

Round one: Rinky Hijikata
\nRound two: Karen Khachanov
\nRound three: Ignasio Buse (32)
\nRound four: Learner Tien (14)
\nQuarter-final: Alex De Minaur (6)
\nSemi-final: Alexander Zverev (1)
\nFinal: Carlos Alcaraz (2)<\/p>\n

For the draw in full, see below.<\/p>\n

\n

US Open Men\u2019s Singles main draw pic.twitter.com\/Yg0vDOiZGy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) August 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The post Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic path to US Open final as top seed Alexander Zverev gets favourable draw<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic face tricky first-round matches at the 2026 US Open, with the two all-time greats falling on the same side of the draw. Alcaraz has not played a competitive singles match since suffering a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in mid-April but will return to action at Flushing Meadows as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}