Argentine challenge for Djokovic at the US Open, derby for Venus Williams

The US Open will kick off tomorrow (Sunday, 18:00). On the first day, the following will appear at Arthur Ashe Stadium one after another: Jessica Pegula, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and for dessert, Venus Williams in an American derby against Sofia Kenin.

Men

Novak Djokovic (4, Serbia) set his record for wins in New York three years ago, but since his 24th Grand Slam title, he has not managed to increase his tally. He lost in two finals and was stopped six times in the semifinals, while the gap from the two leaders is only growing, and age is also taking its toll. After the loss to Thiago Agustin Tirante in Cincinnati, the 39-year-old Serb will again meet an Argentine, this time Mariano Navone (48th in the world), whom he has not had the chance to play against during his career. Navone has a 1:6 record against top-10 opponents, with his only win being on clay (against Felix Auger-Aliassime about four months ago in Rome).

Daniil Medvedev (7, Russia) won the only Grand Slam of his career at the US Open five years ago. In 2023, he lost in the final to Djokovic (after losing in the final to Rafael Nadal in 2019), but last year he was surprisingly eliminated in the first round. He hopes to avoid a similar scenario against the Frenchman Hugo Gaston (88th in the world), who came through the qualifiers and lost to Medvedev in their only meeting so far (2021 Paris tournament quarterfinals). Gaston's only victory over a top-10 tennis player was against Alex de Minaur about two years ago.

Other matches:

Alexander Bublik (15, Kazakhstan) - J.J. Wolf (USA)
Jiri Lehecka (18, Czech Republic) - Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain)
Tommy Paul (20, USA) - Chak Lam Wong (Hong Kong)
Arthur Rinderknech (26, France) - Sho Shimabukuro (Japan)
Tomas Etcheverry (27, Argentina) - Vit Kopriva (Czech Republic)
Cameron Norrie (29, UK) - Luca Van Assche (France)

Women

Jessica Pegula (3, USA) understands that her only chance to win a Grand Slam is at home. Two years ago she lost in the final to Aryna Sabalenka, last year she was stopped by the Belarusian in the semifinals, and the current draw will also bring them together in the semifinals if they are not surprised along the way. Her first step towards that will be against the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse (63), who reached the third round in Australia at the beginning of the year and did the same in the US two years ago, when she eliminated Barbora Krejcikova in the second round, in one of her three victories over top-10 opponents. Pegula is in good form, despite the losses in the Cincinnati final (to Coco Gauff) and earlier in the Washington final (to Alexandra Ayala).

46-year-old Venus Williams received a wild card, as did her opponent Sofia Kenin, who touched the sky with her victory at the Australian Open in 2020 and her subsequent rise to the Roland Garros final, but has since struggled to return to the top and is currently ranked 103rd in the world. Kenin has won only six matches this season, but should manage in a historic meeting for her against the former champion who plays occasionally and is on a 14-match losing streak. Venus, who won twice at Flushing Meadows (2000 and 2001), has not passed the first round there since 2019 (four losses).

Other matches: