Novak Djokovic could face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals after landing in same half of draw; British No 1 Kyle Edmund faces Paolo Lorenzi in first round
Friday 24 August 2018 12:02, UK
Andy Murray will take on unseeded Australian James Duckworth in the first round of the US Open with the former world No 1 in line for a potential third-round blockbuster against third seed Juan Martin del Potro.
The Scot is playing his first Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2017, when a hip injury derailed his career for the best part of a year, and could have landed any of the top seeds, but he has been handed a kind opener against the only man on the entry list ranked lower than Murray's 378 - with Duckworth at No 445.
Murray, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2012, has played seven matches since making his comeback in June.
Duckworth, like Murray, has got into the main draw using his protected ranking after also suffering from injury.
British No 1 Kyle Edmund will face unseeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi in his first-round match.
Edmund, seeded 16th, is currently gunning for his first ATP Tour title in the Winston-Salem Open and will play his quarter-final tonight.
Edmund, who has never got past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, could play defending champion and top seed Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals if he gets that far, while fellow Briton Cameron Norrie goes up against Jordan Thompson.
Nadal opens his campaign against Spanish compatriot David Ferrer, who is playing at Flushing Meadows for the final time. It will be a 31st career meeting between the Davis Cup team-mates, with Nadal leading the series 24-6.
"We have a great history together, we shared the Davis Cup team a lot of times," Nadal said, adding that while his good friend Ferrer has struggled this season "he's still a player with a very high level of tennis."
Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson and youngsters Denis Shapovalov, Jack Sock and Dominic Thiem are all in the same quarter.
Novak Djokovic has landed in Roger Federer's half of the draw and the Serb is a potential quarter-final opponent for the Swiss.
Djokovic, who won Wimbledon last month, starts against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, while five-time winner Federer begins his pursuit for a first title since 2008 against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion faces a potential clash against hot-headed Australian Nick Kyrgios in the third round.
Eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov takes on wild card and 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka in arguably the match of the opening round.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports. But first, we will be across the final major of the year in New York as the US Open gets underway on August 27, right through to the final with live blogs, reports, features and reaction.
