As the shockwave generated by Jannik Sinner’s positive test continues to spread, the US Open that starts on Monday takes shape and the draw is giving out difficulties for everyone. The number one, stained by the trail of doping – an involuntary contamination of clostebol, as determined by the International Agency for Integrity in Tennis (ITIA) – will have to add to the public scrutiny and critical voices a winding path that will lead him through stations as complex as those of Tommy Paul (round of 16), Daniil Medvedev (quarterfinals) or Carlos Alcaraz, who he could cross paths with in the semifinals.
As the third seed, the Spaniard was waiting for the draw to be drawn: Sinner (top seed) or Novak Djokovic (second) in a potential semi-final. And if everything goes according to logic, the hurdle would finally be the Italian, the focus of all attention after Tuesday’s announcement. Very briefly: March, Indian Wells, analysis and the detection of an anabolic steroid banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). According to a spokesperson for this organization in statements collected by The Sport GazetteWADA is “carefully” examining all the documentation of the case and has 21 days – until September 6, since the resolution was made public on August 15 – to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The storm aside, Alcaraz already knows that the horizon holds a possible reunion with Sinner, who is currently looking red, but also that he has been spared a real headache, the man who struck him down in the last edition; Medvedev, a potential opponent in the quarterfinals, will not appear until the end. Before that, there is a takeoff to decipher against a rival from the qualifying round and traps that it would be advisable not to let down one’s guard against: perhaps Shapovalov, perhaps Draper in the third round, Tabilo or Korda in the round of 16 and serious curveballs from Hurkacz onwards. In the end, Djokovic will go the other way.
A good demand for the Serbian, who after the starting shot against a player from the qualifying phase could come up against the hammers of Struff, Popyrin or Shelton, the spark of Tiafoe in New York and the growing consolidation of Alexander Zverev as a competitor on the big stages. After winning the Olympic gold, the defending champion arrives more than liberated, full and happy. Quite the opposite to the last champion, Coco Gauff, the American is mired in a considerable crisis of results. In the opposite dynamic comes Paula Badosa, inspired in recent times and eager to reverse the bad fortune in Flushing Meadows, where she has never made it past the second round.
The Catalan, now 27th in the world after a notable rise, will make her debut against the Swiss Viktorija Golubic (74th) and could then face two serious opponents in Barbora Kerjcikova (8th) and the Greek Maria Sakkari (9th); if she reaches the semi-finals, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka would raise the bar even higher and on the other side of the draw the progress of the number one, the Polish Iga Swiatek, is expected. Spanish tennis will have three other representatives: Sara Sorribes (against the local guest Alexa Noel (762nd)), Jessica Bouzas (Petra Martic (105th)), Cristina Bucsa (Sara Errani (94th)) and the first-timer Marina Bassols, who will make her debut in a Grand Slam after making the cut.
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