Carlos Alcaraz will be hoping to translate his fine form from Cincinnati to New York in the coming weeks, as his US Open campaign gets underway.
The Spaniard boasts a rich history with this event, as a former champion back in 2021, which marked the first of the five Grand Slams he has since captured.
However, since then, he has failed to come close to claiming the title again, with last year marking his worst-ever performance, exiting in just the second round.
The one benefit of such a poor result is that this year he enters with no pressure and no ranking points to defend.
And yet, his draw has certainly harmed his chances of soaring to the title.
Carlos Alcaraz handed a tough US Open draw
Alcaraz’s US Open draw is particularly brutal this year, having been handed some more fortunate starts at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
After all, he will start his campaign against Reilly Opelka, the big-serving American who can, on his day, trouble anyone on tour.
🇪🇸🇺🇸 Carlos Alcaraz’s 2025 US Open draw:
R1 – Opelka
R2 – Bellucci/Shang
R3 – Darderi
R4 – Medvedev/ADF
QF – Shelton/Ruud/Griekspoor/Lehecka
SF – Fritz/Djokovic/Rune/Mensik
F – Sinner/Zverev/Draper/de Minaur
📸 AP pic.twitter.com/48YItvRxGd
— Olly Tennis 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) August 21, 2025
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His next big task would then likely come in the fourth round, where Daniil Medvedev should await, before Ben Shelton is expected to make it to the quarter-finals.
He is coming off the back of the biggest title of his career, and also has few points to defend after underperforming at the US Open last year as well.
One of Taylor Fritz or Novak Djokovic should be in the semi-finals, and if Carlos Alcaraz beats all of these superstars, Jannik Sinner seems his inevitable opponent in the final.
However, arguably for the Spaniard, his biggest challenge will come early in the event.
Carlos Alcaraz often starts slow in the Grand Slams
After all, whilst the likes of Opelka and Medvedev would not normally trouble Alcaraz, they will certainly fancy their chances due to facing him earlier in the event.
This year, whilst he has reached the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon, he has struggled in the first few rounds.
In Paris, he dropped sets to both Fábián Marozsán and Damir Džumhur before coming within one set of getting knocked out by a retiring Fabio Fognini at Wimbledon in the very first round.
Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images
As tournaments go on, his powers only increase, so facing Alcaraz in the first few rounds arguably marks the best time.
Opelka, if on form, could cause the biggest of upsets at the US Open, should the 22-year-old fail to rectify one of the biggest issues he has faced all year.