US Open 2024: Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz on the same side of the draw

Former US Open champions Carlos Alcaraz and world No.1 Jannik Sinner will be on the same side of the draw as revealed on Thursday (Aug 22). The US Open 2024 will start on Monday in New York as the draws took place on Thursday with top names like Novak Djokovic, Sinner and Alcaraz learning their fate. Djokovic will start against a qualifier and then play either fellow Serb Laslo Djere or Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.

Draws for the US Open out

The final Grand Slam of the year will be an interesting affair considering Sinner was given a clean chit in the doping test while defending champion Novak Djokovic enters the draw to win his 25th Grand Slam singles title. Djokovic will face either Sinner or Alcaraz in the final with both his nearest rivals placed in the other half of the draw.

Sinner heads into the US Open after he was cleared of any wrongdoing aftertesting positive twicefor a banned substance earlier in the season.

Sinner had explained that the substance had originated from a spray, containing clostebol, that had been used by a member of his staff to treat a cut finger.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the explanation and said the "presence of the substance was not intentional".

"I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me," said Sinner in a statement published on X.

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In the women's draw, world number two Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Coco Gauff have been drawn in the same half and could meet in the semi-finals.

World No.1 and 2022 champion Iga Swiatek's highest-ranked potential semi-final opponent is fourth-ranked Elena Rybakina.

The highlight match of the opening round sees four-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka, the champion at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2020, face number ten seed and 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko.