US Open 2023: Alcaraz and Djokovic Seek Redemption

Carlos Alcaraz will walk back into Arthur Ashe Stadium carrying two heavy questions: how sound is that right wrist, and how sharp can a champion be after four and a half months without a singles match?

We are about to find out.

The defending US Open champion opens against Russia’s Roman Safiullin in what is far more than a routine first round. It is the first genuine test of an injury that forced Alcaraz out of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and kept him away from the singles tour since early spring.

The 23-year-old Spaniard chose rest over surgery for the inflammation in his playing wrist, a conservative call that cost him two Grand Slams but preserved his long-term prospects. His only competitive taste of Flushing Meadows so far came in mixed doubles alongside Serena Williams earlier this week – a glamorous, low-risk reintroduction rather than the full-blooded combat that now awaits.

Yet the draw still treats him like the man who tore through New York last year. Alcaraz is seeded second, slotted in just behind top seed Alexander Zverev despite his long lay-off. Respect from the rankings. A challenge from reality.

Djokovic’s hunt for 25

On the other side of the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic begins another pursuit of history that has become almost routine in its scale. The 39-year-old is chasing a standalone record 25th Grand Slam singles title, a number that would push his legacy even further beyond the rest.

His opening assignment is Argentina’s Mariano Navone, a match he will be heavily favoured to control. The real intrigue comes immediately after. Waiting in the second round will be either Matteo Berrettini or Stan Wawrinka – a brutal early hurdle disguised as a second-round tie.

Berrettini knows the pain of facing Djokovic on a big stage, having lost to him in the 2021 Wimbledon final. Wawrinka, a three-time major champion and one of the few men to consistently trouble Djokovic at his peak, steps into his final Grand Slam after receiving a late wildcard. One last swing from the Swiss veteran, potentially against the man who defined his era.

Zverev steps up as top seed

The absence of Jannik Sinner, forced out with a knee injury, has reshaped the seeding order. Zverev, newly crowned Roland Garros champion, arrives in New York as the top seed and a Grand Slam winner at last.

That changes everything around him. For years he carried the label of nearly man; now he comes in with the weight of expectation and the confidence of someone who finally broke through in Paris. His campaign starts against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, a dangerous ball-striker but a player Zverev will expect to control if he is serious about a second major.

Fery leads a thin British charge

For British tennis, this US Open feels oddly stripped back. No Jack Draper. No Emma Raducanu. Just a handful of names and one rising story.

Arthur Fery, the surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist, returns to the Grand Slam spotlight with a first-round test that underlines his new status. Drawn against 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti, a 2025 quarter-finalist here, Fery has been handed a harsh reminder of what life looks like just outside the protected seeding positions he narrowly missed.

At 24, Fery used his run at the All England Club to smash into the world’s top 40 and punch his ticket to New York for the first time. Now ranked 37, he leads a slim British contingent, with eyes fixed on whether his grass-court breakthrough can translate to the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.

Cameron Norrie, the British men’s number one, just sneaked into the seedings and will open as the 29th seed against France’s Luca van Assche. Steady rather than spectacular this season, Norrie knows this is the kind of match he must handle efficiently if he wants to move beyond his reputation as an early-week regular.

Jan Choinski completes the current British presence in the men’s draw. The 30-year-old’s late surge into the world’s top 100 in June has finally earned him a place at this level. It is a reward for persistence in a year when British depth has been badly hit.

Draper, a semi-finalist here in 2024 and arguably Britain’s most explosive talent, withdrew last week with a long-term arm injury. Raducanu, the 2021 champion and still the most talked-about British name in New York, remains out with the shin fracture that already cost her Wimbledon. Their absence leaves Fery, Norrie and Choinski carrying the flag in a stadium where British drama has become almost expected.

Sabalenka under pressure at the top

The women’s draw opens with its own defending champion under scrutiny. Aryna Sabalenka starts against Colombia’s Camila Osorio, stepping into a tournament she has dominated on paper as much as on court.

Sabalenka has sat atop the WTA rankings for 97 weeks, a stretch of authority that tells its own story. Yet the air at the top is not clear. Elena Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion, lurks close enough in the standings to threaten that position and begins her campaign against American teenage wildcard Thea Frodin – a match that should offer a gentle start but will be watched closely by the calculators.

Then there is Venus Williams.

Two decades after her prime, the 46-year-old returns to Flushing Meadows with a wildcard and a stark statistic: 10 matches played this season, 10 defeats. The numbers are unforgiving; the aura is not. She opens against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in a first round loaded more with sentiment than seeding significance, but still rich in narrative. Williams is not here for farewell tours or exhibitions. She is here because she still believes there is one more run in that body.

Questions only New York can answer

So the stage is set.

Alcaraz, second seed but first in intrigue, must prove that a rested wrist can withstand the violence of best-of-five tennis. Djokovic chases a 25th major with the prospect of an early showdown against one of two familiar, dangerous foes. Zverev tests his new status as a Grand Slam champion. Sabalenka tries to hold off Rybakina at the top of the women’s game. Fery walks into his first US Open as Britain’s brightest current hope.

New York has a habit of shredding scripts. Which of these storylines survives the opening week?