NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Open was set to get underway on Monday at Flushing Meadows where defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff are headlining a star-studded start to year’s final Grand Slam.
Djokovic, looking to become the first player to capture 25 Grand Slam titles, is scheduled to cap the evening session under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot.
The Serbian world number two has not competed since winning the Olympic gold medal in Paris three weeks ago but is still a favourite to become the first player to successfully defend his New York title since Roger Federer in 2008.
“The goal is always for me to try to go all the way to the finals and fight for the trophy. That kind of mindset is no different for me this year,” Djokovic said in his pre-tournament news conference.
Gauff, looking to put a disappointing string of results behind her, will close the Ashe day session against France’s Varvara Gracheva after former champion Dominic Thiem, who is retiring at the end of the season, faces American 13th seed Ben Shelton on the showcourt.
Shelton, who made a spirited run to the semi-finals last year, is one of 17 players in the men’s draw looking to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick triumphed at the 2003 U.S. Open.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion and women’s pre-tournament favourite, will launch her title bid under the Louis Armstrong Stadium lights against Australian Priscilla Hon.
Sabalenka, runner-up last year, arrived in New York fresh off a triumph in Cincinnati and confident in her bid to become the first woman to claim the season’s two hardcourt majors in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, the seventh seed, will kick off the Louis Armstrong Stadium matches against Amanda Anisimova.
Also among those in action on Monday are former finalist Alexander Zverev, sixth seed Andrey Rublev, three-times runner-up Victoria Azarenka and Americans Taylor Fritz, Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Writing by Frank Pingue, editing by Ed Osmond)
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