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French Open runner-up and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will
take on former champion Andy Murray in the pick of the first
round matches. Murray is now ranked 114th in the world as he has
struggled to regain full fitness after undergoing hip
re-surfacing surgery in 2019.
In the women's draw held on Thursday in New York, top seed Ash
Barty opens her campaign against Russian Vera Zvonareva while
defending U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka will face Marie
Bouzkova.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev will launch his bid to win his first
major title against veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Zverev, who could be Djokovic's semi-final opponent, has been
the form player coming into Flushing Meadows, having upset the
Serb on way to the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and
then rolling to victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event in
Cincinnati.
Last year Zverev was denied a maiden major at the U.S. Open
after being beaten in the final by Dominic Thiem, who is unable
to defend his title due to a wrist injury.
Main draw action at the U.S. Open starts on Monday, with the
tournament being held with fans this year after taking place in
a secure bubble last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year's tournament has already witnessed several
high-profile withdrawals, with Thiem being joined on the
sidelines by Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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