US Open men's draw breakdown - Predicting a Djokovic vs Federer final

2013 U.S. Open – Preview

There were two important questions that were being asked before the US Open men’s draw was released.

Which of the top four seeds would draw Roger Federer, now down to no. 7 in the rankings, in their quarter?

Answer – Rafael Nadal.

And would Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who have played in the finals of three of the last four slams, be on the opposite sides of the draw.

Answer – No.

But there’s plenty of tennis to play before we get to those matches.

Here’s our breakdown of the men’s draw for the US Open which begins in New York on Monday:

First Quarter –

Novak Djokovic

Since winning back-to-back titles in Melbourne and Dubai, Djokovic’s wheels seem to have come off – winning only one other title (in Monte Carlo). And he failed to reach the finals of either of the post-Wimbledon Masters Series events – making him somewhat vulnerable coming into the final Grand Slam of the season.

The Serb opens up against the former junior world no. 1 Ricardas Berankis, then could meet the Czech sledgehammer Lukas Rosol in the second round and Mr. Sharapova – Grigor Dimitrov – in the third.

All of those could be potentially tough matches. Djokovic’s fourth round opponent could be the no. 16th seed Fabio Fognini or the 24th seed Benoit Paire. If those two live up to their seeding and meet in the third round, be sure to watch that one – it could be the best popcorn match of the first week.

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro is in Djokovic’s quarter. The Argentine has had a good summer, winning the title in Washington and reaching the semis in Cincinnati. The Serb does lead their head-to-head 9-3 but if the two meet on current form, it should be a closer contest than that.

Del Potro gets the winner of the Lleyton Hewitt and Brian Baker first round encounter in the second, Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer, who’s currently in the finals in Winston-Salem this week, in the third, and German veteran Tommy Haas in the fourth round.

Matches to watch out for – (12) Tommy Haas vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu; Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. David Goffin

Upset Special – Nicolas Mahut to upset (21) Mikhail Youzhny

Predicted Quarter-Final – Djokovic vs. del Potro