The qualifying matches for the US Open began this Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. The actual tournament begins on Monday and offers plenty of exciting stories to follow.

The official Twitter/X account of the US Open announced the draw for the men’s singles portion of the event, the final Grand Slam of the tennis season.

Will world number 3 Carlos Alcaraz win his third Grand Slam of the year?

The year 2024 has already been eventful for the 21-year-old prodigy from Spain. He won his first French Open, his second Wimbledon title and a silver medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Will world number 2 Novak Djokovic win his first major title in 2024?

Although the 37-year-old won his first (and probably last) Olympic gold medal this year against Alcaraz, Djokovic has yet to win a Grand Slam event in 2024.

Read more: Novak Djokovic sets Olympic record and wins gold medal against Carlos Alcaraz

The Serbian superstar, who tore the medial meniscus in his right knee in the middle of the season, is in danger of missing his first international match since his last injury-plagued 2017 season.

Djokovic won last year’s US Open, his fourth overall, in straight sets against Daniil Medvedev. He holds the record for most men’s singles titles with 24 Grand Slam titles and will be looking to extend that number in New York.

Will world number one Jannik Sinner win his second Grand Slam of the year and his sixth tournament title?

After knocking out Medvedev in a tough five-set Australian Open final, the 23-year-old Italian claimed his first Grand Slam, overtaking Djokovic and becoming the world’s top-ranked player for the first time.

Sinner has been in the news recently for less pleasant reasons, including the revelation that he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol twice during the Indian Wells tournament in March, but will not face any punishment.

Read more: Best tennis player in the world tests positive for steroids before the US Open

World number five Medvedev, former three-time Grand Slam champion Stanislaw Wawrinka and former Tour Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas are the biggest stars in Sinner’s quarterfinals.

Alcaraz could face world number seven Hubert Hurkacz or world number ten Alex De Minaur in his own group.

No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev may have to face No. 8 seed Casper Ruud (a finalist at the 2022 US Open), No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz or No. 15 seed Holger Rune. Zverev reached the final of the 2020 US Open and has won two Tour championships and a gold medal, but has yet to win a Grand Slam.

Djokovic, on the other hand, may have to beat sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev, who has never made it past the quarterfinals at this tournament, or ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who has not reached the semifinals since 2019 – his best result – to advance from his comparatively easier group.