AFTER publishing our 2020 US Open men’s preview yesterday, we go more in depth to take a look at the draw and what might eventuate at Flushing Meadows over the next two weeks, as we analyse who has the easier draws and who has the tougher encounters.

World number one Novak Djokovic is the raging favourite and it is easy to see why, but to suggest he has escaped rather largely unscathed for the majority of the draw is unheard of. Damir Dzumhur is not the easiest of first round matches, and while Djokovic should have no troubles taking care of him, both Kyle Edmund and Alexander Bublik are more than capable of causing upsets over top players. A likely third round encounter of Jan-Lennard Struff could be a beauty, though Struff does not quite have the tools to match Djokovic, and neither does potential fourth round opponent, John Isner. The tall serving American will no doubt force the Serbian into tight sets through purely not dropping service games, but Djokovic often trumps in the tiebreakers.

With four other top 10 players in the quadrant, it is puzzling how some in the American media have assumed it will be a breezy run for Djokovic. Yes, the Djoker should win it all, but it is hardly like he has got a soft run. A third round encounter between David Goffin and Filip Krajinovic is one not to be missed, though both have tough first round opponents they need to overcome in Reilly Opelka and Mikael Ymer respectively. If Marco Cecchinato could find the form that took him to the top 20, then the Italian could be a danger for Goffin in the second round. Also in the bottom half of the draw is fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, and seventh seed Alexander Zverev. If those two face off in the quarter finals, look out.

Never mind the quarter finals, for Diego Schwartzman he cannot afford to look too far ahead at all if he is going to make an unlikely run at it, with Cameron Norrie up first, followed by fellow Argentinian Federico Coria, a third round encounter with Hubert Hurkacz, and then Zverev and Tsitsipas after that. While he should win his first round encounter, no doubt the German Zverev would have been mumbling under his breath when he saw his little 16th of the draw. Former top five player Kevin Anderson is up first, with rising American talent Brandon Nakashima or tough Italian Pablo Lorenzi in the second round. Then it is a number of players who are generally far better than their rankings in Adrian Mannarino, Lorenzo Sonego, Jack Sock or Pablo Cuevas for the third round. What a group.

The bottom half of the draw is far more open, with Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev rightfully seeded at second and third. But if Thiem’s shocking loss to Krajinovic at the Western & Southern Open is anything to go by, this is going to be a tough half to pick who emerges in the semis. Thiem takes on rising Spaniard Jaume Munar, and realistically if he loses in the first two rounds, then the danger bells should be well and truly be going off. He has a much softer draw for his first couple of games, before coming up against 31st seed Marin Cilic. Of all the lower seeds to meet in the third round, he is not the one you want. The 2014 US Open winner is a top 16 player, and realistically a top 10 player at Flushing Meadows. That will test the clay courter in Thiem.

Just above that is a massive 16th group with young gun Thiago Seyboth Wild drawing a seed, but a very beatable seed in Daniel Evans of Great Britain. Evans has talent, but is kind of like a box of chocolates as Tom Hanks once said, and you genuinely have no idea what you might get. If Seyboth Wild can make it through a few matches it will be great for his confidence, with Corentin Moutet and Jiri Vesely waiting in the second round as the pair face off in a huge unseeded match. Andy Murray and Felix Auger-Aliassime are bound to lock horns in the second round, with the winner of that – probably Murray – likely to go to the fourth round where they face either Thiem or Cilic.

One of the unseeded matches of the entire draw occurs in the quarter above, with Vasek Pospisil taking on Philipp Kohlschreiber. This might go on for ages, and the winner has to take on a red-hot Milos Raonic in the second round. The all-Canadian battle will be built up well, while Roberto Bautista Agut – fresh off pushing Djokovic in the semis at the Western & Southern Open – will be looking to take care of Australian Open quarter finalist Tennys Sandgren on Sandgren’s home court. Australian Alex de Minaur is also in this quarter of the draw, with a lot of question marks over his form, but he should make it through to the third round with a softer few matches up first starting with Slovakian Andrej Martin. The winner of 11th seed Karen Khachanov and ATP Next Gen Finals winner Jannik Sinner could be there in the third for de Minaur.

In the top quadrant of the bottom half, Medvedev starts off with Federico Delbonis, then will likely have Laslo Djere and then Guido Pella, all of whom do not pose a huge threat. Realistically, the third seed has the softest draw of all the major players, with only realistically Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini – who look destined for a fourth round encounter likely to topple the Russian. If Medvedev lives up to his potential, he should cruise through to the quarter finals, not discounting the challenging Grigor Dimitrov and improving Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian takes on Australia’s second highest hope in John Millman who is never to be discounted in a scrap and at this venue – having defeated Roger Federer here before – while Tommy Paul will face off against Dimitrov in the first round.