 First drop for the US Open and there are some interesting first, second and third round matches. Also some potential quarterfinal and semi-final clashes that are worth a look. But we've got some massive names that are pulled out of this year's US Open, so let's go to the withdrawal this first. Over on the men's side, there's a lot more injuries to bigger names. Starting with Ima, who's out suspended. Strouf, he's struggling still with injuries since the clay court season. Nick Kirios, still troubled by injuries this year. Karina Buster, Opelka, Chilich, Shapovalov and Batistora Gu all out of this one. There's some big names there and also some fan favourites. Not going to be playing at this year's US Open. So here it is, top of the drawer, you've got Elkaraz, the number one seed. Of course 32 seeds in this one, no one gets to buy in the first round. Not at a slam, you have to play every match. On the men's side, best of five of course. He takes on Koffer in the first round. Now Koffer's been in a little bit of form, so that could be an interesting first round matchup. Winner of that would take on either Harris or Pella in the second round. Then you've got Van Duzan, should have taken on Thompson. Winner of that would take on either Galen, or the number 26 seed Evans in the second round. Then you've got Gricksport, the 24th seed taken on Fees. Winner of that would take on either Koupla or Onaldi in the second round. Then you've got Kokonakis taken on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on either Shchenko, the number 16 seed Nori in the second round. Nice draw for Elkaraz. I mean, there's not too many tough opponents. You know, not many players that he hasn't beaten before. You know, he can beat Gricksport, he's beaten Nori. Kokonakis would be interesting, but I don't think he'll be too worried about Kokonakis. Alright, next section of the drawer you've got. Number 12 seeds Vera, back at the US Open. He takes on Vukic in the first round. That's a tough first round. If you've been watching tennis the last couple of weeks, Vukic has been in some form. I made a final, I think, two or three weeks ago in Atlanta. So definitely dangerous for Vera in the first round. Winner of that would take on either Altmaier or Lezdin in the second round. Then you've got Murray taken on Mutay. Winner of that would take on either Mulchan, the number 19 seed Dimitrov. Then you've got the 30th seed Etcheverry taken on the qualifier. Winner of that would take on either Vavrenka or Nishioca in the second round. Then you've got a qualifier taken on Senego. Winner of that would take on either Hanfman or the number 16th Sinner in the second round. This section looks a lot different to the Alkreist section. Murray, Vavrenka, Sinner, Zverev, Dimitrov, all in this section, even Senego. You know, he's a little bit dangerous as well when he gets on a roll. So this is an interesting section of the drawer. Of course, this section of the drawer will take on the Alkreist section so we could be getting Alkreist versus Sinner in a quarter final. We could be getting Alkreist versus Zverev in a quarter final. But if you want to get something a little different, we could be getting Alkreist Murray in a quarter final. I mean, Murray fan's dream. Next section of the drawer, you've got Mevvedev, three seed taken on Balash. Winner of that would take on either Purcell or O'Connell in the second round. Purcell versus Mevvedev is such a great clash of styles. Second round potentially, that could be a banger. Watch out for that if it happens. Nishioca, he's back. He takes on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on either Baez or the number 27 seed. Chorect in the second round. Then you've got the 23rd seed. Jerry taken on Van Aesch. Winner of that would take on either Ramas Van Oles or Mickelson in the second round. Then you've got Wu taken on Leibich. Winner of that would take on either a qualifier and the number 13 seed, Diminor in the second round. Mevvedev's section's tricky. I don't think it's easy. Purcell could be a clash of styles that Mevvedev doesn't like. Chorect is always dangerous when he's on a roll. And Diminor just beat Mevvedev a couple of weeks ago. That could be really tough for Meti in a fourth round. So I think Mevvedev would like, I mean, he would rate his chances of making the quarters and he should make the quarters, but there are a couple of awkward opponents in his way. Then you've got the next section of the draw with Hashinov, the number 11 seed taken on Moe. Winner of that would take on either Diaz Acosta or Izna in the second round. Of course, John is playing his last ever tournament at the US Open and retiring after the US Open. Then you've got Albert taken on Draper. Winner of that would take on either Huzla or the number 17 seed, Hercatch in the second round. Then you've got the 29th seed on Bear taken on Baratini. Winner of that would take on either Schwartzman or Rindanish in the second round. Then you've got a qualifier taken on Mofis. Winner of that would take on either Roussevore or Rublev in the number eight seed in the second round. I've got to be honest, Rublev's at the worst draw. I mean, this sucks. Roussevore is tough. Mofis is tough. Baratini, Umbeh, Schwartzman, Rindanish, all very tough. Hashinov, Izna, Hercatch, very tough for Rublev. Rublev couldn't have got a worse draw. Then of course, this section will take on the Medvedev section in the quarters. So you could be getting Medvedev versus Rublev if you want to go about the seeds, but we could be getting Medvedev taken on Hashinov. If Hashinov is healthy enough or maybe even Medvedev taking on Hercatch, who's been in some good form the last few weeks and even at Wimbledon, just want to go back to that as well. So this section is interesting. That Rublev section is very difficult. And of course, this section will take on the Elkras section. So Medvedev Elkras could be a semi-final. Or if you want to go a little different, Sinne versus Medvedev could be a semi-final. If Sinne does get through Elkras in the end, but man, it's a very top-heavy draw. Let's get the bottom half of the draw. Bottom half of the draw you've got, Casper Rude, number five seed taken on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on either Wolf or Song in the second round. Then you've got Hitchikata taken on Kotov. Winner of that would take on either Fuchovic or the number 31 seed quarter in the second round. Then you've got the 20-second seed, Manorino taken on Watanuki. Winner of that would take on either Gaskay or Marijan in the second round. Of course, Marijan beat Elkras famously in Rome a couple months ago. Then you've got Ovner taking on Borgus. Winner of that would take on either Tien or the number 10 seed Tiafo, who of course made the semi-finals here last year. This section is interesting because all the players in this section that you would expect to do well aren't playing well. I mean, Manorino is probably the best informed player out of this section of the draw, to be honest, and he's the 20-second seed. Next section of the draw, you've got number 14 seed Paul taken on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on either Sefulin or Chekinado in the second round. Then you've got Avashka taken on Surundalo. Winner of that would take on either Giron or Fakina, the 21st seed in the second round. Then you've got Bublik, the 25th seed taken on Dominic, team. Great first round matchup. Winner of that would take on either Kassian or Shelton in the second round. Then you've got Carrots have taken on Lehechka. Winner of that would take on either Bayena or Runa, the fourth seed in the second round. Runa has an injury, a back injury, so we're going to keep an eye on him as well, whether or not he will make it. Bublik versus Runa could be a fun third round. We could be getting Paul versus Runa. You know, Tommy Paul's only lost to Elcaraz lately. Beat Elcaraz lost to Elcaraz last week in Cincinnati, so he's pretty high on confidence. And of course, this section will take on the Rude section in the quarterfinals, so it could be Rude versus Runa, who should be... We all love seeing when those guys play. Or it could be Runa versus Tiafo. If you want to go a little different. Or it could even be, you know, Rude versus Paul. If you want to go on form, Rude versus Fakina, could be a something as well. But again, this whole section could be anyone. And the bottom section of the draw, number seven seed, Sidney Pass. He will take on Rionic in the first round. That sucks for Stefano Sidney Pass. If Rionic, we know what he can do, and Sidney Pass also knows what he can do, and that could be dangerous. Winner of that would take on either a qualifier or a popper in the second round. Then you've got Hellas taken on Bonzi. Winner of that would take on either Kwan, or the 28 seed U-Banks in the second round. Then you've got the 18 seed Moussetti taking on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on either another qualifier or Barrera in the second round. Then you've got Kajmenevich taken on Varais. Winner of that would take on either Johnson on the number nine seed Fritz in the second round. Fritz Sidney Pass, fourth round. But I've got to be honest, Sidney Pass' draw is a nightmare. U-Banks beat him at Wimbledon. Rionic in the first round sucks. Poppers in form in the second round could be very dangerous. Moussetti's there too. I mean, we didn't even mention Moussetti. In the final section of the draw, you've got the number 15 seed Ozealia Seem taking on McDonald. Very tough first round for FAA. Of course, McDonald took out Rafferett Strann open earlier in the season. Winner of that would take on either Dillion or a qualifier in the second round. Then you've got Vesely taking on a qualifier. Winner of that would take on another qualifier, who's taken on the number 20 seed Cirrundelo. Then you've got the 32 seed Jera taking on Nakashima. Winner of that would take on a qualifier because there's two qualies going at it. Then you've got Mariahs taking on the wild card Quinn. Winner of that would take on either Muller or the number two seed Novak Djokovic in the second round. I think straight away, you think, well, Djokovic is going to make the quarters at least. Probably the semis based on that City Pass Fritz section. Who knows who's going to get out of that section. So who are the threats for Djokovic in his section, I guess? I mean, look, FAA, if he goes, gets good, but he hasn't been good enough to be reliable. Cirrundelo could be dangerous, but maybe not against Djokovic. Of course, this section would take on the City Pass section. So it could be Djokovic versus City Pass. It could be Djokovic versus Fritz. It could be Djokovic versus U-Banks. Of course, U-Banks has been informed, made the quarterfinal as a Wimby, or it could be Djokovic-Moussetti. You know, and that could be an interesting matchup. Moussetti gets good. Of course, Moussetti beat Djokovic in Monte Carlo earlier in the season. And of course, this section will take on the Runa section of the draw. So it could be Djokovic versus Runa. If Runa gets his body together, it could be Djokovic versus Rude, which is probably more likely. Rude's a little bit more reliable, and he's a little fitter, or maybe not reliable is the wrong word, but he is fitter at the moment. And probably the fittest player in his section of the draw. But man, it's going to be wild. Does Djokovic make the final? I think everyone would probably say yes. Who does he play though? Because I don't think it's Elkiras straight away. I mean, Medvedev and Sinner up there, maybe not Medvedev-Velkiras, but Sinner Elkiras, it could be Sinner taking out Elkiras, and then Sinner takes on Medvedev. Medvedev takes out Sinner, makes the final. So it's a very top, like the contenders are up the top, it feels. And the only contender down the bottom is Djokovic. And maybe the reason why there's no more contenders other than Djokovic, is he's down the bottom and Djokovic dominates. But I mean, look, I'm going to go Djokovic, because I think he's got the easiest draw. I think Elkiras has got a lot of trickier opponents. So I think it's got to be Djokovic down the bottom. I mean, he's got the nicer road to the final, and that might be the difference in the end. But let me know down in the comments below, what do you reckon? Do you think that Elkiras can defend his title? Do you think that Sinner can win his first? Do you think Medvedev could win another US Open? I mean, I don't mind Medvedev as an outside pick. I like him as an outside pick, or at least like outside of the top two.