Potential Serena-Stephens, Osaka-Gauff rematches in US Open draw

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Potential third-round matchups between six-time champion Serena Williams and 2017 winner Sloane Stephens, and 2018 champion Naomi Osaka and teenage prodigy Coco Gauff highlight the 2020 US Open draw, released today.

No.3 seed Serena, the owner of the Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam titles, has landed in the third quarter and opens her continued quest to tie the all-time record of 24 against fellow American Kristie Ahn, who broke through at this tournament last year by reaching the fourth round. Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig or the dangerous one-handed backhand of Margarita Gasparyan await the 38-year-old, coming off a third-round exit at the hands of Maria Sakkari this week at the Western & Southern Open, in the second round, while No.26 seed Stephens will have to navigate past former World No.20 Mihaela Buzarnescu in order to keep a popcorn date with Serena in the last 32.

A projected fourth-round rematch with Greek No.15 seed Sakkari awaits Serena in the fourth round, although the talented 18-year-old No.22 seed Amanda Anisimova also lurks in Sakkari's section. Following that, a quarterfinal date with either 2017 runner-up and No.7 seed Madison Keys or the resurgent Australian Open finalist and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza could light up the second week.

At the bottom of the draw, 21-year-old Australian Open champion and No.2 seed Sofia Kenin, who lost her first match following the tour resumption this week to Alizé Cornet, faces 2009 semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer off the bat, with a host of potential banana skins lining up after that. In the second round, Kenin faces the winner of an intriguing first-round clash between veteran 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva and fast-rising 17-year-old Leylah Fernandez, while two in-form opponents - richly talented shotmaker Ons Jabeur, seeded for the first time at a major at No.27, and No.16 seed Elise Mertens, currently in the Western & Southern Open semifinals - are projected to meet Kenin in the third and fourth rounds. In the quarterfinals, she could then face a barrage of power, with the two highest seeds in that section being No.5 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No.9 seed Johanna Konta.

Two unseeded former World No.1s and US Open champions have also landed in the fourth quarter: 37-year-old wildcard Kim Clijsters, playing the third event of her second comeback, faces No.21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round, and potentially Belgian compatriot Mertens in the third round; while 40-year-old World No.65 Venus Williams has the variety of No.20 seed Karolina Muchova to deal with first before a possible 2017 Wimbledon semifinal rematch against Konta.

The in-form Konta, another current Cincinnati semifinalist, is one of two Top 10 seeds to face a compatriot and Fed Cup teammate in her opener, with British No.2 Heather Watson her first opponent. The other is former World No.1 Osaka, the No.4 seed, who starts against Japanese No.3 Misaki Doi before taking on a fascinating section.

In the third round, Osaka could meet 16-year-old prodigy Gauff for the third time in that round of a Grand Slam the major stage: she defeated the American easily at last year's US Open, but had her Australian Open title defence unceremoniously ended by Gauff in January. Gauff will need to first get past No.31 seed Anastasija Sevastova, the Latvian whose fondness for New York has seen her make two quarterfinals and one semifinal here in the past four years - and potentially fellow teenage phenomenon Marta Kostyuk, the 18-year-old Ukrainian.

Whoever survives from Osaka's section will also need to be ready for some serious power in the quarterfinals. No.6 seed Petra Kvitova heads that eighth of the draw, with a tantalizing rematch of the classic 2018 Australian Open final between the Czech and Osaka in the offing, but the two-time Wimbledon champion could need to overcome a youthful blitz before then: Kvitova is projected to meet either No.11 seed Elena Rybakina, the surging 21-year-old Kazakh who boasted a remarkable 21-4 win-loss record in 2020 before the tour shutdown, or the all-out first strikes of No.19 seed Dayana Yastremska in the fourth round.

The top of the draw promises a potential rematch of the 2016 final as early as the last 16, with No.1 seed Karolina Pliskova and No.17 seed Angelique Kerber on collision course. The Czech top seed, who is pursuing her first Grand Slam crown, may have to survive one of the most in-form players of the season, Lexington champion Jennifer Brady, first, though, while former World No.4 Caroline Garcia could also pose a threat in the second round.

Pliskova or Kerber are slated to face No.8 seed Petra Martic or No.12 seed Marketa Vondrousova, in the quarterfinals - though neither have previously made that stage in Flushing Meadows before. Indeed, the only players in a wide-open second eighth who have notched up a US Open last-eight showing are No.30 seed Kristina Mladenovic (in 2015), and Kateryna Bondarenko (in 2009).

World No.6 Bianca Andreescu will not be in New York to defend her maiden Grand Slam title, which the Canadian won on her US Open debut last year by defeating Serena Williams in the final.

To view the full draw, visit usopen.org.