With Roland Garros rescheduled for late September and the 2020 edition of Wimbledon cancelled, next week’s US Open marks the first Grand Slam event since the Australian Open seven months ago.
Beginning on Monday in New York, it is where world No.1 Novak Djokovic begins his campaign for Grand Slam title No.18, before Serena Williams resumes her quest for No.24 on Tuesday.
Djokovic, 23-0 this year after winning the Western & Southern Open title on Saturday, heads into the tournament knowing the majority of former major champions and finalists reside in the opposite half of the draw.
He will look to extend his 26-match winning streak when he plays Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the first round.
The reigning Australian Open champion is looking to close the gap between himself and all-time men’s leader Roger Federer, who owns 20 major titles.
Williams, meanwhile, begins another quest to tie Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns.
"Obviously I'm never satisfied," she said.
"That's been the story of my career. So, yeah, it is what it is. I took a year and a half off for a baby. So I don't know. It's like I'll never be satisfied until I retire. I'm never going to stop until I retire. It's just my personality. That's how I got to be here."
A finalist at the past two US Opens, Williams features in a stacked quarter of the women’s draw and opens against fellow American Kristie Ahn.
Yet she has landed in the opposite half of the draw to fourth seed Naomi Osaka, the 2018 US Open champion, who begins against fellow Japanese Misaki Doi.
Incredibly, Osaka could meet 16-year-old Coco Gauff in the third round at the third straight major tournament; Gauff takes on Anastasija Sevastova first up.
Osaka, hoping to overcome the hamstring injury that saw her pull out of the Western & Southern Open final on Saturday, is projected to meet No.6 seed Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals – a rematch of the AO 2019 final.
The women’s draw is headed by top seed Karolina Pliskova, who leads a quarter also containing three-time major champion Angelique Kerber.
Bottom heavy
The bottom half of the men’s draw features No.2 seed Dominic Thiem – who pushed Djokovic to five sets in the AO 2020 final – and third seed Daniil Medvedev, who reached last year’s US Open final.
Opening against Spain’s Jaume Munar, Thiem faces some significant threats in his segment.
There’s a projected third-round meeting against 31st seed Marin Cilic before a battle in the last 16 with Andy Murray – both former US Open champions.
Murray, again on the comeback trail, may have to go through No.15 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and countryman Dan Evans, seeded 23rd, just to get to the second week.
Whoever comes through that section faces a projected quarterfinal against eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who almost toppled Djokovic in Friday’s Western & Southern Open semifinals.
READ MORE: Djokovic hangs tough to reach Western & Southern Open final
But that’s only if Bautista Agut clears a likely third-round hurdle in Milos Raonic, the 30th seed who was dominant in reaching the final at the same event.
Medevdev, who drew Argentine Federico Delbonis in round one, could face No.14 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in the quarters.
Dimitrov and Berrettini were semifinalists in New York 12 months ago.
Serena’s stacked quarter
Should she progress, Williams faces notable obstacles from as early as the second round.
That’s where Monica Puig, the 2016 Olympic champion, could await, before a third-round clash with 26th seed Sloane Stephens, the US Open winner in 2017 who has struggled so far in 2020.
Serena’s fourth-round opponent could be No.15 seed Maria Sakkari, who stopped her at the Western & Southern Open this week.
Beyond that looms 10th seed Garbine Muguruza, an AO 2020 finalist and two-time major champion who has twice beaten Williams at Grand Slam level.
Muguruza, who opens against Nao Hibino, is projected to meet No.7 seed Madison Keys in the fourth round.
Djokovic’s path
The first seed Djokovic is expected to encounter is No.28 Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he dismantled at the Western & Southern Open.
Beyond that, 16th seed John Isner could benefit from the quick New York hard courts and would await in round four.
Djokovic’s projected quarterfinal opponent is No.7 seed David Goffin, who faces threats in his segment including promising youngsters Denis Shapovalov and Taylor Fritz plus another in-form Serb in Filip Krajinovic.
Djokovic’s semifinal opponent could be either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev, the fourth and fifth seeds respectively who are positioned to meet in the quarters.
Yet Zverev faces one of the tougher first-round assignments in Kevin Anderson, a former world No.5 and two-time major finalist – including at the US Open in 2017.
Kenin’s quest
Reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is the second seed, in the bottom half of the draw with Serena.
Should she get past Yanina Wickmayer, Kenin’s second-, third- and fourth-round opponents are likely to be Leylah Fernandez, No.27 seed Ons Jabeur and 16th seed Elise Mertens – all of whom have shown excellent lead-in form.
Mertens, however, may have to contend with fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in round three; Clijsters, a wildcard, will hope to have overcome her abdominal injury when she takes on 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova first up.
Kim Clijsters sounds ready to go @usopen: "My stomach is feeling much better. I felt in WTT my level really went up to where I want it to be…. I felt like I played some really good tennis there. Hopefully I can kind of drag that through here in the matches."
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 29, 2020
Beyond that, either Johanna Konta or Victoria Azarenka – who clashed in Friday’s Western & Southern Open semifinals – could meet Kenin in the quarters.
Azarenka won five matches in New York - her first singles victories in 12 months - to reach the Western & Southern Open final and earned her first tournament title in more than four years following Osaka's injury withdrawal.
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka is also in the same section as Konta and Azarenka, as is Venus Williams, who begins against No.20 seed Karolina Muchova.