US Open draw: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Arthur Fery, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff find out first-round opponents in New York

Defending champion Alcaraz will open his campaign against Roman Safiullin with a potential semi-final meeting with history-chasing Djokovic.

It will be the Spaniard's first appearance since recovering from a right wrist injury sustained in April.

Djokovic, chasing an elusive 25th Grand Slam title, will face against Argentina's world No 48 Mariano Navone in the first round with the winner to face Matteo Berrettini or Stan Wawrinka, who is playing in his final Grand Slam before retiring.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Fery missed out on a US Open seeding and has paid the price with a daunting first-round meeting against last year's quarter-finalist Musetti.

Speaking on Sky Sports , former British star Naomi Broady gave her reaction to Fery's opening match.

She said: "It is difficult, but you feel with the way Fery has been playing this year, you just don't know what he's capable of.

"Lorenzo is coming back from injury and he didn't play from Rome all the way through and just came back in Canada, so he's going to be rusty. It's going to be an interesting match."

On Alcaraz, she said: "Safiullin could be a tricky draw. The big test for Alcaraz coming back is that it's a best of five sets which is going to be a big test on the wrist and Safiullin hits the ball massive. How's the wrist going to hold up? That's the question mark around Carlos."

World No 33 Cameron Norrie , who reached the semi-finals in Los Cabos and fourth round in Montreal in the build up to the year's final major, takes on a player ranked seven places below him in 22-year-old Belgian-born French player Luca Van Assche.

British No 3 Jan Choinski takes on Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, ranked world No 71.

In the absence of injured world No 1 Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon finalist Alexander Zverev is the men's top seed at Flushing Meadows and he faces Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.

Defending women's singles champion and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, bidding for a third straight US Open title, plays Colombia's Camila Osorio in her first-round match.

Top-ranked Sabalenka has struggled during the North American hard-court swing and could face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in the quarter-finals.

Coco Gauff takes on Turkish star Zeynep Sonmez in her first-round match.

Gauff, ​who is seeded fourth and arrives in New York fresh off ​winning the title in Cincinnati, is placed in the bottom half of the draw and could meet Amanda Anisimova ‌in the quarter-finals.

Katie Boulter begins her campaign against American wild card Carol Lee, ranked 143 with Wimbledon finalist and US Open mixed doubles champion Karolina Muchova a potential second-round opponent .

There are six other Brits chasing a main draw spot in qualifying including Fran Jones, Harriet Dart, Heather Watson, Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken.

Venus to open against Kenin and not sister Serena!

The draw also delivered one what-could-have-been possibility had Serena Williams decided to play in the singles.

When sister Venus Williams was given a wild card at the age of 46, the USTA initially held one spot, which would have gone to Serena if the six-time champion opted to play for the first time in the main draw since 2022.

But when the 44-year-old decided to only compete in doubles, the USTA awarded that last wild card to American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.

On Thursday, Venus Williams and Kenin were drawn to face each other with American Jessica Pegula, who opens against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, a potential second-round opponent.

In some other must-watch ties, Arthur Fils, winner of the Cincinnati Open, faces two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

And Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 US Open champion who received a wild card to play in his final Grand Slam tournament before retiring, faces Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up for the second major running.

"Berrettini might have had the slight advantage on the grass with his massive serve," said Broady. "It's going to be an interesting match."

The US Open is live on Sky Sports from August 30. Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App . You can also watch the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September live on Sky Sports.