Three of five Canadians are seeded and the two others won’t face seeded players in the opening round of the U.S. Open next week.
The U.S. Tennis Association quietly posted the women’s and men’s singles draws online, without the usual TV hoopla, on Thursday.
The draw was revealed on the same day all matches in the Western & Southern Open — being played at the U.S. Open site because of the coronavirus pandemic — were called off following Osaka’s decision to drop out of her semifinal in response to the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by police in Wisconsin.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., is the top-seeded Canadian at No. 12. He’ll face American wild-card entrant Sebastian Korda in the first round.
Korda, ranked 225th, is the son of former world No. 2 Petr Korda. Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 15 seed, will meet world No. 82 Thiago Monteiro of Brazil.
Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., the No. 25 seed, will square off with world No. 118 Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.
Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil, ranked 92nd, faces world No. 74 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
If Raonic and Pospisil both triumph, they will clash in the second round.
Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the women’s draw. The 17-year-old, ranked 111th, will meet world No. 270 Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka and 16-year-old Coco Gauff could face each other at the U.S. Open again after the draw set up a potential third-round rematch.
Osaka, who won the 2018 U.S. Open and 2019 Australian Open, beat Gauff, then just 15, 6-3, 6-0 in the third round at Flushing Meadows a year ago.
As tears welled in Gauff’s eyes at the end of the match, Osaka offered a hug and words of consolation, then told the teen to address the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. It was one of the most indelible moments of last year’s tournament.
No fans will be in attendance at this year’s U.S. Open because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
