NEW YORK, August 23, 2018

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will start his title bid at this year’s US Open against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. The pair will meet for the 31st time. The 31-year-old from Mallorca has won 24 of the encounters between the two. The only time Nadal faced Ferrer in Flushing Meadows was in 2007. Ferrer prevailed in four sets.

No. 2 seed Roger Federer will open his US Open campaign against World No. 177 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. Federer, who hasn’t won at Flushing Meadows since 2008, could meet Nick Kyrgios in the third round and reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. The Serbian leads 24-22 in their head-to-head records, including their most recent battle in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

#USOpen 2018 potential quarter-finals (by seeding)…

🇪🇸 Nadal v Anderson 🇿🇦
🇨🇭 Federer v Djokovic 🇷🇸
🇦🇷 Del Potro v Dimitrov 🇧🇬
🇩🇪 Zverev v Cilic 🇭🇷

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 23. August 2018

In the women’s singles draw, top seed Simona Halep will face 2017 quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi in the opening round. No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki will take on 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur and 2016 winner Angelique Kerber begins her quest for another Grand Slam title against Margarita Gasparyan.

Projected #USOpen Quarterfinals:

Halep-Pliskova
Stephens-Svitolina
Kerber-Garcia
Wozniacki-Kvitova

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 23. August 2018