US Open: Djokovic chases record-levelling 24th major title as tournament kickstarts from tomorrow

New York [US], August 27 : Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic will be chasing his 24th Grand Slam title and equalling the record of Margaret Court for most career Grand Slams in sport's history as the US Open, the fourth and final major tournament of the year kickstarts from Monday. 
Djokovic will be returning to the Flushing Meadows after missing last year's tournament, as per Olympics.com. 
The 36-year-old has won two Grand Slams this year, the Australian Open and French Open. 
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the final of the 2023 Wimbledon, is the top seed at the competition. Both locked horns in the Cincinnati Masters just last week where Djokovic emerged as the victor. 
Alcaraz, the defending champion is beginning his title defence against Dominik Koepfer of Germany and will be wanting to go all out in his pursuit of a third major title. 
The 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will miss out on the tournament due to a hip injury sustained during the Australian Open earlier this year, which caused this former world number one to miss the next two majors as well.
In the women's singles competition, defending champion Iga Swiatek will take on Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to start off her campaign. But a tough encounter for her will be against the 19-year-old Coco Gauff, the home favourite who is placed in the same half of the draw. She is heading into the event with a Cincinnati Masters title. wo-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also in the same half.
Also, Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is heading the second half of the draw, with former world number one Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, also a part of the same draw. 
No Indian players will be taking part in the singles main draw. Ankita Raina made it to the third round of qualifiers but lost to Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund. Also, Sumit Nagal and Karman Kaur Thandi lost in the opening round of the qualifiers.
The doubles and mixed doubles draw for the tournament are not out yet.
Tournament schedule: 
August 28, Monday
First round - men’s and women’s singles
August 29, Tuesday
First round - men’s and women’s singles
August 30, Wednesday
Second round - men’s and women’s singles
First round - men's and women's doubles
August 31, Thursday
Second round - men’s and women’s singles
First round - men's and women's doubles
September 1, Friday
Third round - men’s and women’s singles
Second round - men's and women's doubles
September 2, Saturday
Third round - men’s and women’s singles
Second round - men's and women's doubles
September 3, Sunday
Fourth round - men’s and women’s singles
Third round - men's and women's doubles
September 4, Monday
Fourth round - men’s and women’s singles
Third round - men's and women's doubles
September 5, Tuesday
Quarter-finals - men’s and women’s singles
Quarter-finals - men's and women's doubles
September 6, Wednesday
Quarter-finals - men’s and women’s singles
Quarter-finals - women's doubles
September 7, Thursday
Semi-finals - women’s singles
Semi-finals - men's doubles
September 8, Friday
Semi-finals - men’s singles
Final - men's doubles (or mixed doubles)
Semi-finals - women's doubles
September 9, Saturday
Final - women's singles
Final - mixed doubles (or men's doubles)
Semi-finals - men’s singles
September 10, Sunday
Final - men's singles
Final - women's doubles.