The draw for the US Open women’s singles has been made and it has thrown up some enticing talking points ahead of a tournament that kick-offs this Sunday.

With recent WTA Tour tournaments serving up a series of unexpected storylines in recent weeks, this is being hailed as the most wide-open US Open women’s event in years and the uncertainty over the potential winner has been heightened by the draw.

Top seed and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka has been in poor form since winning the ‘Sunshine Double’ of WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami in March, with her slump opening the door for the chasing pack to put her under pressure.

Here is your Tennis365 guide to the big talking points around the top names in the women’s game:

Aryna Sabalenka

The world No 1 has looked horribly out of sorts and has struggled to contain her emotions on court as she has slumped to some shock defeats over the last few weeks.

Sara Bejlek (Cincinnati), Ekaterina Alexandrova (Canadian Open), Naomi Osaka (Wimbledon), Diana Shnaider (French Open) and Sorana Cirstea (Rome) have all beaten Sabalenka in a run that has seen her status at the top of the women’s game eroded.

There is a good chance she will lose the No 1 ranking at the US Open and that will be confirmed if she crashes out early.

Her opening match against world No 58 Camila Osorio should give her a chance to get off to a winning start, but she could face two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova in round three and Shnaider may be an opponent in the last-16.

Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova may lie in wait in the quarter-finals, with Jessica Pegula also in her half.

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Alex Eala

The Filipina star will have plenty of eyes on her as she looks to better her performance of reaching the second round at the US Open a year ago.

Eala will open up with a match against a qualifier before a possible second round clash against Oleksandra Oliynykova from Ukraine.

A third-round matchup against America’s Iva Jovic would see two of the brightest stars in women’s tennis clashing and Eala could then face a showdown with Coco Gauff in the fourth round.

Eala fans hoping she will go all the way to US Open glory may have to accept this may not be the year for that as she may have to beat Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka to lift the title.

Iga Swiatek

The Polish star has bounced back into form in recent weeks with a big win at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto and some good wins as she reached the semi-finals in Toronto.

Now Swiatek will be eyeing up a second US Open title and she will open up against in-form Chinese player Wang Xiyu, who enjoyed a strong run at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month.

Peyton Stearns or Marie Bouzkova could be waiting for Swiatek in round three and then she could step up in class of opponent as Madison Keys or Belinda Bencic could be a last-16 opponent, with Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina potential quarter-final rivals.

She is in the opposite half of the draw to Aryna Sabalenka, but could meet Coco Gauff in the semi-finals.

Coco Gauff

The bottom half of the draw is stacked with contenders, and Gauff could have some tricky tests early on.

Paula Badosa could be lined up against her in the second round if she is fit enough to compete, with Sara Bejlek on course to meet Gauff in round three after their Cincinnati Open semi-final clash earlier this month.

A match against Eala in round four would be a blockbuster event in New York, with Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva possible last eight rivals.

Swiatek could be a semi-final rival, with Sabalenka in the top half of the draw and a potential opponent if she reaches the final.

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Last eight match-ups on seedings:

Sabalenka (1) vs Noskova (6)

Pegula (3) vs Muchova (7)

Andreeva (5) vs Gauff (4)

Rybakina (2) vs Swiatek (8)

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