The three seeds most at risk of a first-round exit at the US Open include a former champion as the draw is released

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With the US Open draw having been released, naturally, a handful of mouth-watering first-round clashes have emerged.

It is what every tennis fan scrambles to see, as they ponder which big names could suffer an early exit.

And, after Wimbledon, where a record number of seeds lost in the opening few rounds, there’s every chance that the same could happen again in New York, at one of the more unpredictable Grand Slams.

With that in mind, here are three seeds who seem in serious danger of suffering an early exit, after their first-round opponents were revealed.

Lorenzo Musetti’s hard-court struggles could continue

Lorenzo Musetti has endured an underwhelming summer of tennis thus far, exiting early from the All-England Club before translating that poor form onto the North American hard courts.

First, he lost in the first round in Washington, before winning just one match in Toronto before being defeated there.

Even Cincinnati could not inspire a turnaround, beaten by Benjamin Bonzi in three sets in the first round.

For all his flair and finesse, Musetti cannot seem to wrap his head around the hard courts. And, with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the very first round, it arguably could not have been a tougher start for the out-of-form Italian.

Daniil Medvedev drawn against familiar foe in US Open first round

Ironically, it is Bonzi who will once again be hoping to cause another upset and repeat his first-round scalp at Wimbledon as he faces Daniil Medvedev.

There, he stunned the former US Open champion in four electric sets, prompting the Russian to admit afterwards: “Why not play like this every day, win millions, be rich? (shrugs)… No, he (Bonzi) decides to do it once a year.”

Medvedev was actually branded ‘a little bit deluded’ after that press conference, with his mindset questioned.

Given his form throughout 2025, predicting an early exit for him is hardly controversial though.

However, given Bonzi has form of upsetting him at a major this very year, that notion has only intensified.

Katie Boulter could upset Marta Kostyuk in the US Open

Finally, on the WTA, most of the seeds seem to have been gifted relatively straightforward first-round matches.

However, Marta Kostyuk was not so lucky, and actually faces the former British number one Katie Boulter.

The Ukrainian is coming off the back of some varied results at the last few events, losing early in Washington to Emma Raducanu, before reaching the quarter-finals in Montreal.

She is playing well enough, but if Boulter can summon her best tennis, she can trouble plenty on tour, including Kostyuk at the US Open.