US Open draw 2017: Maria Sharapova faces No. 2 Simona Halep in Round 1 of 1st slam since doping ban

Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova are the top seeds at the 2017 US Open and on Friday, they learned who they were going to play in the first round and who they’d likely play going forward as the official draw was announced.

Nadal, a two-time US Open winner, will open against the tough Dusan Lajovic. Pliskova, still searching for her first Grand Slam win, will take on Magda Linette in her opener.

But the biggest news following the release of the draw concerns Maria Sharapova. Playing in her first Grand Slam since a doping ban she received 15 months ago, Sharapova was granted a wild card spot this year, and her opener is tough: Simona Halep.

Halep, the second seed, will be favored in that matchup but it’s an awfully tough opener for her. Angelique Kerber, the defending champion on the women’s side, will take on Naomi Osaka, while Garbine Muguruza will face American Varvara Lepchenko.

There will be no Serena Williams, once again, but her sister, Venus Williams, will be taking on a qualifier. On the women’s side, projected quarterfinals include matchups between Pliskova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kerber and Elina Svitolina, Halep vs. Johanna Konta and Muguruza vs. Caroline Wozniacki.

On the men’s side, there is no Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic or Kei Nishikori due to injuries. It’s obviously a weakened field on the men’s side, but that’s a good thing for guys like Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and Nadal.

The projected men’s quarterfinals include Nadal vs. Grigor Dimitrov, Federer vs. Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev vs. Marin Cilic and Murray vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Notably, Nadal and Federer can meet in the semifinals as they landed in the same half of the draw.

You can find the full official men’s singles draw right here. The full official women’s singles draw is here.