By Chris Oddo | Thursday August 27, 2015

The draws are out and it’s almost time to get the last major of 2015 underway. Here’s some observations that hit us after a few hours of perusing the men’s and women’s singles draws today.

More: Looking at the US Open Men's Singles Draw

1. Serena Faces Minefields, but Compatriots Have it Worse

There are four seeded Americans in the women’s singles draw and they are all in the same quarter. The top five American women (CoCo Vandeweghe is No. 5) are all in that quarter. It might not be a big problem for Serena Williams, who will likely win this title, but tough luck for the other four (Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and Vandeweghe).

Stephens (or CoCo Vandeweghe) could face Williams in the third round; Keys could face Williams in the round of 16, and Venus Williams could face her sister in the quarterfinals.

2. Rafa-Nole Potential Quarterfinal

The craziest thing I have heard all week is that Novak Djokovic has a good draw. But is it crazy because it’s true or crazy because facing Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals in the first round is absolutely not a good draw? We gonna see, no?

Either way you slice it, it’s the second time that these two legends have been slated to meet in the quarterfinals of a major in 2015. Djokovic won the last meeting in straight sets, but the emotional aftermath definitely played a role in him not finishing off the career Grand Slam in Paris. Rafa is clearly not where he wants to be in terms of form at this stage of the season, but it's not like he's been playing horrible tennis, either. He's just losing a lot of close matches to people he's not accustomed to losing to. That does not make him a pushover. How will it play out this year?

3. Young Guns, Put to the Test

Andy Murray will face off with Nick Kyrgios in the first round. Murray has won all eight sets he’s played against Kyrgios, but maybe it’s time for Kyrgios to surprise us with how good he is at tennis rather than how foul his mouth is? It will not be easy for the Brash Aussie. Murray’s in great form and has to be considered to be a serious threat to win it all in New York now that he finally ended his losing streak to Djokovic in Montreal two weeks ago. Other young guns set to clash with big names: Borna Coric will face Rafael Nadal in round one, while Thanasi Kokkinakis will face Richard Gasquet. Do you foresee any surprises?

4. Maria Sharapova Faces a Very Difficult First Round

Maria Sharapova’s last hard court match was in Miami. And in that match she was knocked off by a feisty Aussie by the name of Daria Gavrilova (thanks to Courtney Nguyen, WTA Insider, for providing us with that fact). Fast forward to this year’s U.S. Open where Sharapova enters nursing an upper leg injury that forced her to withdraw from Toronto and Cincinnati, and she’s slated to face—guess who—Gavrilova. That ought to be fun!

5. Dark Horse Candidates, Revised

We released preliminary dark horse candidates last night (see them here), but we’re going to alter them after we’ve seen what the draw holds.

Here’s a list of a few players that we think have a shot to go deep based on their draw:

Caroline Wozniacki

She’s got two US Open finals to her name and if her leg is in good shape, she could be headed to a third (or at least another semi). Possible opponents will be: Flavia Pennetta, R3; Sara Errani R16. Drawing Petra Kvitova into her quarter was a stroke of luck for the Woz. What are the odds that Kvitova is still around for the quarters? The Czech hasn't made it that far in eight tries in New York, so it's hard to see her making it this year, just months after she revealed to the world that she's still suffering from mono. That leaves Wozniacki with a good chance to get it done.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Gael Monfils

Neither Tonga or Monfils has been in the best form of late, but landing in David Ferrer’s section of the draw could make them improve in a hurry. The Spaniard has been out since June with an elbow injury and is sure to be rusty in his return.The two Frenchman are slated to meet in the third round, and if they do meet, we think the winner could be headed for a round of 16 clash with Grigor Dimitrov.

Grigor Dimitrov

We picked Dimitrov as a dark horse candidate prior to the draw and we’re still picking him today. He’s also in Ferrer’s section of the draw. Dimitrov has struggled this year, but we saw him show great form in Cincinnati despite the loss to Andy Murray. We think it’s time for Grigor to get it together, and a match against defending champion Marin Cilic in the third round could be the perfect springboard to a great run.

Ana Ivanovic or Elina Svitolina

If Maria Sharapova’s injuries hold her back in New York, look for Ana Ivanovic or Elina Svitolina to step up and possibly make the semis. Ivanovic has a tricky first-rounder with Dominika Cibulkova (Ana has won their last two meetings but they’ve split four total) but if she can get through that a trip to the second week looks like a given. Svitolina could face Ekaterina Makarova in the third round. It’s a tough matchup but the Russian is not the same player she was a year ago. Svitilona is definitely the hotter player, and if she is able to win three rounds in New York, she could even have it in her to take out a maybe-injured Sharapova in the round of 16 if that match occurs.