Eugenie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil avoid early seeds, Milos Raonic to face shotmaker as US Open draws set

For unseeded Canadians Genie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil, there was exponentially more at stake as the US Open draws were made Friday in New York than there was for Milos Raonic, seeded No. 5 and assured of not having to face a top player from the get-go.

It worked out quite well, as Bouchard drew Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, ranked No. 73, and Pospisil, whose singles ranking now is down to No. 123, paired with a qualifier for his first-round match.

For Raonic, a challenge awaits. He will play German shotmaker Dustin Brown in the first round.

Bouchard's first-round luck this season has truly been very good; she has never drawn a seeded player at any tournament. The highest-ranked first-round opponent she has had was No. 25 Jelena Jankovic in Rome, and Jankovic has been injured much of the season. At the Australian Open, she played Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia (No. 119). At the French Open, Laura Siegemund (No. 37) and at Wimbledon, Magdalena Rybarikova (No. 94). She won all of those matches.

In Siniakova, she faces a player younger than she (20) whose career high in singles is No. 65 and who already has two WTA Tour titles in doubles. But by the time the US Open begins, Siniakova will not have played for six weeks; what tennis she did play after Wimbledon came on red clay, where she ran through from the qualifying to the final at the WTA Tour event in Bastad, Sweden in mid-July. Her best win of the season, over No. 25 Sara Errani of Italy, took place in the quarter-finals of that event.

For Pospisil, trying to right the ship after a desultory 2016, it's a good opportunity he needs to not let pass him by. There are some quality, experienced players among those playing their third and final round of qualifying Friday, but none are Raonic, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal.

If Pospisil can get through the first round, he could face big-serving Kevin Anderson of South Africa. If Bouchard wins her first round, she would face a Frenchwoman – either Pauline Parmentier or No. 25 seed Caroline Garcia.

For Raonic, the first challenge is an intriguing one, as opponent Dustin Brown will more than likely get to the net before he does and will have the fans on his side, as one of the more entertaining players on the ATP Tour with his flowing dreadlocks and crowd-pleasing shotmaker's game. But – and this is a big but – when Brown was last on a tennis court, three weeks ago in Rio at the Olympic event, he had to retire when he was leading Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci after a nasty ankle sprain.

On paper, Raonic's first seeded opponent would be No. 32 Benoit Paire of France, possibly followed by another Frenchman, No. 10 Gaël Monfils and, if you project to the quarter-finals, No. 4 Nadal. He is in Novak Djokovic's half of the draw, with Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in the other half.

Two more Canadians had a chance to join them Friday, as Montreal's Françoise Abanda played her third and final qualifying match against Ana Bogdan of Romania. Unfortunately, Abanda fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to Bogdan and so was unable to duplicate her impressive run through the qualifying to the main draw in New York two years ago.

Another Canadian, Steven Diez, meets young American Christian Harrison later Friday.