Winning a Grand Slam tennis tournament requires years of practice and preparation, but the unruly, random path to victory is framed in a matter of mere minutes.Welcome to the US Open draw, circa 2016 -- our road map for the fortnight that begins Monday.Hoping to avoid that hot qualifier right out of the box? Perhaps dodge the dangerous floater in the third round? Maybe lock in a few comfortable opponents youve never lost to? The die is cast as quickly as the numbered chip comes out of the lidless silver trophy.Friday at the National Tennis Center, all 256 slots for the mens and womens singles draws were revealed with tournament referee Brian Earley serving as master of ceremonies. The highlights:Best first-round matchesMen: No. 16 seed Feliciano Lopez versus Borna Coric. This one nicely frames the changing-of-the-guard vibe of this looming event. Lopez, a 34-year-old Spaniard, was a surprise quarterfinalist in New York a year ago. Serbias Coric, still a teenager, beat Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal in back-to-back matches last week in Cincinnati before retiring (knees) against eventual champion Marin Cilic. Coric, according to his team, should be good to go.Women: No. 1 Serena Williams versus?Ekaterina Makarova. This one is just pure nastiness for Serena, but it could be the wake-up she needs. After a rough go at the Rio Olympics, theres no chance Serena will take the crafty Russian lightly. It was Makarova who beat Serena four years ago in the fourth round of the Australian Open, and she comes in as the newly minted Rio gold-medal winner with doubles partner Elena Vesnina. Serena, who has the pressure of some serious history in her sights, has beaten Makarova in straight sets in their two previous US Open encounters, in 2012 and 2014.Toughest quarter of the drawMen: Top quarter, top half. At first glance, it might appear that No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic could have a dicey first-round match, but 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz of Poland is only 1-4 in his US Open career. More concerning is the rest of that bracket, which is laced with heavy hitters -- not the best thing for an ailing left wrist. Djokovic could see ace machine John Isner, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Kevin Anderson, not to mention a projected quarterfinals meeting with No. 7 seed Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion.Women: Top quarter, bottom half. While Serena and Simona Halep are projected to meet in the quarterfinals of the top quarter, the third quarter is loaded with young power. In theory, American Madison Keys, 21, would see French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, 22, in the quarters. But there are also these players to consider: Coco Vandeweghe, who got to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and Rio singles gold medalist Monica Puig.Favorites most at riskMen: No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss is a two-time Grand Slam champion, but he has his hands full with a first-round match against wily Fernando Verdasco, who was a US Open quarterfinalist in 2009-10. Believe it or not, Verdasco has won three of their five career matches. That includes a victory earlier this year on the grass at Queens Club -- and the only hard-court meeting, four years ago in Acapulco. If thats not bad enough, Wawrinka could face ascendant Aussie Kyrgios in a fourth-round match -- if he makes it that far.Women: A year ago, No. 7 seed Roberta Vinci was the surprise finalist in New York, stunning Serena in the semifinals. Even if she gets past the sometimes-dangerous Anna-Lena Friedsam in her first-round match, American Christina McHale and Sabine Lisicki could await in the second and third rounds. Lisicki, who pounds the ball, made it to the fourth round a year ago.Favorites best positioned to flourishMen: No. 2 seed Andy Murray. In some minds, hes the favorite here, and now he has a relatively easy route to the quarterfinals. The 29-year-old Scot has the momentum, coming off his victories at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics and a finals appearance in Cincinnati. His first-round match is against Lukas Rosol, who is 1-5 at the US Open. Next up could be Juan Monaco in the second, No. 30 Gilles Simon in the third and Lopez in the fourth. No. 6 Kei Nishikori -- a finalist here two years ago -- would be the projected quarterfinal opponent.Women: No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber. She has a reasonably comfortable draw that begins with Polona Hercog. Alize Cornet might be waiting in the second, with No. 27 Sara Errani in the third. In the fourth it could be No. 14 Petra Kvitova, who has won two Grand Slam singles titles but reached the quarters in New York only once. Vinci is slated to meet Kerber in the quarters.Cinderella candidatesMen: Lucas Pouille. In his last major, the No. 24 seed went all the way to Wimbledons quarterfinals. The 22-year-old Frenchman has a decent draw and could face Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. Nadal, whose physical condition after the rousing Rio Olympics might have been compromised, theoretically would provide fourth-round opposition.Women: Karolina Pliskova Shes the No. 10 seed, so were taking some liberties here. But based on her track record in Slams -- in 17 majors, she has never advanced past the third round -- we believe shes capable of losing a glass slipper. While Pliskovas only 2-3 in previous US Open action, the Czech is having another terrific year. Her draw is doable; shes projected to face No. 6 Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. Pliskova leads all women with 407 aces, 147 more than second-place Serena Williams.Clearance Nike Air Max 270 . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. 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Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race.Celtic manager Ronny Deila claims James Forrests contract snub is no big deal.Deila has not given up all hope of Forrest extending his stay but he admits he looks likely to leave after rejecting a new four-year contract.The Norwegian has worked hard with his medical and sports science staff to get Forrest consistently fit and the 24 year-old has broken the 30-game mark for the first time in four seasons. But he will not take the wingers snub to heart as he said: You can make a big deal out of this. For me, its not a big, big deal.Of course we want to keep Jamesy but this happens all the time in different situations, for different players. We have a lot of players here. Well see what happens during the season.Its not like that there is nothing going to happen. You never know in football, but he has rejected it and we have to take that forward. Forrest was offered a new four-year deal by the Scottish Premiership leaders I havent talked to Jamesy straight about these things. Jamesy is part of this squad, has been here for many, many years. We wanted to keep him here but its an issue between the club and the player.There are always negotiations but we felt the offer was really good. We have stretched so long, but you never know in football.Deila has no problem continuing to play Forrest, whose contract expires at the end of December.We have other players as well who are not on long contracts, he added. They are here to do a job for Celtic, and we keep on going. Deila says contract talks with Forrest could be started up again Its no problem.dddddddddddd But there are a lot of options. Jamesy needs to show his best side for his future and we need the best out of everybody to get our goals as well.Another player rumoured to be heading out of Celtic is Emilio Izaguirre, who has shared left-back duties with teenager Kieran Tierney this season - both of them have made 20 starts.The Honduras manager is reported to have told the full-back he needs to play more often but Deila is adamant the 29 year-old still has a Parkhead future.Of course he has, we cant have one full-back, Deila continued. Yes, he has a future and hes a great player. Emilio Izaguirres Celtic future has also come into question Its tough competition on that side. Everyone can see what KT has done but everyone also respects what Emilio has done for this club. We know we have two very good full-backs. Hes a player we want to keep.I talk with Emilio lots of times. He comes into my office and we talk. Of course he wants to play more, thats for sure. Everybody in that squad wants to play.But its a competition and you never know in football. Something could happen with KT and also he can show in training that he is better. I cant make my decision on what a national team coach is having an opinion on.Also See:Celtic videoCeltic fixturesCeltic statsBet £5 get £20 free ' ' '