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.Carl Banks Jersey . 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The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.DETROIT -- Eric Ebron was on his back, looking as if he feared he was seriously injured.The Detroit Lions tight end pounded the turf with his right fist as the teams medical personnel evaluated his lower right leg.Ebron was later carted off the field, bowing his head and appearing distraught Saturday.He was hurt while blocking on a play on what the team called a mock game, which suddenly became too real for a team already faced with the reality of a passing game without Calvin Johnson for the first time in a decade.After Ebron was injured, the Lions shifted the practice that simulated game situations to the other end of the field.Injuries happen in football, Lions general manager Bob Quinn said.Ebron, drafted by Detroit No. 10 overall in 2014, seemed to be a favorite target of Matthew Stafford earlier in the practice that was open to the public at Ford Field.Stafford acknowledged being concerned about Ebrons injury.I have no idea whats wrong with him, he said.Ebron started 15 games over the first two years of his career, making 72 receptions for 785 yards and six touchdowns.Detroits depth at tight end was thin even before its best player at the position was injured.Brandon Pettigrew has not been cleared to practice while recovering from a torn knee ligament late last year and might not be healthy enough to start the season in five weeks. Tim Wright, another veteran, had a season-ending knee injury earlier this year.The top tight ends left standing might be Cole Wick, an undrafted rookie from the Univversity of the Incarnate Word in Texas, and journeyman Matthew Mulligan, who has 17 career catches since making his NFL debut in 2009.ddddddddddddThe other tight ends on Detroits roster are: Orson Charles, Adam Fuehne and Ben McCord.Mulligan said it was devastating, to see a teammate go down with an injury in practice.All of us are going to have to step up, Mulligan said. Ebron is an incredible player.The Lions may have to use more formations with three or four receivers and one of them will not be Johnson. He left the Lions and the league earlier this year after nine seasons.Detroits top receivers are Golden Tate and a pair of newcomers, Marvin Jones and Anquan Boldin, along with TJ Jones, who was taken out of the mock game after hitting the turf hard on an overthrown pass.I just dove and someone landed on top of me, Jones said. Nothing. Im good. All good to go.Jones refused to say if he went through the concussion protocol.Ill leave that all to the trainers and coach (Jim) Caldwell to talk about the details of everything, but Im feeling great, Jones said.Caldwell spoke to reporters before the mock game, the only time he was scheduled to be available, and declined comment after the practice.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Larry Lage at http://www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage ' ' '
