Australian Open Men’s Draw: Novak Djokovic Top Seed But Still No Guarantee He Will Be Allowed To Play - UBITENNIS

Australian Open Men’s Draw: Novak Djokovic Top Seed But Still No Guarantee He Will Be Allowed To Play

Who will be crowned the men's champion in Melbourne this year?

By Adam Addicott
4 Min Read
Novak Djokovic returns a shot during a Men's Singles quarterfinal match at the 2021 US Open, Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2021 in Flushing, NY. (Jed Jacobsohn/USTA)

There was a delay to the Australian Open draw taking place on Thursday after rumours emerged that authorities were on the verge of their decision concerning whether to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time.

The draw was postponed by more than an hour amid a press conference from Prime Minister Scott Morrison which was set to take place. However, it was later confirmed that no such announcement would be made and it was up to immigration minister Alex Hawke to have the final say. Morrison told reporters that his government still has yet to decide on the fate of the tennis star despite the fiasco going on for more than a week. It is understood that Djokovic’s team has presented further evidence to support his stay in the country.

Should the Serbian remain in Australia, he will kick off his campaign in next week’s Grand Slam with a meeting against compatriot Miomir Kecmanović. A former junior world No.1 who has been ranked as high as 38th on the men’s Tour last year. Should he win, Djokovic will take on either Tommy Paul or a qualifier in the following round. Later in the draw he could also play Lorenzo Sonego and Gael Monfils or Chrsitian Garin during the first week. The 34-year-old has already won the Australian Open a record nine times. Should he prevail once again this year he would also become the first male singles player to claim a historic 21st Grand Slam title.

Reigning US Open champion Daniil Medvedev headlines the other half of the draw. The world No.2 will take on Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen in the first round before potentially facing Nick Kyrgios. However, Kyrgios’ tournament preparation has been hampered after he recently tested positive for COVID-19. Medvedev could play Hugo Humbert in the third round followed by Diego Schwartzman. Should he win the Melbourne title, the Russian would become the first player outside the Big Three to win back-to-back major titles since Andre Agassi more than 20 years ago.

Rafael Nadal, whose only triumph at the Australian Open was in 2009, headlines section four of the men’s draw. He will play world No.66 Marcos Giron in the first round who has lost his opening match at two tournaments already played this year. Other seeded players in Nadal’s section include Karen Khachanov, Aslan Karatsev and Hubert Hurkacz.

Elsewhere, third seed Alexander Zverev starts against Daniel Altmaier, Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Mikael Ymer and Andrey Rublev will play Gianluca Mager.

As for first round matches to look out for, 24th seed Dan Evans might be given a firm test against former top 10 player David Goffin who is currently on the comeback from injury. Matteo Berrettini will take on American rising star and world No.68 Brandon Nakashima. Finally, Indian Wells champion Cameron Norrie will be locking horns with Sebastian Korda whose father won the men’s title back in 1998.

The full draw

Top half

Bottom half

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