The draw for the Australian Open 2022 has been made and the schedule has also been released ahead of tomorrow’s opening day.
I think the battle of the American’s, Sofia Kenin vs Madison Keys is going to be a fantastic match.
On the one hand, Kenin is a Grand Slam champion having won here in Australia two years ago, beating two-time Major champion Garbiñe Muguruza.
Kenin, 23, may have reached the final of the French Open later that year, but she has largely struggled with injuries since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, Keys reached her only Grand Slam final way back in 2017 at the US Open, losing comprehensively on home soil to compatriot Sloane Stephens.
At 26-years-old, Keys, is no longer the prodigy she once was. Although her form has nosedived in recent years, the world number 87 won the Adelaide title last week to suggest she might be making a comeback.
Both players have a point to prove and hard-courts are arguably their best surface. I am expecting a decent match.
Spain’s Paula Badosa takes on Australian number two Ajla Tomljanovic, partner of men’s player and last year’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
Badosa made her big breakthrough last year, rising to a high of six in the world that brought with it a first Masters 1000 victory, as she stunned Victoria Azarenka at Indian Wells, in three sets.
Although, she has struggled at the Grand Slams, with a quarter-final appearance at last year’s French Open, her deepest run to date.
However, last week’s triumph in Sydney will give Badosa fresh optimism she can go deep in Melbourne.
Croatian born Tomljanovic may often stand in Ashleigh Barty’s shadow in the Australian women’s game, but she is a talented player and could cause an upset on home soil.
Next up is Belinda Bencic who takes on Kristina Mladenovic.
Swiss Bencic might be remembered by some fans as Roger Federer’s partner in crime, where she helped the 20-time Grand Slam champion win the popular Hopman Cup event in its final edition back in 2019. This backed up their 2018 victory.
Bencic has been inconsistent but still won the Dubai Duty Free Championships that same year and won Olympic Gold at last year’s COVID delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Mladenovic’s form may have plummeted but she is a former top-ten player and a seasoned doubles player, having won five-doubles Grand Slam titles.
Now at 91 in the world, she is unlikely to be a threat to Bencic, but in tennis, anything can happen.
The other matches to look out for would be Czech ace, and current French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, who entertains veteran German Andrea Petkovic.
And finally, 2017 French Open champion and last year’s Eastbourne International winner Jelena Ostapenko, 24, plays Anna Schmiedlova.
The Slovakian knows how to cause an upset after big wins over Venus Williams and Azarenka at the 2020 French Open, and another upset could be on the cards.
