Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a historic 11th Australian Open title against a qualifier whilst second seed Carlos Alcaraz faces French veteran Richard Gasquet.
The draw for this year’s tournament took place on Thursday with Djokovic’s projected route set to see him face either Alexi Popyrin or Marc Polmans in the second round. Then in the last 32, he could face his first stern challenge with potential opponents including Andy Murray, Gael Monfils or Tomas Martin Etcherry. Five-time finalist Murray and Etcherry will face each other in the first round. American rising star Ben Shelton is a potential fourth round opponent.
Djokovic will be making his 19th appearance at Melbourne Park where he has won 89 out of 97 matches played. He has won the event the last four times he has played.
At the other end of the draw, Alcaraz will be playing in the tournament for the first time since 2022 after missing last year’s Grand Slam due to injury. Should he get past Gasquet in his opening match, the Spaniard will face either Dan Evans or Lorenzo Sonego who are both top 50 players. Alexander Bublik and Tommy Paul are potential opponents for him in the following two rounds.
Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev will face a qualifier or lucky loser in his first match and has been drawn in the same section as Brisbane International champion Grigor Dimitrov who starts against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. Fourth seed Jannik Sinner faces Botic van de Zandschulp, Andrey Rublev plays Thiago Seyboth Wild and Alexander Zverev takes on Dominik Koepfer.
One of the most notable first round matches will feature Stefanos Tsitsipas against former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini who is on the comeback from yet another injury. The Greek currently leads their head-to-head 3-0. Other clashes to look out for in the opening round include Dominic Thiem against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Adrian Mannarino against Stan Wawrinka, Alex de Minaur takes on Milos Raonic and Frances Tiafoe plays Borna Coric.
Finally, on the same day of the draw, British 19th seed Cameron Norrie suffered an injury setback after withdrawing from the ASB Classic in Auckland due to a wrist problem. He could play Casper Ruud in the third round should both players reach that stage.
Projected quarter-final matches
[1] Djokovic vs. [7] Tsitsipas
[4] Sinner vs. [5] Rublev
[3] Medvedev vs. [8] Rune
[2] Alcaraz vs. [6] Zverev
Swiatek faces former champ in opening match, Osaka returns
Embed from Getty ImagesIn the women’s draw, top seed Iga Swiatek will begin her quest for a first Australian Open title against 2020 winner Sofia Kenin who has won one out of three matches played so far this season. The Pole could then face an intriguing second round clash against former world No.1 Angelique Kerber who recently returned to the Tour following the birth of her first child. However, Kerber has a tricky opening match against the fiery Danielle Collins.
Swaitek is then projected to play Marie Bouzkova in the third round followed by either Elina Svitolina or Veronika Kudermetova. She is aiming to claim her fifth major title in Melbourne but has never been beyond the semi-final stage of the tournament so far in her career.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will begin her title defence against a qualifier. She is projected to play Lesia Tsurenko in the third round followed by either Liudmila Samsonova or Donna Vekic.
Naomi Osaka will make her return to Grand Slam tennis with a showdown against 19th seed Caroline Garcia. It will be the first major event she has played in more than a year and her first as a mother. She has been drawn in the same section as reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff but the two will only lock horns if they both make it to the last 16. Gauff begins her campaign against Anna Karolína Schmiedlová.
Among other first round matches to look out for in the women’s draw, 2023 runner-up Elina Rybakina will open up against Karolina Pliskova who beast Osaka in Brisbane before losing to Jelena Ostapenko. Emma Raducanu will be hoping to continue the form she had in Auckland against Shelby Rogers in her opening match. Finally, Caroline Wozniacki will play 20th seed Magda Linette who reached the semi-finals last year.
Projected quarter-final matches
[1] Swiatek vs. [7] Vondrousova
[3] Rybakina vs. [5] Pegula
[4] Gauff vs. [8] Sakkari
[2] Sabalenka vs. [6] Jabeur
The Australian Open will begin on Sunday. The full draw can be viewed HERE.
