Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal And Roger Federer Set To Play ‘Spectacular’ Australian Open

Next year’s Australian Open is set to have one of the strongest fields in history despite the tournament being delayed by a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provisional entry lists for the Grand Slam have been released with every member of the top 100 on the men’s Tour entering and 98 out of 100 on the women’s. The only two names missing are Taylor Townsend and Carla Suarez Navarro. Townsend is pregnant with her first child and Navarro has been undergoing treatment for cancer.

The men’s field is set to feature every member of the Big Three with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer committing. Although there remains a degree of uncertainty over Federer who is continuing his comeback from injury with a training stint in Dubai. Earlier this month the Swiss Maestro admitted that he faces a race against time to be ready for the Grand Slam.

“I would have hoped that I would be at 100 percent by October but I still am not today. It will be tight for the Australian Open,” the 39-year-old told reporters on December 13th.

On the women’s side, Ash Barty is set to make her return. Due to the pandemic, the world No.1 hasn’t played a competitive match since February but still managed to end this season at the top of the rankings. Among those challenging Barty for the title will be Serena Williams who is bidding to clinch a record-equalling 24th major title. Bianca Andreescu is also expected to make her return to competitive action following a lengthy hiatus due to injury.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the world’s best players to Melbourne and what promises to be a spectacular Australian Open following a year of disruption on a scale none of us has ever experienced before,” Tournament Director Craig Tiley said in a statement.
“Although the AO will look a bit different to previous years, the safety of everyone is our top priority. We have the opportunity to stage a very safe, and happy Slam, and give the players the experience of competing in front of crowds again, something they’ve missed for most of this year.”

For the first time in more than 100 years the ‘happy slam’ will be taking place later than usual in February due to the mandatory quarantine period players will have to undergo. Upon arrival, they will need to isolate for 14 days but will be allowed to conduct training during that period. Also, due to COVID-19 the Australian Open qualifying tournaments will be held outside the country for the first time with the men playing in Doha and women in Dubai.

“There are so many great storylines for AO 2021. Serena is gunning for her eighth AO title while Novak, who often seems invincible at Melbourne Park, is going for a record ninth title. Our own world No.1 Ash Barty will return to Grand Slam competition, as will Roger Federer as he comes back from injury. And there’s a new crop of rising stars coming up to challenge them all. It’s going to be a great few weeks of tennis here in Melbourne.” Said Tiley.

In total 104 players have received direct entry into the main draw. Out of those entrants, six players have entered via the use of their protected ranking. Those players are Yaroslava Shvedova, Vera Zvonareva, Katie Boulter, Mona Barthel, Yen-Hsun Lu and Mackenzie McDonald.

The Australian Open will start on February 8th.

Full entry list

WOMEN’S
Ranking	First Name	Last Name	Nation
1	Ashleigh	Barty	AUS
2	Simona	Halep	ROU
3	Naomi	Osaka	JPN
4	Sofia	Kenin	USA
5	Elina	Svitolina	UKR
6	Karolina	Pliskova	CZE
7	Bianca	Andreescu	CAN
8	Petra	Kvitova	CZE
9	Kiki	Bertens	NED
10	Aryna	Sabalenka	BLR
11	Serena	Williams	USA
12	Belinda	Bencic	SUI
13	Victoria	Azarenka	BLR
14	Johanna	Konta	GBR
15	Garbiñe	Muguruza	ESP
16	Madison	Keys	USA
17	Iga	Swiatek	POL
18	Petra	Martic	CRO
19	Elena	Rybakina	KAZ
20	Elise	Mertens	BEL
21	Marketa	Vondrousova	CZE
22	Maria	Sakkari	GRE
23	Anett	Kontaveit	EST
24	Jennifer	Brady	USA
25	Angelique	Kerber	GER
26	Alison	Riske	USA
27	Karolina	Muchova	CZE
28	Yulia	Putintseva	KAZ
29	Dayana	Yastremska	UKR
30	Amanda	Anisimova	USA
31	Ons	Jabeur	TUN
32	Donna	Vekic	CRO
33	Ekaterina	Alexandrova	RUS
34	Qiang	Wang	CHN
35	Shuai	Zhang	CHN
36	Svetlana	Kuznetsova	RUS
37	Barbora	Strycova	CZE
38	Anastasia	Pavlyuchenkova	RUS
39	Sloane	Stephens	USA
40	Magda	Linette	POL
41	Saisai	Zheng	CHN
42	Fiona	Ferro	FRA
43	Caroline	Garcia	FRA
44	Jelena	Ostapenko	LAT
45	Danielle	Collins	USA
46	Veronika	Kudermetova	RUS
47	Nadia	Podoroska	ARG
47 SR	Yaroslava	Shvedova	KAZ
48	Cori	Gauff	USA
49	Polona	Hercog	SLO
50	Kristina	Mladenovic	FRA
51	Laura	Siegemund	GER
52	Marie	Bouzkova	CZE
53	Alizé	Cornet	FRA
54	Anastasija	Sevastova	LAT
55	Rebecca	Peterson	SWE
56	Patricia Maria	Tig	ROU
57	Jil	Teichmann	SUI
58	Heather	Watson	GBR
59	Katerina	Siniakova	CZE
60	Shelby	Rogers	USA
61	Anna	Blinkova	RUS
62	Bernarda	Pera	USA
63	Jessica	Pegula	USA
64	Alison	Van Uytvanck	BEL
65	Barbora	Krejcikova	CZE
66	Sara	Sorribes Tormo	ESP
67	Su-Wei	Hsieh	TPE
68	Ajla	Tomljanovic	AUS
69	Kristyna	Pliskova	CZE
70	Paula	Badosa	ESP
71	Sorana	Cirstea	ROU
72	Daria	Kasatkina	RUS
73	Nao	Hibino	JPN
74	Arantxa	Rus	NED
75	Lauren	Davis	USA
76	Camila	Giorgi	ITA
77	Danka	Kovinic	MNE
78	Irina-Camelia	Begu	ROU
78 SR	Vera	Zvonareva	RUS
79	Venus	Williams	USA
80	Zarina	Diyas	KAZ
81	Christina	McHale	USA
82	Madison	Brengle	USA
83	Misaki	Doi	JPN
85	Martina	Trevisan	ITA
85 SR	Katie	Boulter	GBR
86	Kirsten	Flipkens	BEL
87	Tamara	Zidansek	SLO
88	Leylah	Fernandez	CAN
90	Aliaksandra	Sasnovich	BLR
91	Lin	Zhu	CHN
92	Ana	Bogdan	ROU
93	Kaia	Kanepi	EST
94	Varvara	Gracheva	RUS
95	Yafan	Wang	CHN
96	Jasmine	Paolini	ITA
97	Viktoria	Kuzmova	SVK
98	Ann	Li	USA
99	Marta	Kostyuk	UKR
100	Nina	Stojanovic	SRB
101	Anastasia	Potapova	RUS
101 SR	Mona	Barthel	GER
102	Andrea	Petkovic	GER

MEN’S
Ranking	First Name	Last Name	Nation
1	Novak	Djokovic	SRB
2	Rafael	Nadal	ESP
3	Dominic	Thiem	AUT
4	Daniil	Medvedev	RUS
5	Roger	Federer	SUI
6	Stefanos	Tsitsipas	GRE
7	Alexander	Zverev	GER
8	Andrey	Rublev	RUS
9	Diego	Schwartzman	ARG
10	Matteo	Berrettini	ITA
11	Gael	Monfils	FRA
12	Denis	Shapovalov	CAN
13	Roberto	Bautista Agut	ESP
14	Milos	Raonic	CAN
15	David	Goffin	BEL
16	Pablo	Carreno Busta	ESP
17	Fabio	Fognini	ITA
18	Stan	Wawrinka	SUI
19	Grigor	Dimitrov	BUL
20	Karen	Khachanov	RUS
21	Felix	Auger-Aliassime	CAN
22	Cristian	Garin	CHI
23	Alex	de Minaur	AUS
24	Borna	Coric	CRO
25	John	Isner	USA
26	Dusan	Lajovic	SRB
27	Casper	Ruud	NOR
28	Benoit	Paire	FRA
29	Taylor	Fritz	USA
30	Ugo	Humbert	FRA
31	Filip	Krajinovic	SRB
32	Daniel	Evans	GBR
33	Lorenzo	Sonego	ITA
34	Hubert	Hurkacz	POL
35	Adrian	Mannarino	FRA
36	Jan-Lennard	Struff	GER
37	Jannik	Sinner	ITA
38	John	Millman	AUS
39	Reilly	Opelka	USA
40	Nikoloz	Basilashvili	GEO
41	Kei	Nishikori	JPN
42	Marin	Cilic	CRO
43	Guido	Pella	ARG
44	Miomir	Kecmanovic	SRB
45	Nick	Kyrgios	AUS
46	Albert	Ramos-Vinolas	ESP
47	Richard	Gasquet	FRA
48	Kyle	Edmund	GBR
49	Tennys	Sandgren	USA
50	Alexander	Bublik	KAZ
51	Jordan	Thompson	AUS
52	Alejandro	Davidovich Fokina	ESP
53	Sam	Querrey	USA
54	Tommy	Paul	USA
55	Marton	Fucsovics	HUN
56	Yoshihito	Nishioka	JPN
57	Laslo	Djere	SRB
58	Aljaz	Bedene	SLO
59	Frances	Tiafoe	USA
60	Pablo	Andujar	ESP
61	Vasek	Pospisil	CAN
62	Jo-Wilfried	Tsonga	FRA
63	Gilles	Simon	FRA
64	Feliciano	Lopez	ESP
66	Dominik	Koepfer	GER
67	Pablo	Cuevas	URU
68	Jiri	Vesely	CZE
69	Ricardas	Berankis	LTU
70	Lucas	Pouille	FRA
71	Cameron	Norrie	GBR
71 PR	Yen-Hsun	Lu	TPE
72	Steve	Johnson	USA
73	Marcos	Giron	USA
74	Stefano	Travaglia	ITA
75	Jeremy	Chardy	FRA
76	Salvatore	Caruso	ITA
77	Corentin	Moutet	FRA
78	Egor	Gerasimov	BLR
79	Juan Ignacio	Londero	ARG
80	Marco	Cecchinato	ITA
81	Kevin	Anderson	RSA
82	Federico	Delbonis	ARG
83	Pierre-Hugues	Herbert	FRA
83 PR	Mackenzie	McDonald	USA
84	Thiago	Monteiro	BRA
85	Pedro	Martinez	ESP
86	Emil	Ruusuvuori	FIN
87	Lloyd	Harris	RSA
88	Norbert	Gombos	SVK
89	Mikhail	Kukushkin	KAZ
90	Joao	Sousa	POR
91	Federico	Coria	ARG
92	Attila	Balazs	HUN
93	Radu	Albot	MDA
94	Mikael	Ymer	SWE
95	Soonwoo	Kwon	KOR
96	Dennis	Novak	AUT
97	Roberto	Carballes Baena	ESP
99	Yannick	Hanfmann	GER
100	Gianluca	Mager	ITA
101	Andrej	Martin	SVK
102	Yuichi	Sugita	JPN
103	James	Duckworth	AUS
104	Yasutaka	Uchiyama	JPN

*Rankings as of 21 December 2020