Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is to face 2020 champion Sofia Kenin in the first round and potentially 2016 winner Angelique Kerber or Danielle Collins in the second in a tough start to her bid for a first Australian Open title after the draws to determine the singles brackets were made yesterday.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic’s bid for an 11th Australian Open title to extend his record at the tournament is to start against a player who was in the qualifying rounds, and could include a third round against Andy Murray and a quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s runner-up.
Former champions Naomi Osaka, Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki are to return to Melbourne Park after maternity breaks resulting in some high-pressure opening rounds.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Osaka, who has won the Australian Open and US Open titles twice, is to open against No. 16 Caroline Garcia and is in the same quarter of the draw as US Open winner Coco Gauff.
Three-time major winner Kerber is to start against Collins, who beat Swiatek in the semi-finals in 2022 on her way to the final.
That was three-time French Open winner Swiatek’s best run at the Australian Open so far.
Photo: AFP
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko are also seeded players in Swiatek’s quarter.
Wozniacki, the 2018 champion, is to meet 20th seed Magda Linette, a semi-finalist last year, in the first round, while defending champion Aryna Sabalenka is to open against a qualifier.
Third seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who lost the Australian Open final to Sabalenka last year, has a challenging opening match against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova.
Possible women’s quarter-finals could be: No. 1 Swiatek against No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova, and Rybakina versus No. 5 Jessica Pegula in the top half; No. 2 Sabalenka against No. 6 Ons Jabeur, and No. 4 Gauff versus No. 8 Maria Sakkari in the bottom half.
As well as the potential final rematch between Djokovic and No. 7 Tsitsipas, other men’s quarter-finals could be: No. 4 Jannik Sinner versus No. 5 Andrey Rublev in the top half; No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz against No. 6 Alexander Zverev, and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev versus No. 8 Holger Rune in the bottom half.
The Australian Open is to start on Sunday.
At buildup tournaments, Sebastian Korda, who was drawn against a qualifier for the Australian Open, moved into the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Adelaide International for the second year in a row after beating Australian wild-card entry Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-4.
Korda today faces Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, who defeated Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-5.
Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan beat Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 to set up a semi-final against England’s Jack Draper.
In the women’s singles, Ostapenko advanced to the semis with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Pegula, and Russians Daria Kasatkina and Ekaterina Alexandrova were the other three players to move on in the women’s singles.
At the Hobart International, Elise Mehrtens of Belgium advanced to the semis of the women’s singles with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Arantxa Rus.
Emma Navarro of the US, Daria Saville of Australia and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan were the other winners.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Giuliana Olmos of Mexico defeated Irina Khromacheva of Russia and Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 10-0 to set up a semi today against Japanese pair Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya.
At the Auckland Open, England’s Cameron Norrie faces an injury battle ahead of the Australian Open after withdrawing from the tournament with a wrist injury ahead of his quarter-final against Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo.
Norrie was drawn to play Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru at Melbourne Park.
Ben Shelton, Carballes Baena and Taro Daniel also reached the last four.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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