Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed on opposite sides of the draw for the season’s first major, ruling out a replay of last year’s semi-final match.
Sinner upset Djokovic in the semi-finals here last year before coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 for his first Grand Slam singles title.
Top-ranked Sinner has a first-round match against Nicolas Jarry and also has Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Medvedev in his quarter of the draw. Fritz would open against fellow American Jenson Brooksby.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz could meet in the quarter-finals, with a possible semi-final against No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
At the draw yesterday to set the brackets for the singles fields, defending champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka walked into the official ceremony on the steps of Margaret Court Arena holding their trophies.
Sabalenka won her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park last year by defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka would be attempting to win a third consecutive women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.
Sabalenka drew a tough opening match against 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and has 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva and Zheng in her section.
“I have a lot of great memories and to be back here ... as a two-time Australian Open champion, it’s definitely something special,” Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane International title last week, said at the draw ceremony.
“I hope that I can keep doing what I’m doing here in Australia,” she added.
Third-seeded Coco Gauff is a potential semi-final rival for Sabalenka.
Gauff has a challenging first-round match against former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and is in the same section of the draw as four-time major winner Naomi Osaka and seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula.
No. 2 Iga Swiatek and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina are in the other half of the draw.
The Australian Open starts on Sunday in Melbourne and is to run for 15 days.
Doping and the cases involving Sinner — which is still not fully resolved — and Swiatek was a topic that shadowed tennis last year and is still a talking point in Melbourne.
There is plenty else for fans to talk about.
Djokovic is to play in his first event alongside new coach Andy Murray, his former on-court rival and a three-time major champion. Nobody has won the men’s title at Melbourne Park more often than Djokovic, although he said he still feels trauma from the one year he was not allowed to play.
Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up who withdrew from an exhibition against Djokovic this week because of an abdominal strain, would face Jacob Fearnley in the first round if the mercurial Australian is fit enough to contest his first major since the 2022 US Open. Kyrgios is in the same section as Zverev.
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