MELBOURNE, Australia — Prime-ranked Iga Swiatek will face 2020 champion Sofia Kenin within the first spherical and probably 2016 winner Angelique Kerber or Danielle Collins within the second in a tricky begin to her bid for a primary Australian Open title.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending eleventh Australian Open title will begin in opposition to a participant who was within the qualifying rounds and will embrace a 3rd spherical in opposition to Andy Murray and a quarterfinal in opposition to final yr’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The attracts to find out singles brackets had been held Thursday, with the return of former champions Naomi Osaka, Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to Melbourne Park after maternity breaks leading to some high-pressure opening rounds.
Osaka, who has received the Australian Open and US Open titles twice, opens in opposition to No. 16 Caroline Garcia and is in the identical quarter of the draw as US Open winner Coco Gauff.
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Three-time main winner Kerber will begin in opposition to Collins, who beat Swiatek within the semifinals right here in 2022 on her approach to the ultimate. That was three-time French Open winner Swiatek’s greatest run on the Australian Open to date. Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko are additionally seeded gamers in Swiatek’s quarter.
Wozniacki, the 2018 champion, will meet 2023 semifinalist and Twentieth-seeded Magda Linette within the first spherical, whereas defending champion Aryna Sabalenka opens in opposition to a qualifier.
Third-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who misplaced the Australian Open last to Sabalenka final yr, has a difficult opening match in opposition to former No. 1-ranked Karolina Pliskova.
Attainable ladies’s quarterfinals may very well be: No. 1 Swiatek vs. No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova and Rybakina vs. No. 5 Jessica Pegula on the highest half; No. 2 Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Ons Jabeur and No. 4 Gauff vs. No. 8 Maria Sakkari on the underside half.
In addition to the potential 2023 last rematch between Djokovic and No. 7 Tsitsipas, different males’s quarterfinals may very well be: No. 4 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 5 Andrey Rublev within the prime half; No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 6 Alexander Zverev and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev vs. No. 8 Holger Rune on the underside half.
Two unseeded previous Wimbledon finalists getting back from accidents may very well be difficult obstacles for prime 10 gamers within the first spherical, with Tsitsipas in opposition to Matteo Berrettini and native hope, No. 10 Alex De Minaur, in opposition to big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.
The Australian Open will begin Sunday.
