The 2023 Australian Open is set to begin on January 16 and the draw has been announced, and it features some interesting first-round matchups.
The tournament, which is the first Grand Slam of the year, will feature only the top players in the world competing for the coveted title. Despite missing the world no. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew because of an injury, the draw for the 2023 Australian Open is as packed as ever.
Leading the pack is current world number two Rafael Nadal of Spain. Nadal, who has won the Australian Open twice, in 2009 and 2022, will be looking to add another major title to his impressive resume. The Spaniard will start his tournament against a very difficult opponent, youngster Jack Draper, who is one of the highest-ranked non-seeded players. If he wins, he will meet one of the American players in the second round, as Brandon Nakashima takes on Mackenzie McDonald.
Daniil Medvedev, who played the final in Melbourne during the previous two editions, will want to extend his good streak at this major even further. The seventh-seeded Russian will take on Marcos Giron in the first round, and he can be Nadal's quarterfinal opponent.
No. 3 at the Australian Open is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek will start against Quentin Halys from France, and he can eventually meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in a quarterfinal battle as the sixth-seeded Canadian will start against compatriot Vasek Pospisil.
Andrey Rublev is the fifth-seeded player at the event and he certainly wasn't happy to see the draw. The Russian will start against the 2020 US Open champion, Dominic Thiem, who received a wild-card as he's attempting to make a comeback after an injury.
Home crowd favourite, Nick Kyrgios, is no. 19 and will begin against Roman Safiullin. In case of a victory, he will meet a Frenchman, which will be either Richard Gasquet or Ugo Humbert.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, is in the same part of the draw as Kyrgios and Rublev and so he can meet any of the two in the quarterfinals. However, he will first need to get through the first round, where he faces Roberto Carballes Baena.
Taylor Fritz is the eighth-seeded in Melbourne and he will start against Nikoloz Basilashvili. His quarterfinal opponent can be the second-seeded Casper Ruud, who will meet Tomas Machac in the first round.
Some of the interesting first-round matchups include meeting between Andy Murray and no. 13 Matteo Berrettini, and no. 15 Jannik Sinner against Kyle Edmund.
2023 Australian Open ATP Draw:
1. Rafael Nadal (1) |
2. Jack Draper |
3. Brandon Nakashima |
4. Mackenzie McDonald |
5. Jaume Munar |
6. Dalibor Svrcina (Q) |
7. Mikael Ymer |
8. Yoshihito Nishioka (31) |
9. Karen Khachanov (18) |
10. Bernabe Zapata Miralles |
11. Sebastian Baez |
12. Jason Kubler (WC) |
13. Oscar Otte |
14. Juncheng Shang (Q) |
15. Daniel Altmaier |
16. Frances Tiafoe (16) |
17. Hubert Hurkacz (10) |
18. Pedro Martinez |
19. Lorenzo Sonego |
20. Nuno Borges |
21. Ernesto Escobedo (Q) |
22. Taro Daniel |
23. Dusan Lajovic |
24. Denis Shapovalov (20) |
25. Sebastian Korda (29) |
26. Cristian Garin |
27. Yosuke Watanuki (Q) |
28. Arthur Rinderknech |
29. John Millman (WC) |
30. Marc-Andrea Huesler |
31. Marcos Giron |
32. Daniil Medvedev (7) |
33. Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) |
34. Quentin Halys |
35. Yannick Hanfmann (Q) |
36. Rinky Hijikata (WC) |
37. Tallon Griekspoor |
38. Pavel Kotov (LL) |
39. Ilya Ivashka |
40. Botic van de Zandschulp (32) |
41. Lorenzo Musetti (17) |
42. Lloyd Harris |
43. Federico Coria |
44. Marton Fucsovics |
45. Tomas Martin Etcheverry |
46. Gregoire Barrere |
47. Kyle Edmund |
48. Jannik Sinner (15) |
49. Cameron Norrie (11) |
50. Luca Van Assche (WC) |
51. Thiago Monteiro |
52. Constant Lestienne |
53. Christopher Eubanks (WC) |
54. Soonwoo Kwon |
55. Jiri Lehecka |
56. Borna Coric (21) |
57. Francisco Cerundolo (28) |
58. Guido Pella |
59. Corentin Moutet |
60. Yibing Wu (WC) |
61. Alex Molcan |
62. Stan Wawrinka |
63. Vasek Pospisil |
64. Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) |
65. Andrey Rublev (5) |
66. Dominic Thiem (WC) |
67. Max Purcell (Q) |
68. Emil Ruusuvuori |
69. Daniel Elahi Galan |
70. Jeremy Chardy |
71. Facundo Bagnis |
72. Daniel Evans (25) |
73. Nick Kyrgios (19) |
74. Roman Safiullin |
75. Richard Gasquet |
76. Ugo Humbert |
77. Maxime Cressy |
78. Albert Ramos-Vinolas |
79. Filip Krajinovic |
80. Holger Rune (9) |
81. Pablo Carreno Busta (14) |
82. Pedro Cachin |
83. Mattia Bellucci (Q) |
84. Benjamin Bonzi |
85. John Isner |
86. Adrian Mannarino |
87. Yu Hsiou Hsu (Q) |
88. Alex de Minaur (22) |
89. Grigor Dimitrov (27) |
90. Aslan Karatsev |
91. Zizou Bergs (Q) |
92. Laslo Djere |
93. Enzo Couacaud (Q) |
94. Hugo Dellien |
95. Roberto Carballes Baena |
96. Novak Djokovic (4) |
97. Taylor Fritz (8) |
98. Nikoloz Basilashvili |
99. Chun-Hsin Tseng |
100. Alexei Popyrin (WC) |
101. Ben Shelton |
102. Zhizhen Zhang |
103. Nicolas Jarry (Q) |
104. Miomir Kecmanovic (26) |
105. Diego Schwartzman (23) |
106. Oleksii Krutykh (Q) |
107. J.J. Wolf |
108. Jordan Thompson |
109. David Goffin |
110. Laurent Lokoli (Q) |
111. Juan Pablo Varillas (LL) |
112. Alexander Zverev (12) |
113. Matteo Berrettini (13) |
114. Andy Murray |
115. Thanasi Kokkinakis |
116. Fabio Fognini |
117. Aleksandar Vukic (Q) |
118. Brandon Holt (Q) |
119. Joao Sousa |
120. Roberto Bautista Agut (24) |
121. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (30) |
122. Alexander Bublik |
123. Jan-Lennard Struff (Q) |
124. Tommy Paul |
125. Christopher O'Connell |
126. Jenson Brooksby |
127. Tomas Machac |
128. Casper Ruud (2) |
0 Comments