2024-01-11 07:22:02
MELBOURNE (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek will meet Sofia Kenin, the 2020 champion, in the first round, and could face Angelique Kerber, the 2016 champion, in the second.
Another option in that second round is Danielle Collins, in what would be a tough start to Swiatek’s quest to win her first Australian Open trophy.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a record-extending 11th tournament title with a matchup against a player who was in the qualifying rounds. In the third phase, the Serbian could face Andy Murray and in the quarterfinals he could clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s runner-up.
The singles brackets of the tournament were defined on Thursday. And the return of former champions Naomi Osaka, Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to Melbourne Park, after interruptions in their careers due to motherhood, led to some duels that look very close in the opening rounds.
Osaka, who won the Australian Open and the US Open twice, opens against No. 16 Caroline Garcia. She is also in the same part of the draw as US Open champion Coco Gauff.
Kerber, a three-time major champion, will begin her participation against Collins, who beat Swiatek in the semifinals here in 2022, when she reached the final. That was the best performance in Australia by Swiatek, a three-time winner of the French Open.
Victoria Azarenka, two-time champion of the Australian Open, and Jelena Ostapenko, champion of Roland Garros in 2017, are other pre-seeded players in the part of the draw where Swiatek is.
Wozniacki, the 2018 champion, will face Magda Linette, the 2023 semi-finalist and 20th seed, in the first round. Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion, opens against a tennis player from the qualification.
Elena Rybakina, the third seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion, lost the Australian final to Sabalenka last year. She will now play a complicated initial duel against Karolina Pliskova, once first in the ranking.
A possible quarterfinal matchup in the women’s division could be Swiatek, 1st, against Marketa Vondrousova, 7th. Others could pit Rybakina against Jessica Pegula, 5th: Sabalenka, 2nd, against Ons Jaberur, 6th, and Gauff, 4th, against Maria Sakkari, 8th.
Djokovic and Tsitsipas, 7th, could play the rematch of the 2023 final, but in the quarterfinals. In that same instance, Jannik Sinner (4th) could collide with Andrey Rublev (5th); Carlos Alcaraz (2nd) with Alexander Zverev (6th), and Daniil Medvedev (3rd) against Holger Rune (8th).
Two past Wimbledon finalists are not among the seeds now, as they return from injuries. But they could be major obstacles for tennis players ranked in the top 10.
Tsitsipas will face Matteo Berrettini, while local Alex de Miñaur, 10th, will play against Canadian Milos Raonic.
The Australian Open, which will run for 15 days, begins on Sunday.
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