The Australian Open draw ceremony was held on Friday afternoon in Melbourne, albeit slightly later than expected because of the recent Covid-19 issues that halted play at the Melbourne Summer Series on Thursday.
It was worth the wait.
The men’s singles festivities resulted in a balanced enough draw that should provide intrigue from start to finish. When it comes to the start, there are whole host of entertaining first-round matchups. The cream of the crop is undoubtedly Denis Shapovalov vs. Jannik Sinner, while others to note are Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marin Cilic, and. Matteo Berrettini vs. Kevin Anderson.
Shapovalov won’t like the rest of his draw even if he does manage to scrape past Sinner. The 21-year-old Canadian is on a collision course for round three with countryman and best friend Felix Auger-Aliassime.
For world No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, his headline-making matches will likely come later in the fortnight. But early and often he could go up against opponents with whom he is incredibly familiar. Up first for Djokovic is Jeremy Chardy, who has gotten 13 shots at the eight-time Aussie Open champion throughout his career and has won a grand total of zero times. Following potential second and third-round encounters with Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, respectively, Djokovic may see Stan Wawrinka on the other side of the net. From 2013 through 2015, Djokovic and Wawrinka played three Australian Open five-setters against each other (the Serb took two of three). Two were absolute instant classics (they split that pair).
It doesn’t end there for Djokovic. His projected quarterfinal opponent is Alexander Zverev. The 33-year-old just beat Zverev at the ATP Cup on Friday, but Germany won the overall tie to knock out the defending champs and earn a semifinal spot. In the Aussie semis, there could be a rematch of last season’s final between Djokovic and Dominic Thiem–won by the favorite in five sets. However, Thiem is a respectable 5-7 lifetime in the head-to-head series and has won epic thrillers at Djokovic’s expense in each of the last two Nitto ATP Finals installments.
In addition to Djokovic vs. Zverev, the other projected quarterfinal matchups are Thiem vs. Diego Schwartzman, Daniil Medvedev vs. Andrey Rublev, and Rafael Nadal vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas. The semifinals according to seeds would be Djokovic vs. Thiem and Nadal vs. Medvedev.
Nadal will kick off his quest for a second Australian Open title when he grapples with Laslo Djere on Monday. One of two qualifiers would follow–either Viktor Troicki or Michael Mmoh. Dan Evans is the second-ranked Spaniard’s nearest seed, while Fabio Fognini and Alex de Minaur are potential fourth-round opponents for Nadal.
Check out the full men’s singles draw at the AO website.
who ya got?
Is Rafas back ok ? He has pulled out of Saturday matches too
If everything goes as per draw, djoko could be softened playing Wawa,zverev n thiem back to back..but I think his side plays first…so plenty of rest before final ( 2 days )
Sinner vs shapo could be explosive
Wawrinka is no longer a threat IMO even to subpar Djokovic.
Even though Djokovic is probably not playing like he’s number 1 right now, Wawrinka is playing to his ranking.
I’ll take close look at the draw and get back to you.
That’s a match were you could find some value for Djokovic because Wawrinka has beaten him the past (which doesnt mean much when you understand how things work) and there should be a bit of money for Wawrinka.
Put simply, as they get older Djokovic’s game will be more steady and have slightly more longevity.
Sinner is too strong on the double handed backhand and is too steady for Shapo. That is a match you should put your house on Sinner.
Kyrgios v Coric was another great bet to really load up on. Bookies had them nearly 50/50.
Djokovic has Thiem and Zverev. That’s a very tough draw.
Zverev will be a different kettle of fish in AO.
and Thiem has his measure. Another year, makes a big difference and remember what I said about Nadal not showing any vulnerability?
Djokovic is.
Rublev has RBA. That should be a great match. if RBA hits peak form that could be match of the tournament.
Nadal and Medevdev look like they have secured their semi final positions.
Djokovic has by fair the toughest draw of the main chances.
respective to their expectations.
Why ..rafa has a back issue .he has not even played a match except an exho..plus foginini /minaur in round 4 and tsitsi /berretini in qf can be very tough
Yes, that’s certainly an issue for Nadal but excluding their personal circumstances, Djokovic has the hardest draw.
My revised odds post draw release.
Medvedev 3.5/1
Theim 5/1
Djokovic 5/1
Nadal 7/1
Zverev 8/1
Depending on the severity of Nadal’s back issue, he could be anywhere between a 4/1 and 10/1 chance.
I’ll wait for him to play a match before forming a judgment.
Zverev is actually a 12-16/1 chance. He has to beat Djokovic, Thiem and then Medevdev or Nadal.
Joker draw very tough….by far the toughest of the four quarters….and Sinner-Shapo is a popcorn first rounder!
Thiem says that the court is fast, much faster than last year and quite slippery! He says all the players are saying this.
Not sure who this favours. Obviously will help the big servers and make it more difficult to defend. Maybe more of a chance of upsets this year?
Of the favourites think it helps Medvedev the most. May mean someone can take Nole out before the finals.
Amy…thoughts on rafa n his back ?
I honestly don’t know sanju!
Obviously the worry is that even if his back is ok he will come in without match practice.
Apparently he played very well against Thiem in the exho which is encouraging…
Wawrinka has the knee surgeries and is not the same player.
Thiem knocked out early at Cup.
I pick Novak in his half.