The Australian Open draw was revealed on Friday afternoon at Melbourne Park. A brutal top half features Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Roger Federer. Nadal will open against Bernard Tomic.
No. 1 seeds are not immune to ghastly draws; if nothing else, the 2014 Australian Open men’s singles bracket proved as much.
Rafael Nadal headlines a loaded top half of the draw along with Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Roger Federer. As tough as that foursome looks, Nadal will have to focus on potentially taxing roadblocks long before he reaches the point of facing fellow Top 10 players. Up first for the top-ranked Spaniard is current Sydney semifinalist Bernard Tomic, who has reached at least the third round of three straight Aussie Opens and has never lost in the first round.
Nadal could face Gael Monfils during third-round action in what would be a rematch of the Doha title match, which Nadal won in three sets. Lleyton Hewitt has a seemingly nice path through to the second week before he would run into Nadal.
If seeds hold to form in the top half, far from a certainty given the startling lineup of contenders, quarterfinal showdowns would pit Nadal against Del Potro and Murray against Federer. Federer, however, could be in the line for another battle versus Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as early as the last 16. Murray may have to face John Isner at that stage.
Relatively speaking, the bottom half of the bracket is an inaugural Melbourne Challenger. Novak Djokovic’s only potential danger in his entire section–unless Ernests Gulbis is still to be taken seriously–is Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. Djokovic and Wawrinka, of course, arguably played the match of the year in the 2013 Australian Open fourth round (won by the Serb 12-10 in the fifth set). In the third quarter, familiar foes David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych are on a collision course for the last eight.
full draw here – http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ms/index.html
Tomic in the first round for Rafa. This is not pleasant news.
Gael Monfils R3
I heard delpo ,Tsonga,Murray ,Wawa in Rafa’s half too. Is it true?
no, Wawa vs. Djoker in the QFs.
Rafa, Murray, Delpo, Fed, Tsonga, Raonic, Isner all in top half.
djo’s half is as easy as one can think of… wawa is in djo’s quarter ! no berdych, no tsonga, no delpo , no federer, no murray ! they are all in rafa’s half !!!
I am most worried about delpo in the qtrs !
yes, Delpo-Nadal in the same quarter is BS
Berdych is in Djoko’s half, though I don’t see him as a threat at all as a 15-2 h2h suggests. Also, how could djoko’s potential quarterfinal opponent Stan possibly be considered as easy as one can think of?
because he is easier than Del Potro and (arguably) Federer
The only 2 I see who might trouble Novak in his quarter are Wawa and Gulbis. I don’t see any of the others having much of a chance against him, unless they played the match of their lives and Novak wasn’t up to par.
I can’t believe Rafa’s draw! Yikes! I believe he has Tomic in the first round! Delpo in the quarters. Probably the most dangerous opponent he could have drawn.
They have stacked the draw in the top half. Djoker has it absurdly easy. As if he needed it!
I am also very worried about Delpo in the quarters. That’s just bad luck.
Well, the draw is what it is, so you can bet that Rafa’s already focusing on his first match, and just the first match, to “find the solutions” for playing against Tomic. Checking Matchstats, Rafa and Tomic have only played one time, in the 2011 AO, and Rafa won in straight sets, 6-2 7-5 6-3. Tomic was just 19 at the time.
OK, how many believe that this is an example of partially fixed draw positions? It does not have to be, if the entire draw was indeed drawn by chance you can have something like this one. But I am suspicious. Like we’ve discussed often before, some tournaments of the last say 8 years may have been drawn entirely randomly but it is clear that not all of them have been.
Isner-Mahut was fixed. That is obvious.
Andy tweeted about Rafa’s 1st match. Said that he saw the provisional schedule and that Rafa and Tomic are scheduled for Court 13???????? Surely that will change. Can’t believe they’d put the #1 seed vs an Australian on anything other than one of the two main courts.
https://24.media.tumblr.com/bed4b46a4dc8827e650ebb00edb48597/tumblr_mz5uepJe2z1r7oo9vo1_500.png
https://twitter.com/andy_murray/statuses/421443854546763776
^^We think alike.
I don’t know what difference it makes if the draw was fixed or not. At this point, it is what it is. Rafa has to just deal with it. We know that he will only focus on his first match. One at a time.
I just don’t see anyone who can take out Delpo before the quarterfinals. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I have no idea what’s up with the court scheduling for Rafa’s first match.
Delpo lost to CHARDY last year.
Smyczek over Delpo R2?
Ricky,
Yeah, but that was last year. This is this year. Different Delpo.
Having said that, maybe someone will take him out. I shouldn’t make any assumptions about him having a ticket to the quarterfinal, given what you just posted.
Benoit Paire R3? Haha.
They are thinking take pressure off local Tomic vs Rafa by putting him on a smaller court that he is more accustomed to.
Like I said, Fed in Rafa’s half (not Nole’s – RITB’s iPad safe for now), Wawa in Nole’s quarter, Delpo/Raonic in Rafa’s quarter.
I also predicted Rafa with the tougher draw than Nole which is why I picked Nole (and still do) to win his 4th AO in a row.
Not a bad draw at all for the Fed. Nothing in his way in the first three rounds, off-peak Tsonga R16 potentially, off-peak Muzza QF (if he makes it), and the winner of a slugfest between Delpo and Rafa.
Like I said, look for fast low bounce courts in Melbourne and rigged schedule. They’ve already started by putting Rafa on court 13.
#NothingNew
#NotRocketScience
#YoureWelcome
@hawkeye63, I know my Ipad is safe, Ricky does not have any favourite charities to donate to (that was the stipulation, no?), hehehe!
All I know is, Rafa wants this!!!!…Rafa knows what he has to do at a GSlam, after all he has 13 of them!!! The last time Rafa played at the AO he got to the final against Novak and almost got the job done! This time I have no doubt Rafa will get to the finals to demand a rematch with Novak ( if he gets there) on hs own turf!!! Bring it on!!!
ok, hawkeye
reading your last post popped this into my little mind: court 13 as if to say… this is not the slam when you move up from 13 slams. (In 2009 Fed was supposed to move up from 13 slams esp after Rafa had that 5 hours semi etc) I know, this is just silly talking… still not sure none of this was rigged, and it does match your draw predictions, hawkeye
Say it is rigged in favor of Nole and Roger (to let him go more deeply into the tourn..) why? is it the old make life better for the fed and try to not let Rafa catch up? is it more desirable to celebrate nole’s 4 th in a row? What I mean is would the AO not want one of the most historical achievements to be completed here now: double career slam on 3 (4) surfaces?
Ok. got that out of my system.
If Rafa makes the finals no one can say it was due to a soft draw. Same in the event he wins. And there are no excuses in sight for Nole if he doesn’t win this one.
Where did I say that this draw is rigged?
#PleadingThe5th
The draw is obviously rigged. Real shame!!!!! Earlier they used to rig draws and schedules in favor of Fed so he could add to his slam count. Now that no one thinks he has much chance of winning any slams, the draw has been rigged in favor of Novak and against Rafa so Rafa won’t add to his slam count.
And making the no. 1 player play on Court 13. That is a real insult. I guess Federer would be on RLA.
Also I wonder whether Djoker knows something damaging to ITF. He came out very strongly against ITF when Troicki was suspended and hinted at something.. ITF reacted rather surprisingly in a very muted fashion, then crowned him ITF champion on dubious criteria.
Now this amazingly easy draw for Djokovic. We know Djoker is quite manipulative. He had obtained a wild card for his low ranked brother at Dubai (below 800). So he can definitely use his position or damaging information to get what he wants. I find the loaded draw really too suspicious. And the court allocation simply outrageous.
Actually when RITB or someone made a post about Tomic tipping Rafa for the title, I had a sudden premonition that he would be Rafa’s first round opponent.
He is really playing well. Meeting him in the first round is tough.
Hope monalysa is right. We do know that when Rafa is slighted he makes his point on the court by winning the title.
In any case, Man Proposes, God disposes. If Rafa is destined to win, all his tough opponents are going to crash out .before they meet him.
All the best champ!!!!!
Definitely not rigged. Just a hard draw.
You may be onto something.
actually a decent draw for Federer. He avoided a quarter with Djoker or Rafa and the only player he absolutely can’t beat has a major roadblock before Fedal.
How do you say definitely not rigged.? Assuming the original hypothesis for all earlier draws as rigged for Fed, this draw definitely fits the bill as rigged for Fed as Novak is now defender of the FAITH.
i mean every single draw in the history of sports has been easy for someone and hard for someone else. It doesn’t mean every single one (or even any of them) is rigged.
Like Nole falling into Fed’s half 13 times in a row at AO, Wimby and FO was a random event, right?
#Evian
I am going to take the “glass is half full” approach: this certainly is a tough draw for Rafa, on paper. When (not if) Rafa gets through it, even his worst haters will have a hard time denying him credit.
Vamos Rafa!
…….and Djokovic has been very, very lucky with Slam draws recently. Who can forget the “infamous” Wimby 2013 draw?
Lucky devil, as they say……………..luck of the draw.
Possible Delpo-Raonic in the 4th round should be fun.
Nadal could use a Raonic victory in this one
Yep or at least Delpo being pushed into a 5th set against Raonic.
Raonic could lose to Dimitrov. I do not see anyone who can remotely compete with Del Potro prior to the fourth round.
#Smyczek
Raonic-Dimitrov could be awesome.
I didn’t realize that Delpo could bump up against Raonic. I haven’t looked that closely at the draw. But I honestly don’t see him taking out Delpo.
If I recall, didn’t Rafa, Fed and Murray all end up in the same half of the draw at Wimbledon? Was it in 2013 or 2012? Both years Rafa crashed out early and Fed crashed out early in 2013. But they have stacked one half of the draw like this in the past. Wimbledon just came immediately to mind.
The bottom line is that Rafa is healthy, has confidence from winning at Doha and is looking really good now. He has dealt with hard draws in the past. One at a time. He knows what’s on the line. When he sets his mind to something, he usually succeeds.
For the sake of my nerves, I am going to take this one match at a time!
call me naive but the only draw in tennis I am convinced was actually rigged is Wimbledon 2011, men’s singles.
Why do you think that one was rigged?
Isner-Mahut
I feel Rafa will be on his toes considering the draw which may not be too bad come to think of it. Murray returning from injury may not be that big a threat. Federer is Rafa’s bunny and is out of sorts himself. The only banana skin is Delpo who may either show his wimby form or fizzle out the way he did at the USO. But over five sets its hard to see a fit Rafa lose to Delpo. IF Rafa can avoid a Darcis moment early on, I am quite hopeful of Rafa making it to the final, where obviously Nole should be waiting.
Ricky,
Can you believe that I forgot that? My bad!