Emma Raducanu will hope to begin the brand new tennis season strongly as she faces Ekaterina Alexandrova, the twenty sixth seed, in a difficult however winnable first-round match on the Australian Open after being unable to compete within the opening week of the season attributable to a again damage.
Since travelling to Melbourne, Raducanu has educated usually on the event grounds and has appeared in fine condition throughout her public coaching periods. On Tuesday, Raducanu competed towards the 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in a follow set on Rod Laver Enviornment, which she gained.
Raducanu has been drawn into Iga Swiatek’s part of the singles draw and the pair may face one another within the third spherical. Swiatek, the No 2 seed, will start her event towards the doubles No 1, Katerina Siniakova.
This event will mark Swiatek’s first main occasion since being banned for one month after testing optimistic for the banned substance trimetazidine, which she efficiently proved was a case of contamination along with her melatonin medicine. Swiatek has been handed a strong draw as she appears to win her sixth grand slam title.
British No 1 Katie Boulter, the twenty second seed, additionally seems in Swiatek’s backside half, the place she has been handed a beneficial draw. Boulter will open her event towards the big-serving Rebecca Marino of Canada and the highest-ranked participant in her part of the draw is the fifteenth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. Contemporary off a career-best 2024 season and a superb efficiency towards Swiatek within the United Cup, Boulter is looking for her first grand slam fourth spherical this week in Melbourne.
Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion and world No 1, heads the ladies’s draw because the event favorite and can face a blockbuster first-round match towards 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Contemporary off her Brisbane title, Sabalenka has now gained 27 of her final 28 matches in Australia. Coco Gauff, the third seed and most in-form participant on the tour, has landed in Sabalenka’s half. She additionally faces a troublesome opening match towards one other grand slam champion, 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin. 18 months in the past, Kenin defeated Gauff within the first spherical of Wimbledon.
Within the males’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are on a quarter-final collision course after being drawn as early as potential within the draw ceremony on Thursday in Melbourne. With Andy Murray beside him as coach for his or her first main event collectively, Djokovic shall be trying to bounce again after an advanced 2024 season noticed him win the Olympic gold he was determined for however in any other case battle for a lot of the season.
Having spent the primary 5 months of 2024 because the world No 1, Djokovic arrives in Melbourne because the seventh seed, which means he was truly drawn into the third seed Alcaraz’s quarter. As Djokovic faces the American teen Nishesh Basavareddy and Alcaraz begins towards Alexander Shevchenko, the pair have been drawn away from Jannik Sinner within the backside half of the boys’s draw, which is headed by the second seed Alexander Zverev.
Jack Draper, the British males’s No 1 and fifteenth seed, additionally seems in Alcaraz’s quarter. Draper, who like Raducanu was unable to compete within the first week of the season attributable to damage, will start towards Mariano Navone of Argentina and he’s projected to play towards Alcaraz within the fourth spherical. Draper has proven no indicators of the hip damage he suffered through the low season in his follow periods this week, together with within the aggressive follow units he performed towards Novak Djokovic on Rod Laver Enviornment on Wednesday.
After piecing collectively one of many biggest seasons of the twenty first century in 2024, the defending champion and No 1 Sinner will begin the Australian Open because the clear event favorite. He’ll first play towards Nicolas Jarry, a big-serving Chilean, and the highest 4 seed drawn in his half is Taylor Fritz.
Among the many different British gamers, Cameron Norrie has been handed a troublesome first spherical match towards Matteo Berrettini and the fast-rising 23 year-old Jacob Fearnley shall be a part of one of the extremely anticipated opening spherical matches in Melbourne as he tackles Nick Kyrgios within the Australian’s first grand slam match for the reason that 2022 US Open.
In her first grand slam as a direct entrant, Sonay Kartal will play Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and a win may arrange a second-round match towards Sabalenka. Jodie Burrage, in the meantime, will line up towards a qualifier.
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