Carlos Alcaraz will begin his journey at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, against Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko, and can face Serbian Novak Djokovic, a ten-time winner in Melbourne, in the quarterfinals if both beat their respective opponents first. . The Murcian, third in the world, will only play with Jannik Sinner, current champion of the tournament and number one in the ATP ranking, in a hypothetical final, after the draw held this Thursday in Melbourne to establish the configuration of the tournament.
Alcaraz, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, second in the world, have been placed in the same part of the men’s singles table. Sinner will begin the defense of his title in the duel against the Chilean Nicolás Jarry. Djokovic, winner of twenty-four Grand Slam titles, will face 19-year-old American Nishaesh Basavareddy, a guest of the tournament.
In the only Grand Slam title he lacks, he would meet Sinner in a hypothetical final
Carlos Alcaraz bursts into the attempt to achieve the only major event missing from his history in the clash against Shevchenko, with whom he has only played once, at the Madrid Masters 1000, on clay and whom he won in two rounds.
Other possible rivals appear on the path of the Murcian, such as the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, the Australian Jordan Thompson, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and the British Jack Draper in the round of 16. Djokovic aims for the quarterfinals if both win their previous matches and Alexander Zverev would be the opponent in the semifinals.
Sinner, who is on the other side of the draw along with the Russian Daniil Medvedev or the American Taylor Fritz, would only face the Spanish number one in a hypothetical final, next Sunday, January 26.
In the path of the current champion, Jannik Sinner, is the Chilean Nicolas Jarry and then the Australian Tristan Schoolkate or the Japanese Taro Daniel, in the third round he can face the Argentine Juan Martín Etxheverry and already in the fourth, round of 16, or the Dane Holger Rune, his compatriot Matteo Berrettini or the Polish Hubert Hurckaz. Also emerging, as eventual semi-finalists, are the Austrian Alex de Miñaur and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Later, in the semifinals, Fritz, Medvedev and the also Russian Andrey Rublev appear.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, Pablo Carreño awaits an opponent from the qualifying phase while Roberto Bautista has been paired with the Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Jaume Munar will be the rival of the Norwegian Casper Ruud and Alejandro Davidovich will begin his journey with the Chinese Juncheng Shang. Alejandro Carballés will face the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo and Pedro Martínez will face the Italian Luciano Daredri.
Badosa’s painting in Melbourne
Paula Badosa, eleventh favorite, will break into the initial round duel against China’s world and current champion, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, in the semifinals.
Badosa, Spain’s main asset, will play in the first round against Wang, 47th in the women’s ranking. If he progresses, the Turkish Zeynep Sonmez and the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, in third, await him. Further ahead, high-level opponents appear such as the American Jessica Pegula, seventh in the world, and the American Coco Gauff, third, in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka aims for the semifinals and in the final, on the other side of the draw, the Polish Iga Swiatek, now second in the ranking.
Badosa has already played several matches in Australia in previous tournaments
World number one Sabalenka, seeded first at a major tournament for the first time in her career, is aiming to be the first woman to win three consecutive singles titles in Australia since Martina Hingis in 1997-99. The Belarusian will begin against the American Sloane Stephens, winner of the US Open in 2017, according to the draw.
Gauff also did not have much luck for her staging, who will face the 2020 winner in Melbourne Sofia Kenin. Sabalenka can face the fifth seed in the quarterfinals, the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, Olympic champion in Paris and trained by the Spanish Pere Riba.
Badosa’s friend and current champion, Sabalenka, would be her rival in the semifinals
On the other side of the draw, Iga Swiatek begins her attempt to win the first Grand Slam of the course against Katerina Siniakova but on her side is the Italian Jasmine Paolini, fourth seed, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina and the American Emma Navarro.
An eventual quarterfinal of the women’s draw would be formed by the duels between Sabalenka and Zheng, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolina against Rybakina and Swiatek against Emma Navarro, waiting for Badosa to reach her level and be part of the decisive section of the tournament.
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