Australian Open Draw: Rafael Nadal begins title defense with tough first-round test

CNN
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Defending champion Rafael Nadal will face young Englishman Jack Draper in the first round of the Australian Open in a bid to retain his 2022 crown and expand his Grand Slam tally.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz may miss the tournament due to injury, but with Novak Djokovic’s return to competition, Nadal will have a hard time defending his title.

Thursday’s draw was not kind to the winner of 22 majors: if he beats world No. 40 Draper, he will potentially face reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Brandon Nakashima.

What would potentially await the Spaniard later would be a quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev, who was Nadal’s opponent in last year’s epic five-set final. Medvedev will be looking to make his third straight finals appearance after losing to Djokovic in 2021 and Nadal in 2022.

A rematch of the 2021 final is on the cards, with Djokovic in the opposite half of Nadal and Medvedev. The nine-time Australian Open champion faces another Spaniard, Roberto Carballes Baena, in the first round and is on course to meet local favorite Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals.

The tournament comes 12 months after Djokovic was deported from Australia on the eve of the 2022 edition after former immigration minister Alex Hawke discovered that the tennis star posed a risk to public health and order because, as a sportsman celebrity who had previously expressed opposition to people being forced to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, could be seen as an “icon” for anti-vaxxers.

The minister’s decision to deport the former world number 1 meant he was initially banned from re-entry for three years.

The 19th seed Kyrgios is part of an exciting section of the draw that includes Holger Rune, Dan Evans and Andrey Rublev.

Russian Rublev enters the Australian Open as the fifth seed, but suffered an upset loss to world No. 110 Thanasi Kokkinakis at Adelaide 2 on Wednesday. Rublev faces a big first round match against former No. 3 in the world and 2020 Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem.

Andy Murray features in the other round pick when he faces 13th seed Matteo Berrettini. The Italian beat the three-time Grand Slam winner in four sets at the 2022 US Open and has beaten the Scot in three of his four ATP meetings.

Following reigning champion Ashleigh Barty’s retirement from tennis last year, Iga Światek has dominated the sport, coming into the tournament as the top seed. The Pole opens against Germany’s Jule Niemeier, but faces a tasty potential quarterfinal clash with up-and-coming American Coco Gauff.

The 18-year-old superstar comes into the tournament in fine form, having won the ASB Classic without dropping a set and looking to build on her excellent 2022, which saw her reach the Roland Garros final where she was defeated by Światek.

Before any quarterfinal clash with the favorite, however, Gauff faces a second-round match against 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who is in a race against time to recover from an ankle injury.

In the other half of the draw, second seed Ons Jabeur begins her 2023 trying to be better than last year and win a Grand Slam. The Tunisian reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals, but she fell at the final hurdle in her quest to become the first Arab and North African woman to win a Grand Slam.

After missing the 2022 Open, Jabeur opens her 2023 account against Tamara Zidanšek and could face Aryna Sabalenka, who is coming off a win at Adelaide 1, her 11th career title and first in 19 months.

On the other hand, the American Jessica Pegula has been drawn in the same part of the draw as Maria Sakkari. Pegula recently led Team USA to victory in the inaugural United Cup, which featured a scintillating two-set win over Światek. Having reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Melbourne and at the top of her game, she will be looking to set up an exciting semi-final with her United Cup opponent.