The 2019 Australian Open draw was revealed with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the others getting to know their opening round opponents and potential path to the final.
Novak Djokovic will kick-start his 2019 Australian Open campaign with an opening round match against a qualifier, but could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as early as in round two.
Djokovic’s potential third round opponent could be Denis Shapovolav while David Goffin or Daniil Medvedev would be in line to face him in round four. Kei Nishikori could prove to be another thorn in his bid for his seventh Australian Open title as the two are scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals.
Alexander Zverev, who suffered an injury scare earlier this week, will take on Aljaz Bedene in round one with the likes of Gilles Simon, Hyeon Chung and Milos Raonic, all in with a chance to play him till the fourth round.
His possible quarter-final opponent will be the seventh seeded Dominic Thiem, who has the possibility of playing Borna Coric in the fourth round.
Third seeded Roger Federer will face Denis Istomin in his opener and should have an easy pass to the third round as he takes on the winner of two qualifiers in his second round match. Gael Monfils could await Federer at that stage while his first major challenge could come in the form of Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he might face in the pre-quarter-final.
Federer’s quarter also includes Andy Murray, who will kick-start his campaign against Roberto Bautista-Agut. Bautista Agut won the Qatar Open title recently.
Marin Cilic and Karen Khachanov are in the same quarter as Federer too.
Rafael Nadal, who is the second seed plays Australia’s James Duckworth in his opening encounter, and might face another Aussie, Matthew Ebden in round two but his first toughie will be his third opponent – a third Aussie in a row in the form of Alex de Minaur.
Kyle Edmund and Diego Schwartzman are his potential fourth round opponents while he could be up against the fifth seeded Kevin Anderson or ninth seeded John Isner in his quarter-final.
Some of the interesting first round matches to watch out at this year’s men’s singles are:
Bernard Tomic v Marin Cilic
Roberto Bautista Agut v Andy Murray
Gael Monfils v Damir Dzumhur
Kyle Edmund v Tomas Berdych
Ernests Gulbis v Stan Wawrinka
Milos Raonic v Nick Kyrgios
Dominic Thiem v Benoit Paire
Potential Path to the Men’s Australian Open Final:
Novak Djokovic:
1st Round: Qualifier
2nd Round: Tsonga
3rd Round: Shapovalov
4th Round: Goffin/Medvedev
QF: Fognini/Carreno-Busta/Kohlshcreiber/Nishikori
SF: Zverev/Thiem
Final: Nadal/Federer
Rafael Nadal:
1st Round: Duckworth
2nd Round: Ebden/Struff
3rd Round: de Minaur
4th Round: Schwartzman/Edmund
QF: Isner/Dimitrov/Johnson/Anderson
SF: Federer/Cilic
Final: Djokovic/Zverev
Roger Federer:
1st Round: Istomin
2nd Round: Qualifier
3rd Round: Monfils
4th Round: Tsitsipas/Basilashvili
QF: Khachanov/Bautista Agut/Verdasco/Cilic
SF: Nadal/Anderson
Final: Djokovic/Zverev
Alexander Zverev:
1st Round: Bedene
2nd Round: Chardy/Humbert
3rd Round: Simon
4th Round: Chung/Raonic
QF: Coric/Cecchinato/Pouille/Thiem
SF: Djokovic/Nishikori
Final: Nadal/Federer
Potential Quarter-Final Line-up (by seeds):
Novak Djokovic v Kei Nishikori
Alexander Zverev v Dominic Thiem
Rafael Nadal v Kevin Anderson
Roger Federer v Marin Cilic
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