(January 13, 2017) Friday saw the singles draws made for the first major tournament of the tennis year, the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Top men’s seed Andy Murray will open his campaign to try and win his first major down under against Ukrainian Illya Marchenko. Second seed, defending champion and six-time winner Novak Djokovic faces a tricky opponent in Fernando Verdasco. The Serb beat the Spaniard in Doha last week, saving five match points. Verdasco upset Rafael Nadal in the first round of last year’s Australian Open.
Third seed Milos Raonic will play German Dustin Brown, while fourth seed Stan Wawrinka faces Slovakian Martin Klizan.
Potential round of 16:
Andy Murray-Lucas Pouille
Tomas Berdych- Kei Nishikori
Stan Wawrinka-Nick Kyrgios
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga- Marin Cilic
Gael Monfils- Rafael Nadal
Roberto Bautista Agut – Milos Raonic
Dominic Thiem- David Goffin
Grigor Dimitrov- Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer, the 17th seed could meet Tomas Berdych in the third round.
Complete #AusOpen men’s draw: pic.twitter.com/RRwpErGEBF
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 13, 2017
t-align:left;”>Embed from Getty Images
In the women’s draw, top seed and defending Angelique Kerber drew Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, to open her title defense. Serena Williams, the No. 2 seed and six -time Australian Open champion, who is seeking her 23rd major, faces a challenge from former Top Ten player Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska plays Tsvetana Pironkova, who upset her at last year’s French Open. Fourth seed Simona Halep of Romania, matches up against American Shelby Rogers.
Potential round of 16:
Angelique Kerber- Roberto Vinci
Carla Suarez Navarro-Garbine Muguruza
Simona Halep-Venus Williams
Elina Svitolina- Svetlana Kuznetsova
Karolina Pliskova-Timea Bacsinszky
Elina Vesnina- Aga Radwanska
Dominika Cibulkova-Johanna Konta
Barbora Strycova-Serena Williams
Complete @AustralianOpen draw!
Kerber, Serena, Radwanska, Halep, Pliskova, Cibulkova, Muguruza, Venus and more! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/gPQiYbdDtS
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017