(December 8, 2017) The world’s top 100 men and 98 women are confirmed for Australian Open 2018.
Reigning champion Serena Williams (USA) is anticipated to return after giving birth to her first child in September. She also has an eye on the record books as she begins her campaign for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles and seventh Australian Open title.
New world No.1 Simona Halep (ROU) and sixteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will be top seeds in Melbourne.
The all-star player field will also feature the return of Novak Djokovic (SRB), Andy Murray (GBR), Kei Nishikori (JPN) and Stan Wawrinka (SUI).
Missing from the women’s draw are No.12 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) who withdrew following wrist surgery and Saisai Zheng (CHN) with a continuing right knee injury.
Players expected to use protected rankings include Queensland’s John Millman (AUS), Ricardas Berankis (LTU), Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) and Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN).
On the women’s side Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER), Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) and Kristina Kucova (SVK) will enter on protected rankings.
Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley is looking forward to welcoming the world’s best players to Melbourne in January.
“We have yet another strong field for Australian Open 2018 led by new world number one Simona Halep and former champion Rafa Nadal.
“Last year’s tournament broke all of the records and we look forward to welcoming back new mum Serena [Williams] as she attempts to equal Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slams.
“We are definitely a family friendly event and many players including reigning champion Roger Federer travel with their children to Melbourne so we remain optimistic that she will return.
“We have been in regular contact with Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka, who are all set for the Aussie summer. They will all have lower rankings meaning there’s a real chance we’ll finally see a breakthrough from one of the rising stars like Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem or David Goffin.
“The player facilities have been extensively upgraded with a new hub located within Rod Laver Arena. New player services for 2018 include a fully underground drop-off area with two new entry points as well as all services centralised to make it even easier to cater for players’ needs,” Tiley continued.
There will be 16 male qualifiers and 12 female qualifiers added to each draw, along with eight wildcards.
Women’s Main Draw Wildcards (As at 8 December 2017)
US reciprocal:
KRISTY AHN (USA)
French reciprocal:
JESSICA PONCHET (FRA)
Asia Pacific Play-off:
XINYU WANG (CHN)
Australian Pro Tour:
OLIVIA ROGOWSKA (AUS)
18/u Australian Girls’:
TBC
Play-off:
TBC
Discretionary x 2:
TBC
Men’s Main Draw Wildcards (As at 8 December 2017)
US reciprocal:
TIM SMYCZEK (USA)
French reciprocal:
CORENTIN MOUTET (FRA)
Asia Pacific Play-off:
SOON WOO KWON (KOR)
Discretionary:
THANASI KOKKINAKIS (AUS)
Play-off
TBC
Discretionary x 3:
TBC
Women’s main draw acceptance list
WTA RANK
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
NATION
1
SIMONA
HALEP
ROU
2
GARBIÑE
MUGURUZA
ESP
3
CAROLINE
WOZNIACKI
DEN
4
KAROLINA
PLISKOVA
CZE
5
VENUS
WILLIAMS
USA
6
ELINA
SVITOLINA
UKR
7
JELENA
OSTAPENKO
LAT
8
CAROLINE
GARCIA
FRA
9
JOHANNA
KONTA
GBR
10
COCO
VANDEWEGHE
USA
11
KRISTINA
MLADENOVIC
FRA
13
SLOANE
STEPHENS
USA
14
JULIA
GOERGES
GER
15
ANASTASIA
PAVLYUCHENKOVA
RUS
16
ANASTASIJA
SEVASTOVA
LAT
17
ASHLEIGH
BARTY
AUS
18
ELENA
VESNINA
RUS
19
MADISON
KEYS
USA
20
MAGDALENA
RYBARIKOVA
SVK
21
ANGELIQUE
KERBER
GER
22
SERENA
WILLIAMS
USA
23
BARBORA
STRYCOVA
CZE
24
DARIA
KASATKINA
RUS
25
DARIA
GAVRILOVA
AUS
26
DOMINIKA
CIBULKOVA
SVK
27
SHUAI
PENG
CHN
28
AGNIESZKA
RADWANSKA
POL
29
PETRA
KVITOVA
CZE
30
LUCIE
SAFAROVA
CZE
31
KIKI
BERTENS
NED
32
MIRJANA
LUCIC-BARONI
CRO
33
EKATERINA
MAKAROVA
RUS
34
ANETT
KONTAVEIT
EST
35
SHUAI
ZHANG
CHN
36
ELISE
MERTENS
BEL
37
SORANA
CIRSTEA
ROU
38
ALIZÉ
CORNET
FRA
39
TIMEA
BACSINSZKY
SUI
40
CARLA
SUÁREZ NAVARRO
ESP
41
SAMANTHA
STOSUR
AUS
42
LESIA
TSURENKO
UKR
43
IRINA-CAMELIA
BEGU
ROU
44
ANA
KONJUH
CRO
45
QIANG
WANG
CHN
46
TATJANA
MARIA
GER
47
MONA
BARTHEL
GER
48
KATERINA
SINIAKOVA
CZE
49
LAUREN
DAVIS
USA
50
CARINA
WITTHOEFT
GER
50*
ANNA-LENA
FRIEDSAM
GER
51
YULIA
PUTINTSEVA
KAZ
52
MARIA
SAKKARI
GRE
53
ALEKSANDRA
KRUNIC
SRB
54
DONNA
VEKIC
CRO
55
NATALIA
VIKHLYANTSEVA
RUS
56
TIMEA
BABOS
HUN
57
MONICA
PUIG
PUR
58
SHELBY
ROGERS
USA
59
MIHAELA
BUZARNESCU
ROU
60
MARIA
SHARAPOVA
RUS
61
CATHERINE
BELLIS
USA
62
KRISTYNA
PLISKOVA
CZE
62*
MARGARITA
GASPARYAN
RUS
63
VARVARA
LEPCHENKO
USA
64
CHRISTINA
MCHALE
USA
65
JENNIFER
BRADY
USA
66
ZARINA
DIYAS
KAZ
67
MARKETA
VONDROUSOVA
CZE
68
NAOMI
OSAKA
JPN
69
LAURA
SIEGEMUND
GER
70
ALISON
RISKE
USA
71
BEATRIZ
HADDAD MAIA
BRA
72
MAGDA
LINETTE
POL
73
ARYNA
SABALENKA
BLR
74
HEATHER
WATSON
GBR
75
KIRSTEN
FLIPKENS
BEL
76
ALISON
VAN UYTVANCK
BEL
77
VERONICA
CEPEDE ROYG
PAR
78
MONICA
NICULESCU
ROU
79
CAMILA
GIORGI
ITA
80
PAULINE
PARMENTIER
FRA
81
JOHANNA
LARSSON
SWE
82
EUGENIE
BOUCHARD
CAN
83
SU-WEI
HSIEH
TPE
84
MADISON
BRENGLE
USA
85
LARA
ARRUABARRENA
ESP
86
OCEANE
DODIN
FRA
87
KATERYNA
KOZLOVA
UKR
88
ALIAKSANDRA
SASNOVICH
BLR
89
ONS
JABEUR
TUN
90
PETRA
MARTIC
CRO
91
YING-YING
DUAN
CHN
92
FRANCESCA
SCHIAVONE
ITA
93
KATERYNA
BONDARENKO
UKR
95
TAYLOR
TOWNSEND
USA
95*
KRISTINA
KUCOVA
SVK
96
EKATERINA
ALEXANDROVA
RUS
97
NAO
HIBINO
JPN
98
BELINDA
BENCIC
SUI
99
ANDREA
PETKOVIC
GER
100
KAIA
KANEPI
EST
101
POLONA
HERCOG
SLO
102
KURUMI
NARA
JPN
103
JANA
FETT
CRO
104
SARA
SORRIBES TORMO
ESP
105
ANA
BOGDAN
ROU
106
RICHEL
HOGENKAMP
NED
107
MARIANA
DUQUE-MARIÑO
COL
*Denotes protected ranking
Men’s main draw acceptance list
ATP RANK
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
NATION
1
RAFAEL
NADAL
ESP
2
ROGER
FEDERER
SUI
3
GRIGOR
DIMITROV
BUL
4
ALEXANDER
ZVEREV
GER
5
DOMINIC
THIEM
AUT
6
MARIN
CILIC
CRO
7
DAVID
GOFFIN
BEL
8
JACK
SOCK
USA
9
STAN
WAWRINKA
SUI
10
PABLO
CARRENO BUSTA
ESP
11
JUAN MARTIN
DEL POTRO
ARG
12
NOVAK
DJOKOVIC
SRB
13
SAM
QUERREY
USA
14
KEVIN
ANDERSON
RSA
15
JO-WILFRIED
TSONGA
FRA
16
ANDY
MURRAY
GBR
17
JOHN
ISNER
USA
18
LUCAS
POUILLE
FRA
19
TOMAS
BERDYCH
CZE
20
ROBERTO
BAUTISTA AGUT
ESP
21
NICK
KYRGIOS
AUS
22
KEI
NISHIKORI
JPN
23
ALBERT
RAMOS-VINOLAS
ESP
24
MILOS
RAONIC
CAN
25
GILLES
MULLER
LUX
26
DIEGO
SCHWARTZMAN
ARG
27
FABIO
FOGNINI
ITA
28
ADRIAN
MANNARINO
FRA
29
PHILIPP
KOHLSCHREIBER
GER
30
DAMIR
DZUMHUR
BIH
31
RICHARD
GASQUET
FRA
32
PABLO
CUEVAS
URU
33
MISCHA
ZVEREV
GER
34
FILIP
KRAJINOVIC
SRB
35
FERNANDO
VERDASCO
ESP
36
FELICIANO
LOPEZ
ESP
37
DAVID
FERRER
ESP
38
ALEXANDR
DOLGOPOLOV
UKR
39
ANDREY
RUBLEV
RUS
40
YUICHI
SUGITA
JPN
41
BENOIT
PAIRE
FRA
42
ROBIN
HAASE
NED
43
PAOLO
LORENZI
ITA
44
STEVE
JOHNSON
USA
45
KAREN
KHACHANOV
RUS
46
GAEL
MONFILS
FRA
47
RYAN
HARRISON
USA
48
BORNA
CORIC
CRO
49
ALJAZ
BEDENE
GBR
50
KYLE
EDMUND
GBR
51
DENIS
SHAPOVALOV
CAN
52
LEONARDO
MAYER
ARG
53
JAN-LENNARD
STRUFF
GER
54
JARED
DONALDSON
USA
55
VIKTOR
TROICKI
SRB
56
JULIEN
BENNETEAU
FRA
57
JOAO
SOUSA
POR
58
HYEON
CHUNG
KOR
59
NIKOLOZ
BASILASHVILI
GEO
60
PETER
GOJOWCZYK
GER
61
DONALD
YOUNG
USA
62
JIRI
VESELY
CZE
63
DENIS
ISTOMIN
UZB
63*
ANDREAS
HAIDER-MAURER
AUT
64
GUIDO
PELLA
ARG
65
DANIIL
MEDVEDEV
RUS
66
HORACIO
ZEBALLOS
ARG
66*
YOSHIHITO
NISHIOKA
JPN
67
DUDI
SELA
ISR
68
FEDERICO
DELBONIS
ARG
69
FLORIAN
MAYER
GER
70
GUILLERMO
GARCIA-LOPEZ
ESP
71
YEN-HSUN
LU
TPE
72
EVGENY
DONSKOY
RUS
73
THOMAS
FABBIANO
ITA
74
MIKHAIL
KUKUSHKIN
KAZ
75
DUSAN
LAJOVIC
SRB
76
MATTHEW
EBDEN
AUS
77
STEVE
DARCIS
BEL
78
JEREMY
CHARDY
FRA
79
FRANCES
TIAFOE
USA
80
IVO
KARLOVIC
CRO
81
PIERRE-HUGUES
HERBERT
FRA
81*
JOHN
MILLMAN
AUS
82
CEDRIK-MARCEL
STEBE
GER
83
VICTOR
ESTRELLA BURGOS
DOM
84
MIKHAIL
YOUZHNY
RUS
85
MARTON
FUCSOVICS
HUN
86
ANDREAS
SEPPI
ITA
87
RADU
ALBOT
MDA
88
LASLO
DJERE
SRB
89
GILLES
SIMON
FRA
90
MAXIMILIAN
MARTERER
GER
91
STEFANOS
TSITSIPAS
GRE
92
LUKAS
LACKO
SVK
93
MARIUS
COPIL
ROU
93*
RICARDAS
BERANKIS
LTU
94
JORDAN
THOMPSON
AUS
95
NICOLAS
KICKER
ARG
96
TENNYS
SANDGREN
USA
97
BLAZ
KAVCIC
SLO
98
MALEK
JAZIRI
TUN
99
TARO
DANIEL
JPN
100
NICOLAS
JARRY
CHI
*Denotes protected ranking
Australian Open 2018, will take place at Melbourne Park from 15-28 January.