The singles draws for the men‘s and women‘s events at the 2021 Australian Open have been released.
This follows confirmation from Tennis Australia that all Australian Open quarantine participants have recently tested negative for COVID-19.
Men’s Draw
Top Seeds
The men’s draw for the first Grand Slam of the year has as stacked a field as ever.
Novak Djokovic’s title defense may be under threat early on as he may meet his Grand Slam adversary Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round.
Rafael Nadal’s search for his second Australian Open title starts off easier, with Fabio Fognini his highest-ranked opponent before the quarterfinals, whilst last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem may have to play the ever-erratic Nick Kyrgios in the third round.
In-form Daniil Medvedev and young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas have tough openers against Vasek Pospisil and Gilles Simon, respectively, whilst Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev have comparatively easier draws than their top-10 peers.
Eighth seed Diego Schwartzman faces the prospect of a Next-Gen star in the fourth round in either Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jannik Sinner.
Projected Quarterfinals
If these top players can survive these early perils, the projected quarterfinalists for this year’s Australian Open are:
- Novak Djokovic(1) vs Alexander Zverev (6)
- Dominic Thiem(3) vs Diego Schwartzman (8)
- Daniil Medvedev(4) vs Andrey Rublev (7)
- Rafael Nadal(2) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (5)
Noteworthy First Rounds
The tournament hits the ground running in terms of quality. These are the mouth-watering first round matches you do not want to miss:
- Grigor Dimitrov(18) vs Marin Cilic
- Pablo Carreno Busta(15) vs Kei Nishikori
- Denis Shapovalov(11) vs Jannik Sinner
- Daniil Medvedev(4) vs Vasek Pospisil
- Stefanos Tsitsipas(5) vs Gilles Simon
- Matteo Berrettini(9) vs Kevin Anderson
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Women’s Draw
Top Seeds
The women’s draw at this year’s Australian Open is no walk in the park either as most of the top seeds face daunting prospects early doors.
The number one seed Ashleigh Barty is let off easier than others with last year’s quarterfinalist Anett Kontaveit likely her toughest potential opponent in the fourth round, whilst second seed Simona Halep will be looking for revenge against Iga Swiatek in the fourth round – the Pole slaughtered the Romanian 6-1 6-2 at the 2020 French Open.
Third-seed Naomi Osaka has drawn the short-straw. She faces last year’s quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, potentially followed by veteran Polona Hercog, the tricky Ons Jabeur and former champion Angelique Kerber or 2020 finalist Garbine Muguruza, consecutively.
Arguably, the defending champion and fourth seed Sofia Kenin’s draw is more forgiving. French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska possibly lies in wait in the third round, whilst Jennifer Brady and Johanna Konta are the American’s biggest threats to her route to the quarterfinal.
If fifth seed Elina Svitolina and sixth seed Karolina Pliskova wish to pick up their maiden Slam titles, they will have to do it the hard way. Svitolina may face Coco Gauff in the second and last year’s US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka could be her potential fourth round opponent, whilst Pliskova will likely have to beat either Belinda Bencic, Elise Mertens or youngster Leylah Fernandez in the fourth, all difficult match-ups.
In-form Aryna Sabalenka will have to find a way passed the GOAT, Serena Williams, whilst Bianca Andreescu could play the mesmerizing Hsieh Su-wei, Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova back-to-back.
Projected Quarterfinals
If all of these top seeds can get through this formidable draw, the projected quarterfinalists for this year’s Australian Open are:
- Ashleigh Barty(1) vs Karolina Pliskova (6)
- Sofia Kenin(4) vs Elina Svitolina (5)
- Naomi Osaka(3) vs Bianca Andreescu (8)
- Simona Halep(2) vs Aryna Sabalenka (7)
Noteworthy First Rounds
Like the men’s, there are some entertaining first round matches. Here are the top picks for the first couple of days of the Australian Open:
- Elise Mertens(18) vs Leylah Fernandez
- Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Barbora Strycova
- Yulia Putintseva(26) vs Sloane Stephens
- Naomi Osaka(3) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Serena Williams(10) vs Laura Siegemund
- Elena Rybakina(19) vs Vera Zvonareva
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Three days to go…
Despite a COVID-19 scare on Wednesday, the Victorian Department of Health has given the tournament the all-clear after receiving negative tests. The Australian Open is scheduled to run from Monday, 8th February to Sunday, 21st February.
