The offical draw for the upcoming Australian Open was unveiled at the main press room at Melbourne Park, with some intriguing matches and pathways mapped out.
2024 will be the second consecutive year that only one Australian finds itself seeded in the men’s and women’s combined - Alex De Minaur on both occasions. The tournament will witness some cracking matchups to commence the event come Sunday, with a few surprises and shocks brewing. Below contains the 32 seeds for each draw:
MEN | Seed | WOMEN |
Novak Djokovic (SRB) | 1 | Iga Swiatek (POL) |
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) | 2 | Aryna Sabalenka |
Daniil Medvedev | 3 | Elena Rybakina (KAZ) |
Jannik Sinner (ITA) | 4 | Coco Gauff (USA) |
Andrey Rublev | 5 | Jessica Pegula (USA) |
Alexander Zverev (GER) | 6 | Ons Jabeur (TUN) |
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) | 7 | Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) |
Holger Rune (DEN) | 8 | Maria Sakkari (GRE) |
Hubert Hurkacz (POL) | 9 | Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) |
Alex de Minaur (AUS) | 10 | Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) |
Casper Ruud (NOR) | 11 | Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) |
Taylor Fritz (USA) | 12 | Zheng Qinwen (CHN) |
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) | 13 | Liudmila Samsonova |
Tommy Paul (USA) | 14 | Daria Kasatkina |
Karen Khachanov | 15 | Veronika Kudermetova |
Ben Shelton (USA) | 16 | Caroline Garcia (FRA) |
Frances Tiafoe (USA) | 17 | Ekaterina Alexandrova |
Nicolas Jarry (CHI) | 18 | Victoria Azarenka |
Cameron Norrie (GBR) | 19 | Elina Svitolina (UKR) |
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) | 20 | Magda Linette (POL) |
Ugo Humbert (FRA) | 21 | Donna Vekic (CRO) |
Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) | 22 | Sorana Cirstea (ROU) |
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) | 23 | Anastasia Potapova |
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) | 24 | Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) |
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) | 25 | Elise Mertens (BEL) |
Sebastian Baez (ARG) | 26 | Jasmine Paolini (ITA) |
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) | 27 | Emma Navarro (USA) |
Tallon Griekspoor (NED) | 28 | Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) |
Sebastian Korda (USA) | 29 | Zhu Lin (CHN) |
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) | 30 | Wang Xinyu (CHN) |
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) | 31 | Marie Bouzkova (CZE) |
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) | 32 | Leylah Fernandez (CAN) |
Below contains the Australians in the main draw with qualifying still to be finalised:
Men’s Singles
Alex de Minaur (No.10)
Alexei Popyrin (No.43)
Max Purcell (No.45)
Jordan Thompson (No.47)
Aleksandar Vukic (No.61)
Chris O’Connell (No.65)
Rinky Hijikata - (No.69)
Thanasi Kokkinakis - (No.80)
James Duckworth - Wildcard (No.95)
Jason Kubler - Wildcard (No.113)
Marc Polmans - Wildcard (No.154)
Adam Walton - Wildcard (No.173)
James McCabe - Wildcard (No.268)
Women’s Singles
Ajla Tomljanovic - Protected Ranking (No.33)
Kim Birrell - Wildcard (No.116)
Olivia Gadecki - Wildcard (No.120)
Daria Saville - Wildcard (No.169)
Taylah Preston - Wildcard (No.200)
Notable First Round Matchups - Women
Iga Swiatek [1] v Sofia Kenin
Angelique Kerber v Danielle Collins
Elena Rybakina [3] v Karolina Pliskova
Naomi Osaka v Caroline Garcia
Victoria Azarenka [18] v Camila Giorgi
There are some mouthwatering fixtures for the women’s first round which will no doubt attract plenty of fans to flood through the gates.
Number one seed Iga Swiatek will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, where the winner will face either 2016 Australian Open winner Angelique Kerber or runner-up of the same tournament two years ago in Danielle Collins.
Another former champion at Melbourne Park, Victoria Azarenka, will need to get past the hard-hitting Camila Giorgi to advance, whilst Naomi Osaka and Caroline Garcia will be a brilliant contest.
Australian First Round Matchups - Women
Ajla Tomljanović v Petra Martic (Croatia)
Taylah Preston v Elina Svitolina [19] (Ukraine)
Kim Birrell v Jelena Ostapenko [11] (Latvia)
Daria Saville v Magdalena Frech (Poland)
Olivia Gadecki v Sloane Stephens (USA)
Ajla Tomljanović enters the main draw requiring a protected ranking as she will face a tricky opponent in Croatia’s Petra Martic.
It’s a rather brutal draw for the remaining four Australians who are confirmed so far, as Kim Birrell and teenager Taylah Preston are paired against strong seeded opponents in former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and former world number 3 Elina Svitoliva.
21-year-old Olivia Gadecki will face off against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in another difficult encounter.
Notable First Round Matchups - Men
Alex De Minaur [10] v Milos Raonic
Stefanos Tsitsipas [7] v Matteo Berrettini
Dominic Thiem v Felix Auger-Aliassime
Frances Taifoe [17] v Borna Ćorić
Grigor Dimitrov [13] v Marton Fuscovics
Unseeded former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini has paid the heavy price for his continual injuries, needing to get past 2023 Australian Open runner-up in Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner will potentially meet in the same side of the draw at the semi-finals stage, a small sigh of relief for Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz who is on the same side as Daniil Medvedev.
Australian First Round Matchups
MenAlex De Minaur [10] v Milos Raonic (Canada)
Alexei Popyrin v Marc Polmans
Max Purcell v Qualifier
Jordan Thompson v Aleksander Vukic
Thanasi Kokkinakis v Sebastian Ofner (Austria)
Ricky Hijikata v Jan-Lennard Struff [24] (Germany)
Christopher O’Connell v Cristian Garin (Chile)
James Duckworth v Luca Van Assche (France)
Jason Kubler v Daniel Elahi Galan (Colombia)
Adam Walton v Matteo Arnaldi (Italy)
James McCabe v Alex Michelsen (USA)
10th seed Alex De Minaur is the main headline from an Australian perspective, but the rest received a rather favourable draw and avoided some of the big guns.
Two all-Aussie affairs will take place in the first round which will guarantee at least two locals to progress through to the next stage.
The winner of Alexei Popyrin and Marc Polmans will most likely meet Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Ricky Hijikata has one one of the toughest tasks on paper as he will need to overcome an in-from Jan-Lennard Struff who is ranked just outside the top 20.
Alex De Minaur’s Potential Path:
First Round- Milos Raonic (Canada)
Second Round - Adam Walton (Australia) or Matteo Arnaldi (Italy)
Third Round - Nicolas Jarry [18] (Chile)
Fourth Round - Andrey Rublev [5] (Russia)
Quarter-Finals - Jannik Sinner [4] (Italy)
Semi-Finals - Novak Djokovic [1] (Serbia)
Final - Carlos Alcaraz [2] (Spain)
Discovering some of the best form of his career to-date, Alex De Minaur is Australia’s best chance to go deep at Melbourne Park.
The 24-year-old’s draw is no easy task however, as he will need to return well against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in round one before most likely meeting fifth and fourth seeds Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner back-to-back in the fourth round and quarters.
De Minaur trails the head-to-head 6-0 against Sinner, so he will be required to overcome that hurdle before a potential date with 10 time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
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