Australian Open - DRAW: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal could meet in SF
The main draw of the first Grand Slam of the season at Melbourne Park has just been released and it gives us a brighter picture of who should go deep or make a potential deep run from some lower position in the ranking. The world no. 1 and the six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic faces a qualifier in the opening round before the potential clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Denis Shapovalov in the next two matches. Daniil Medvedev or David Goffin should be his rival in the fourth round before the quarter-final test against Kei Nishikori or Fabio Fognini.
The 4th seed Alexander Zverev leads the second quarter but he suffered two injuries this week while practicing, the most recent one against Marc Polmans on Thursday and we will have to wait and see if he is ready to give his best against Aljaz Bedene in the opening round. Milos Raonic has to play against Nick Kyrgios in one of the best first-round encounters and the winner will have a chance to meet Stan Wawrinka or Ernests Gulbis in round two before the potential fourth-round meeting with Zverev. Borna Coric and Dominic Thiem are in the second quarter as well and it will be interesting to see who will emerge at the top and reach the semis from it.
The 6th seed and the last year's finalist Marin Cilic plays against Bernard Tomic and there are also Karen Khachanov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nikoloz Basilashvili who will try to spoil the party for the favorites and the repeat of the last year's final, with Roger Federer leading the third quarter. The defending champion will kick off the campaign against Denis Istomin before facing a qualifier, building up his game before some harder obstacles in round three and four. In the bottom quarter, a former champion Rafael Nadal stands as the 2nd seed and he faces a tricky first round opponent in James Duckworth before the potential second Aussie clash in round three against Alex de Minaur.
The 5th seed Kevin Anderson, Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner and Kyle Edmund are in Nadal's quarter as well and that guarantees some great matches right after a few opening rounds. Full draw:
[1]Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Qualifier [WC]Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs Martin Klizan (SVK) Taro Daniel (JPN) vs Qualifier [25]Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Pablo Andujar (ESP) [21]David Goffin (BEL) vs Christian Garin (CHI) Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Marius Copil (ROU) Jiri Vesely (CZE) vs Ryan Harrison (USA) [15]Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs Qualifier [12]Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Jaume Munar (ESP) Nicolas Jarry (CHI) vs Leonardo Mayer (ARG) Ilya Ivashka (BLR) vs Malek Jaziri (TUN) [23]Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs Qualifier [32]Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [WC]Zhe Li (CHN) Guido Pella (ARG) vs Joao Sousa (POR) Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs Hubert Hurkacz (POL) [8]Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Qualifier
[4]Alexander Zverev (GER) vs Aljaz Bedene (SLO) Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs Ugo Humbert (FRA) [WC]Alex Bolt (AUS) vs [WC]Jack Sock (USA) [29]Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Qualifier [24]Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs Bradley Klahn (USA) Sam Querrey (USA) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [16]Milos Raonic (CAN) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [11]Borna Coric (CRO) vs [PR]Steve Darcis (BEL) Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN) Laslo Djere (SRB) vs Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) [17]Marco Cecchinato (ITA) vs Filip Krajinovic (SRB) [28]Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) Maximilian Marterer (GER) vs Qualifier [WC]Alexei Popyrin (AUS) vs Mischa Zverev (GER) [7]Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Benoit Paire (FRA)
[6]Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Mackenzie McDonald (USA) Michael Mmoh (USA) vs Radu Albot (MDA) [26]Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Qualifier [22]Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [PR]Andy Murray (GBR) Federico Delbonis (ARG) vs John Millman (AUS) Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) vs Tennys Sandgren (USA) [10]Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER) [14]Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA) Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) vs Qualifier Guido Andreozzi (ARG) vs Qualifier [19]Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs Qualifier [30]Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Damir Dzumhur (BIH) Cameron Norrie (GBR) vs Taylor Fritz (USA) Qualifier vs Qualifier [3]Roger Federer (SUI) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
[5]Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Qualifier Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS) [31]Steve Johnson (USA) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA) [20]Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs [PR]Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB) [WC]Jason Kubler (AUS) vs Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) [9]John Isner (USA) vs Reilly Opelka (USA) [13]Kyle Edmund (GBR) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Robin Haase (NED) [WC]Marc Polmans (AUS) vs Denis Kudla (USA) [18]Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs Qualifier [27]Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs Pedro Sousa (POR) Mirza Basic (BIH) vs Qualifier Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) [2]Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [WC]James Duckworth (AUS)
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FnA7X9
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