A seemingly affordable board: immediately the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, then in prospect Stefanos Tsitsipas or the Australian Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and in the eventual semi-final Daniil Medvedev, defeated last year in the title match, while the big names Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz could only meet in the last act. This reserved the Australian Open draw to Jannik Sinnerwho arrives as number one in world tennis and winner of the latest edition, the one that launched him towards the climb up the ATP rankings. But the blue knows that reconfirmation must be achieved match after match:
“It’s a slightly different feeling compared to last year,” she admitted while participating in the ceremony in Melbourne together with Aryna Sabalenka, the winner of the 2024 women’s tournament and also No. 1 in the WTA ranking. «We are all very happy to start the season here in Australia, where there are so many nice people. It’s called the Happy Slam for a reason,” Sinner said. Smiling and helpful, the world number 1 also spoke about his preparation in recent weeks: «We tried to have the best possible off-season – he explained -. I wanted to try something different. We still have a few days to adapt to the conditions and be ready for our debut.” On paper, the draw was his friend, given that the toughest part of the draw seems to be the opposite one. A fact also due to the fact that Djokovic is only n.7 in the ATP rankings as the Serbian, who won ten titles in Australia, has however decided to give up many tournaments to concentrate only on the Slams. But its value is obviously higher than the ranking. Djoko will make his debut against the American Nishesh Basavareddy and his hypothetical path then includes a challenge with the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16 and then Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. Alexander Zverev could be waiting for the Serbian or the Spaniard in the semi-final. Alcaraz will instead start against Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko. And on this side there is also number 2 Zverev.
As for the other blues on the scoreboard – after Matteo Gigante’s qualification there are 10 and three are also seeded – there will immediately be a derby between Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Arnaldi. Flavio Cobolli will face the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Matteo Berrettini will face the British Cameron Norrie; Luciano Darderi the Spaniard Pedro Martinez, and Lorenzo Sonego the veteran Stan Wawrinka. Tough debut for Fabio Fognini against the n.10 Dimitrov and for Gigante against the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (n.14), while Luca Nardi will challenge the Canadian Gabriel Diallo. Melbourne will be Andy Murray’s first as manager. The Briton will assist Djokovic, known for his excesses with his bench. «I won’t have any problems – explains Murray -. Sometimes Nole will want to let off steam with his box. As long as he puts in his maximum effort, I agree that he expresses himself as he wants.” Of note is the entry into the draw of Joao Fonseca. The young Brazilian forges ahead. Last month the new baby racket phenomenon won the NextGen ATP at 18 years, four months and one day: five weeks older than Jannik Sinner who won it in 2019 at 18 years, two months and 24 days. Last week Fonseca also won the Canberra ATP Challenger: 13 consecutive matches won. On the women’s side, No. 1 Sabalenka will start against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens. The Italian Jasmine Paolini will debut with an athlete coming from the qualifiers. Continuing, the Tuscan should find the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (n.6) in the quarterfinals and the Polish Iga Swiatek (n.2) in a possible semi-final. As for the other two Italians on the draw, Elisabetta Cocciaretto will immediately face the Russian Diana Shnaider (n.12) and Lucia Bronzetti against the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (n.21).