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The opening grand slam of 2021 is across the nook, and so earlier than the Australian Open will get underneath approach the draw should first happen.
Like the whole lot else within the Australian tennis season, the draw is going down three weeks after it was initially deliberate however remains to be the Thursday earlier than the match as has grow to be conventional.
The organisers opted for a three-week delay to supply these arriving into the nation with sufficient time to quarantine, serving to to take care of the state of Victoria’s Covid-free group.
Some gamers’ preparations have been hit by stricter quarantine measures after boarding Covid-infected flights, however the match itself stays on schedule to start out on Monday 8 February.
Qualifying befell final month, and so now the gamers are eagerly awaiting their first-round destiny.
That wait will finish on Thursday 4 February, with the draw going down at 6pm native time – 7am within the UK.
No particulars have been launched about tips on how to watch proceedings as but, though final 12 months’s draw was out there as a dwell stream on the Australian Open’s Fb web page.
Who’s in competition?
Singles champions Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin are out to defend their Australian Open crowns this 12 months.
Within the males’s singles, there isn’t a Roger Federer or Andy Murray, however gamers hoping for a maiden grand slam should topple the world’s high three.
World No 1 Djokovic heads into the match as favorite given he has gained the match eight occasions since 2008, whereas second seed Rafael Nadal is out so as to add to his sole triumph on the Australian Open again in 2009.
Final 12 months’s US Open champions Dominic Thiem will likely be hoping to construct on his hard-court success at Flushing Meadows final 12 months, however under the trio are a handful of contenders – specifically Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev – who will consider they’re able to profitable a primary main title.
Males’s seeds (projected)
- 1. Novak Djokovic
- 2. Rafael Nadal
- 3. Dominic Thiem
- 4. Daniil Medvedev
- 5. Stefanos Tsitsipas
- 6. Alexander Zverev
- 7. Andrey Rublev
- 8. Diego Schwartzman
- 9. Matteo Berrettini
- 10. Gael Monfils
- 11. Denis Shapovalov
- 12. Roberto Bautista Agut
- 13. David Goffin
- 14. Milos Raonic
- 15. Pablo Carreno Busta
- 16. Fabio Fognini
- 17. Stan Wawrinka
- 18. Grigor Dimitrov
- 19. Karen Khachanov
- 20. Felix Auger-Aliassime
- 21. Alex de Minaur
- 22. Borna Coric
- 23. Dusan Lajovic
- 24. Casper Ruud
- 25. Benoit Paire
- 26. Hubert Hurkacz
- 27. Taylor Fritz
- 28. Filip Krajinovic
- 29. Ugo Humbert
- 30. Dan Evans
- 31. Lorenzo Sonego
- 32. Adrian Mannarino
Match schedule
- 8 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles first spherical
- 9 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles first spherical
- 10 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles second spherical
- 11 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles second spherical
- 12 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles third spherical
- 13 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles third spherical
- 14 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles fourth spherical
- 15 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles fourth spherical
- 16 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles quarter-finals
- 17 February – Males’s and ladies’s singles quarter-finals
- 18 February – Ladies’s semi-finals and first males’s semi-final
- 19 February – Second males’s semi-final
- 20 February – Ladies’s last
- 21 February – Males’s last
The sector is vast open within the ladies’s singles. Kenin enters the match because the fourth seed, and a scroll by means of the highest 32 under highlights how tough it will likely be for the American to defend her title.
How world No 1 Ashleigh Barty fares on dwelling soil after skipping the final two grand slams will likely be fascinating, so too Serena Williams’ fortunes in her bid to match Margaret Court docket on 24 main titles.
With a number of grand slam winners Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber additionally among the many seeds, choosing out a winner is not any imply feat, whereas Aryna Sabalenka is the most-fancied participant with no main title to assert her first in Melbourne.
Ladies’s seeds (projected)
- 1. Ashleigh Barty
- 2. Simona Halep
- 3. Naomi Osaka
- 4. Sofia Kenin
- 5. Elina Svitolina
- 6. Karolina Pliskova
- 7. Aryna Sabalenka
- 8. Bianca Andreescu
- 9. Petra Kvitova
- 10. Serena Williams
- 11. Belinda Bencic
- 12. Victoria Azarenka
- 13. Johanna Konta
- 14. Garbina Muguruza
- 15. Iga Swiatek
- 16. Petra Martic
- 17. Elena Rybakina
- 18. Elise Mertens
- 19. Marketa Vondrousova
- 20. Maria Sakkari
- 21. Anett Kontaveit
- 22. Jennifer Brady
- 23. Angelique Kerber
- 24. Alison Riske
- 25. Karolina Muchova
- 26. Yulia Putintseva
- 27. Ons Jabeur
- 28. Donna Vekic
- 29. Ekaterina Alexandrova
- 30. Wang Qiang
- 31. Zhang Shuai
- 32. Veronika Kudermetova
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Extra on the Australian Open
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