Mixed emotions as AO hopes find out path to glory
THE FIRST Grand Slam of 2025 is mere days away, and now everyone competing in the main draw knows who they are playing after the draw was conducted in Melbourne yesterday.
In the women’s draw, some of the top five seeds got an easier draw than others.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka has got Sloane Stephens first up, while fourth seed Jasmine Paolini and fifth seed Qinwen Zheng both have qualifiers as first round opponents.
Meanwhile for the Aussies, top ranked Aussie Olivia Gadecki has got Veronika Kudermetova first up, but some of her countrywoman were not so lucky in their draw. Kimberly Birrell has got 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya first up, while Australia’s brightest young stars Maya Joint and Emerson Jones have to battle seventh seed Jessica Pegula and sixth seed Elena Rybakina respectively.
Meanwhile in the men’s draw, defending champion Jannik Sinner has a pretty ideal draw, not having to face any of his biggest rivals – including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic – until the final after ending up in the opposite half of the draw to them. Sinner may have to face 13th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round and eighth seed and Australia’s best hope Alex de Minaur in the quarter finals though.
De Minaur has Dutchman Botic van der Zandschulp first up, who may only be ranked 82nd in the world but is a big hitter and ousted Alcaraz from the US Open last year.
Alexei Popyrin is also a seed at this year’s Australian Open, and has to battle Frenchman Corentin Moutet first up. Win that and he may have to face a countryman in Round 2 in the form of Rinky Hijikata, who would have to get past qualifier Mitchell Krueger first for the Aussie pair to then meet.
2025 AUSTRALIAN OPEN DRAW
TOP FIVE SEEDS
WOMEN
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Sloane Stephens
Iga Swiatek (2) vs Katerina Siniakova
Coco Gauff (3) vs Sofia Kenin
Jasmine Paolini (4) vs Sijia Wei (Q)
Qinwen Zheng (5) vs Anca Todoni (Q)
MEN
Jannik Sinner (1) vs Nicholas Jarry
Alexaander Zverev (2) v Lucas Pouille (WC)
Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs Alexander Shevchenko
Taylor Fritz (4) vs Jenson Brooksby
Daniil Medvedev (5) vs Kasidit Samrej (WC)
AUSTRALIANS
WOMEN
Daria Saville (WC) vs Anna Blinkova
Ajla Tomljanovic (WC) vs Ashlyn Krueger
Talia Gibson (WC) vs Zeynep Sonmez
Maya Joint (WC) vs Jessica Pegula (7)
Emmerson Jones (WC) vs Elena Rybakina (6)
Destanee Aiava (Q) vs Greet Minnen
Olivia Gadecki vs Veronika Kudermetova
Kim Birrell (Q) vs Anna Kalinskaya (13)
MEN
Tristian Schoolkaate (WC) vs Tao Daniel
James McCabe vs Martin Landaluce (Q)
Alex De Minaur (8) vs Botic van der Zandschulp
Alexei Popyrin (25) vs Corentin Moutet
Rinky Hijikata vs Mitchell Krueger (Q)
Li Tu (WC) vs Jiri Lechecka (24)
Omar Jaskia (WC) vs Hugo Gaston
Thanaasi Kokkinakis vs Roman Safiullin
Alexander Vukic vs Damir Dzumhur
Jordan Thompson (27) vs Dominik Koepfer
James Duckworth vs Dominic Stricker
Chris O’Connell vs Tommy Paul (12)
Adam Walton vs Quentin Halys
Nick Kyrgios vs Jacob Fearnley
Mixed emotions as AO hopes find out path to glory
THE FIRST Grand Slam of 2025 is mere days away, and now everyone competing in the main draw knows who they are playing after the draw was conducted in Melbourne yesterday. In the women’s draw, some of the top five seeds got an easier draw than others. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka has got Sloane Stephens […]
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