The Australian Open, the first big event: draws, absences and an expected return

The Australian Open will begin this Monday in Melbourne and the first Grand Slam of the season has a confirmed draw, significant absences and the return of Novak Djokovic after last year’s scandal that ended in his expulsion from the country.

The first big event in tennis will not have the number one in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, due to a muscle injury he suffered during his preparation. “It’s a tough time, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look ahead. See you in 2024,” said the Spanish tennis player on his Twitter account.

Australia will have its defending champion, Rafael Nadal, who will go for his 23rd Grand Slam title and in the quest to increase the record it will face the British Jack Draper in the debut; then, the Spaniard could play the American Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16, the Russian Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals to reissue last year’s definition and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) in a hypothetical semifinal.

The draw that took place this Thursday at Melbourne Park determined that Djokovic, fourth favorite for the title, will go for the other part of the draw, so a possible crossing with Nadal can only take place in the definition of the Australian Open.

Djokovic, who was crowned in Adelaide at the start of the season, will debut against the Spanish Roberto Carballés and in the search for his tenth title in Australia he would have Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the Spanish Pablo Carreño, the Russian Andrey Rublev and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, second favorite for the title.

“I became the villain of the world,” Djokovic said, recalling the start of 2022 in Australia, where he arrived with a medical exemption because he was not vaccinated for Covid-19 (it was a requirement to enter the country) and from which he was expelled after his visa was withdrawn and being held for a few days. “I wanted to stay and play, but at some point with the amount of craziness surrounding me, I just wanted to go out and go home. It still hurts me that most people have the wrong idea of what happened. That’s what hurts me the most,” said the Serbian in a recent interview with 9News Melbourne.

On his return to Australia, the former world number one was received in a good way by the public but, just in case, the tournament director, Craig Tiley, warned those who come to Melbourne Park: “If they disturb the pleasure of other spectators, they are expelled.”

The women’s draw, on the other hand, will have a great absence compared to the last edition and that is that of the Australian Ashleigh Barty, who just two months after consecrating herself to her people in 2022 and when she was at the top of the world ranking, announced her retirement at the age of 25.

Without Barty, the great dominator of the women’s circuit is the Polish Iga Swiatek, who will seek to win the Australian Open for the first time and add one more Grand Slam to the three she already has after winning Roland Garros twice (2020 and 2022) and the US Open once (2022).

The draw at Melbourne Park determined that Swiatek will debut against Germany’s Jule Niemeier and if she progresses she would have three American tennis players as probable rivals: Danielle Collins (finalist last year), Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

On the other side of the draw, the top favorite is the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, number two in the world, who last year made history at Wimbledon by becoming the first African to reach the Grand Slam final, something she would later repeat at the United States Open; now, she will seek to overcome the highlights she did in Australia, which were the quarterfinals of 2020.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka announced that she is pregnant and is another major casualty of the women’s tournament, while Melbourne Park will not have the Williams sisters due to Serena’s retirement and an injury to Venus.