Djokovic vs Alcaraz? Australian Open draw sets up possible quarterfinal showdown

Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed on opposite sides of the draw for the seasons first major ruling out a replay of last years semi final matchSinner upset Djokovic in the semifinals here last year before coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final 36 36 64 64 63 for his first Grand Slam singles titleTopranked Sinner has a firstround match against Nicolas Jarry and also has Taylor Fritz Ben Shelton and Medvedev in his quarter of the draw Fritz will open against fellow American Jenson BrooksbyDjokovic and No 3 Carlos Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals with a possible semi final against No 2 Alexander ZverevAt the draw Thursday to set the brackets for the singles fields defending champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka walked into the official ceremony on the steps of Margaret Court Arena holding their trophiesSabalenka won her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park in 2024 by defeating Zheng Qinwen 63 62 Sabalenka will be attempting to win a third consecutive womens singles title at Melbourne Park something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999Sabalenka drew a tough opening match against 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and has 17yearold Mirra Andreeva and Zheng in her sectionI have a lot of great memories and to be back here as a twotime Australian Open champion its definitely something special Sabalenka who won the Brisbane International title last week said at the draw ceremony I hope that I can keep doing what Im doing here in AustraliaThirdseeded Coco Gauff is a potential semi final rival for Sabalenka Gauff has a challenging firstround match against former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and is in the same section of the draw as fourtime major winner Naomi Osaka and seventhseeded Jessica PegulaNo 2 Iga Swiatek and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina are on the other half of the drawThe Australian Open starts Sunday morning in Melbourne Saturday night EST in the US and will run for 15 daysDoping and the cases involving Sinner lsquowhich is still not fully resolvedrsquo and Swiatek was a topic that shadowed tennis in 2024 and is still a talking point in MelbourneTheres plenty else for fans to talk aboutDjokovic will be playing in his first event alongside new coach Andy Murray his former oncourt rival and a threetime major champion Nobody has won the mens title at Melbourne Park more often than Djokovic although he said he still feels trauma from the one year he wasnt allowed to playNick Kyrgios the 2022 Wimbledon runnerup who withdrew from an exhibition against Djokovic this week because of an abdominal strain will face Jacob Fearnley in the first round if the mercurial Australian is fit enough to contest his first major since the 2022 US Open Kyrgios is in the same section as ZverevWith AP inputs