Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can only meet in final at Australian Open

Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw Thursday meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne ParkDjokovic a ninetime champion in Australia returns to the hardcourt tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isnt vaccinated against COVID19 He also couldnt compete at the 2022 US OpenFourthseeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins MondayIga Swiatek the womens No 1ranked player takes on German Jule Niemeier who is ranked No68 in the opening round The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022 a year in which she won the French and US Open titlesAlso readNovak Djokovic Nick Kyrgios to play Australia Open practice matchBut the main firstround focus will be on Nadal who faces a potentially challenging match against British player Jack Draper Draper who is 21 was a semifinalist in the Next Gen Championships in November and will also play in a semifinal of the Adelaide International on FridayAnother openinground highlight has fivetime Australian Open finalist Andy Murray against Italian Matteo Berrettini a former Wimbledon finalist who is the No 13seeded playerMurray defeated Australian Alex de Minaur 63 63 in an exhibition match on Thursday and is pleased with his formIt is always difficult in exhibition matches to play like it is the first round of a Grand Slam but I wanted to try to leave everything out on the court to give my body the best preparation to see how I was moving to see how I was serving and it went well Murray saidThe potential mens quarterfinals by seeding are Nadal vs No 7 Daniil Medvedev in what would be a rematch of last years final at Melbourne Park won by Nadal after dropping the initial two sets and No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs No 6 Felix AugerAliassime in the top half and Djokovic vs No 5 Andrey Rublev and No 2 Casper Ruud vs No 8 Taylor Fritz in the bottom halfNadal has a leading 22 Grand Slam singles titles one more than DjokovicWimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios who faces Roman Safiullin in the opening round will play Djokovic in an exhibition match on Friday in MelbourneI am one of the best players in the world so I am definitely going to go into the Australian Open and any Grand Slam with confidence Kyrgios saidOns Jabeur who reached both the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2022 is seeded second and plays Tamara Zidansek in the womens drawNo 3 Jessica Pegula who led the US team that claimed the mixed teams United Cup in Sydney last week faces Jacqueline Cristian from Romania in the first roundAustralias Billie Jean King Cup captain Alicia Molik who attended the draw at Melbourne Park said Pegula is a contenderI feel like she has the mental fortitude and I really feel like she can be here late in the stage of the Australian Open Molik saidSeventhseeded Coco Gauff who won a tournament in Auckland last week faces a tough firstround test against Katerina Siniakova who defeated her in the Billie Jean King Cup finals in NovemberThe potential womens quarterfinals are Swiatek vs Gauff in what would be a rematch of last years French Open final won by Swiatek and Pegula vs No 6 Maria Sakkari in the top half of the bracket and Jabeur vs No 5 Aryna Sabalenka and No 4 Caroline Garcia vs No 8 Daria Kasatkina in the bottom halfAnother big firstround match is twotime Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka against Sofia Kenin who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2020This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever