If the draw has something to do with it, the lads’s singles competitors on the Australian Open needs to be a enjoyable one. And it needs to be a good struggle, so to talk.
The draw ceremony for the season’s first Grand Slam was held on Thursday afternoon. It produced a seemingly balanced bracket on the lads’s aspect — which isn’t a shock. In any case, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios (who each would have been unseeded) weren’t floating within the pot (they each withdrew on account of accidents). That’s to not say there aren’t any attention-grabbing unseeded entrants (Andy Murray, Marin Cilic, and Denis Shapovalov, to call a number of), however this discipline of 128 was by no means going to overly skewed.
And it isn’t. If the seeds maintain to kind, the semifinal matchups might be Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz vs. Daniil Medvedev. Quarterfinal contests could be Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sinner vs. Andrey Rublev, Medvedev vs. Holger Rune, and Alcaraz vs. Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic may meet both Murray or Gael Monfils within the third spherical and presumably Ben Wawrinka or Stan Wawrinka within the fourth spherical. Sinner’s highway to a possible SF showdown towards Djokovic begins Botic van de Zandschulp and will embrace both Karen Khachanov or Frances Tiafoe within the final 16.
The underside half of the bracket seems to include essentially the most attention-grabbing quarter — that of Daniil Medvedev. Becoming a member of Medvedev in that part are Rune, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Ugo Humbert, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Russian may even face Emil Ruusuvuori as early as spherical two.
Throughout all the bracket, first-round showdowns to look at are Sinner vs. Van de Zandschulp, Shelton vs. Roberto Bautista Agut, Tsitsipas vs. Matteo Berrettini, Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics, Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Wawrinka vs. Adrian Mannarino, Tiafoe vs. Borna Coric, Alex De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic, and Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and likewise maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
