Australian Open 2024 draw: Djokovic and Alcaraz have many pitfalls along the way!

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The highly anticipated first Major of the season, the Australian Open 2024, will be played from 14 to 28 January. On the hard-courts of the Melbourne Park (Melbourne), the greatest tennis players on the planet will compete for an exciting fortnight. The men’s draw reserved several surprises, starting with ATP No.1 (and seed No.1) Novak Djokovic. The Serbian champion who leads the seeding will have more than a few pitfalls before reaching the final stages of the tournament which he has already won 10 times and of which he is defending champion.

The Top-Half

Nole will start with a qualified player, then there will be either Popyrin or Polmans. In the third round, already more challenging possible challenges, against Gael Monfils or Andy Murray. The one between the Serbian and the Scotsman is an open account in Melbourne. In the 4th round Nole could meet the young US star Ben Shelton, who would like to take revenge at the 2023 US Open. In the quarterfinals, theoretically there could be Stefanos Tsitsipas (last year’s finalist) or Taylor Fritz. About the Greek tennis player: he will challenge Matteo Berrettini in the first round. The two trained together in the days before the start of the tournament.

Djokovic could meet Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. The Italian, number 4 seeded in a Slam for the first time, could represent the toughest obstacle for the Serbian, given how their matches went in the final part of 2023. In the 4th round, Sinner could cross paths with Frances Tiafoe or Karen Khachanov, while in the quarterfinals he could cross paths with Alex De Minaur or Andrey Rublev.

 

The Bottom-Half

Daniil Medvedev wasn’t so lucky in his matches. Having faced a player from the qualifiers, the Russian would theoretically have to beat Ruusuvuori, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov to progress to the quarter-finals. Match in which he will always start as favourite, but the risks are enormous for a tennis player who must confirm the excellent performance shown in 2023.

 

Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz instead represent the main alternatives of the opponent to challenge in the quarterfinals. Carlos Alcaraz cannot remain so calm. The Spaniard returns to Melbourne after two years and will try to go beyond the third round, the best result of his career at the Australian Open so far.

The debut will be with the expert Richard Gasquet, followed by the winner of the match between Daniel Evans and Lorenzo Sonego. In the third round there could be the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, a tennis player always to keep an eye on. For the young Spaniard there could then be Tommy Paul in the 4th round and Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, before a potential semi-final with Daniil Medvedev

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