The excellent performances of our tennis players have gone unrewarded, with Bernard Tomic, Ashleigh Barty and James Duckworth among the biggest losers at the Australian Open draw held on Friday morning.
Tomic and Barty, who in 2013 almost guided Australia to the Hopman Cup final in Perth, have drawn the respective number one seeds in both the men’s and women’s draws in their Round 1 matches, while James Duckworth has drawn none other than Roger Federer as his first round assignment.
Lleyton Hewitt, fresh off winning the Brisbane International, didn’t fare much better either, drawing 24th seed Andreas Seppi in his opener and Kei Nishikori, whom he beat in the semi-finals in Brisbane, in the third round.
Should he clear both obstacles, Rafael Nadal will possibly await in Round 4.
For that to happen, Nadal would have to first get past Bernard Tomic who, at the time of writing, will face Sergiy Stakhovsky in the semi-finals of the Sydney International where he is the defending champion.
It’s a blockbuster Round 1 showdown and will be only their second meeting overall, with Nadal winning their previous encounter in the third round of the 2011 Australian Open.
Tomic has never lost in the first round of a hard court Grand Slam tournament, but that record is doomed to end by Tuesday night.
Nadal could also possibly face young Australian gun Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round, Gael Monfils, against whom Nadal defeated for the Doha crown last week, in the third round, and then one of Hewitt or Nishikori in the fourth round.
Should results unfold as planned, Nadal would then run into Juan Martin del Potro or Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals, and then one of Andy Murray or Roger Federer could await in the semi-finals.
Nick Kyrgios, a wildcard entrant who will play at the Australian Open for the first time, faces Benjamin Becker in the opening round, but should he get to the third round, 2009 US Open champion del Potro could possibly await.
To add to the interesting top half of the draw, Federer could face Radek Stepanek in Round 2, his Wimbledon conqueror, Sergiy Stakhovsky, or 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco, in Round 3, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Gilles Simon possibly awaiting in Round 4.
The bottom half of the draw is anchored by three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer, who for the third year in a row are in the same half.
Djokovic will open his quest for a fourth straight title against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko, and should not be threatened until at least the quarter-finals, where he could reprise his memorable showdown against Stanislas Wawrinka from last year.
After that, one of Tomas Berdych or David Ferrer will await in the semi-finals. Both fell victim to Djokovic at last year’s Australian Open.
On the women’s side, any hope Ashleigh Barty has of winning her maiden Australian Open match was all but destroyed when she drew world number one Serena Williams in the opening round.
Samantha Stosur is in the same section at the top of the draw, and didn’t fare any better. She has drawn Klara Zakopalova (against whom she will contest the semi-final in Hobart) in the opening round, Sydney finalist Tsvetana Pironkova in Round 2, and Auckland champion Ana Ivanovic in Round 3.
The winner of the latter tie will be all but finished in the round of 16, where Williams will certainly await.
But to get there, Williams will first have to get past Barty, and then possibly Daniela Hantuchova in Round 3.
Wildcard entrant Casey Dellacqua has, meanwhile, drawn comeback Russian Vera Zvonareva in the opening round, with Roberta Vinci possibly awaiting in the third round.
Vinci and Sara Errani, who are the defending champions in doubles, will have to settle their differences for the right to play Serena in the quarter-finals; they have been drawn to face each other in the fourth round. Errani defeated Vinci only recently in the first round of the Sydney International.
Rounding out the top half of the draw, Li Na (seeded fourth) anchors a very interesting quarter, whereby she could face one of Sabine Lisicki or Ekaterina Makarova in Round 4.
Makarova has drawn Venus Williams first up, with Lisicki, whom she beat at the US Open last August, awaiting in the third round.
Angelique Kerber (ninth) and Petra Kvitova (sixth) are seeded to meet in an enticing all-lefty fourth round showdown.
Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic anchor the bottom half of the draw.
Sharapova and Jankovic are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals, while Radwanska must get past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Caroline Wozniacki if she is to book a quarter-final appointment against Azarenka.
Azarenka will open her bid for a third straight Melbourne crown against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson. Should she get to the fourth round, a rematch of last year’s controversial semi-final against Sloane Stephens is a possibility, but so too is a rematch of last year’s quarter-final against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Before that, she is in for a possible third round date against Jamie Hampton, who pushed the Belarusian to three sets at the same stage last year.
So, that’s some of the highlights from the draw.
Can our Aussies pull off Mission Impossible and cause some upsets? Will Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams romp their way to another Australian Open title? Can Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka repeat as champions again? How far will Lleyton Hewitt go?
All those questions are set to be answered when the Australian Open starts next week.
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