Today is the day where everyone finds out who they will be playing in the first round of the Australian Open next week.
Join The Roar as the Australian Open draw is conducted live from Melbourne Park at 10:30am AEDT. The draw, which will be done on the steps of the new Margaret Court arena, will set in stone the men’s and women’s field for 2015.
Joining the draw today will be Stan Wawrinka and Li Na, the champions of 2014, as they present the trophies and help the officials conduct the draw.
For those who are not familiar with how a draw is conducted, here is how it works.
INFORMATION:
Men’s
DRAW – 128 players (104 are direct entries, 16 are qualifiers and eight are wildcards)
SEEDS – 32 players
Women’s
DRAW – 129 players (108 are direct entries, 12 are qualifiers and eight are wildcards)
SEEDS – 32 players
The draw is completed in the following way. The seeds from 1-4 will be placed at number one, 33, 96 and 128 in the draw. one and two will be placed at the top and the bottom of the draw. Numbers two and three will be randomly picked and placed at 33 and 96.
Seeds 5-8 will then be placed at number 32, 64, 65 and 97 in the draw. All positions will be picked at random.
Seeds 9-16 will then be placed at number 16, 17, 48, 49, 80, 81, 112 and 113 in the draw. All positions will be picked at random.
Seeds 17-24 will then be placed at number nine 24, 41, 56, 73, 88, 105 and 120. All positions will be picked at random.
Seeds 25-32 will then be placed at number eight 25, 40, 57, 72, 89, 106, and 121. All positions will be picked at random.
After that is completed the remaining players – 76 for female and 72 for men – and qualifiers – 12 for female and 16 for men – will be put in the draw.
Qualifiers will be marked as ‘Qualifier’ until those who qualify are officially finalised. The computer, at random, will then place them in the draw to complete the 128 player field. That will determine who plays who in Round 1 of the event.
In the women’s draw, Serena Williams returns as the number one seed, after playing at the top seed for the first time since 2010 last year.
In the men’s field, Novak Djokovic replaced Rafael Nadal as the number one seed, after moving to the top of the rankings at Wimbledon last year.
Australia is well represented in the draw with eight women and 10 men. Nine of them received wildcards from Tennis Australia.
That could rise with Australians still in qualifying and some in contention for the final wildcard in the women’s draw. Regardless of whether more get in, or not get in, we will find out who the 18 play in the opening round today.
They will be hoping for a better draw than last year after seven drew seeds in the opening round in 2014. Two of them, Bernard Tomic and Ash Barty, drew the top seed in each draw.
Australia also has two seeds in the women’s draw with Sam Stosur (20) and Casey Dellacqua (29) part of the top 32 in the world.
This is the first time since 1989 that the home nation has had two seeds in the women’s draw for an Australian event. So who will everyone draw? And will an Australian draw a big player in the first round of the tournament?
Find out right here as The Roar covers the draw live today.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Djokovic is scheduled for Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday. A ground pass won't get you in. You need to buy a Rod Laver Arena pass. Hope that helps.
Sonia
Guest
Friends, I don't know much about the draws, after checking AO's schedule, i still have no clue about if I can see Djokevic playing with a ground pass.. This may sound a bit absurb, sorry. But could someone give me a hint?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Del Potro and Janowicz for me. That match could be a classic. I think this is Halep's time to shine. Australian Open usually has a surprise winner. I reckon it might be her. If Nadal is fit he will go far. That half is loaded with stars. That could provide plenty of stories.
Jayden
Guest
Kyrgios vs Robredo a potential rematch, should be intriguing.
Avatar
Roar Guru
The Azarenka-Stephens first rounder looms as the most interesting match of them all. Both players met in round four last year (and the semi-finals in the year before that) and the stakes will be high. A loss for Azarenka will see her ranking drop to the mid-60's, while a win could see her face Wozniacki in round two. Ana Ivanovic has a horror draw IMO - she faces Polona Hercog who beat her in Beijing in 2013 in round two, and then either Makarova or Pliskova, both of whom have beaten Ivanovic at Grand Slams before, in round four. I wouldn't be surprised if she fails to make it past the fourth round. Halep-Sharapova the likely semi from the bottom half. My predictions for the final: DJOKOVIC > Nadal and WILLIAMS > Sharapova (CAPS denotes my prediction for champion).
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
That is all from the live draw. I'll be back with more coverage of the Australian Open in the next few days. Until then it is bye for now.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
You can view each draw here: MEN - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ms/index.html WOMEN - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ws/index.html Here are my thoughts - Australia's top players will be extremely pleased with how the draw unfolded this morning. Of the 18 players in the draw only two of them will face seeds in the opening round. John Millman will face Leonardo Mayer with Thanasi Kokkinakis facing Ernets Gulbis. Both matches for them are winnable. As for the others, they all have winnable contest in the opening round. The interest in the draw revolves around the top seeds. Serena Williams, the top seed, could face either Caroline Wozniacki or Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals. Azarenka and Wozniacki are scheduled to face in the 2nd round if they both win their first round match. Williams would then face either Agnieszka Radwanska or Petra Kvitova in the semi finals. They are scheduled to meet each other in the quarters. Kvitova could face two Australians on her way to that meeting. First up would be the 29th seed, Casey Dellacqua, in the third round. She could then face 20th seed, Sam Stosur, in the fourth round. Both Aussies will make it tough for the Czech Fed Cup player if they all make it that far. In the bottom half of the draw the headline is the potential matchup between Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard. They are expected to meet in the quarters. In the other quarter Ana Ivanovic is scheduled to meet Simona Halep. Halep though would have to account for dangerous seed, Sabine Lisicki, in the third round. That should be a good encounter. In the men's side of the draw Novak Djokovic avoids Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray until the final if he makes it. Instead he will have to face Milos Raonic in the quarter finals and a potential semi-final against Stan Wawrinka or Kei Nishikori. Wawrinka, who is the defending champion, will have to beat Nishikori and Djokovic to go back to back in 2015. The bottom half of the draw looks the strongest. It also has a large Australian focus with 9 Ausses in that section. In the quarter final matches it could be Tomas Berdych v Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer v Andy Murray. Federer would need to beat Murray, Nadal and potentially Djokovic to win his 18th Grand Slam title. From the Australian contingent, Tomic and Hewitt drew well, and could go on runs in the event. Tomic - who will face Tobias Kamke first up - could face Philipp Kohlschreiber, Ernests Gulbis and Tomas Berdych on his way to the quarter finals. It is a draw that could help him go on a run. Hewitt also has a good run and could face Julien Benneteau and Milos Raonic in the 2nd and 3rd round. Those matches are good ones for the Australian and he could have a good tournament in his 19th Australian Open. Overall the Aussies would be pleased with their draws and up to 12 could win in the first round. All that is left to do now is start the tournament on Monday. Bring it on.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Thanks Casual Fan. Appreciate the good comments and feedback.
Casual Fan
Guest
Good job Shane. Google has led me to your pages twice this week and your coverage & comments have been great. Keep up the good work!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
I'll wrap up the draw in a second.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Luke Saville could face Rafael Nadal in the second round.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Bernard Tomic has an extremely good draw. Path to quarters - Kamke Kohlschreiber Gulbis Berdych All of them are beatable. The Aussie could make the quarters.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Two Aussies drew qualifiers. One drew a wildcard. I'm really pleased for the Aussies. Most of them have winnable matches.
Phani
Guest
Novak got the young guns where as Roger got the so called veterans.. interesting draw.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Kei Nishikori also has a tough match against Nicolas Almagro
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Big matches - R1 Juan Martin Del Potro v Jerzy Janowicz Sam Querrey v Vasek Pospisil Viktor Troicki v Jiri Vesely Marcos Baghdatis v Teymuraz Gabashvili Andreas Seppi v Denis Istomin
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Big matches - R1 Juan Martin Del Potro v Jerzy Janowicz Sam Querrey v Vasek Pospisil Viktor Troicki v Jiri Vesely Marcos Baghdatis v Teymuraz Gabashvili Andreas Seppi v Denis Ist
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Hewitt could play Julien Benneteau in the second round.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Quarter by Quarter with seeds Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic Stan Wawrinka v Kei Nishikori Rafael Nadal v Tomas Berdych Roger Federer v Andy Murray
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
John Millman (AUS) v Leonardo Mayer