Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were drawn on opposite halves of the 2019 Australian Open men’s singles draw and could meet in the final, with the winner earning a men’s record seventh men’s Australian Open title.
However, the real drama in the draw may be the top half of the women’s draw where No. 1 seed Simona Halep has seven-time champion Serena Williams in her section, setting up a potential blockbuster round of 16 match. Halep could face Serena’s older sister Venus in the third round. However, Halep is not looking past her first round opponent, Kaia Kanepi, who upset Halep in a history-making match in the first round of the U.S. Open last summer.
Serena will face Tatjana Maria in the first round, and could meet either Genie Bouchard or Peng Shaui in the second round. Venus Williams, who is unseeded, faces, No. 25 seed Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania.
Also on the top half of the women’s draw is No. 4 seed and 2018 U.S. Open champion and No. 4 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan, No. 6 seed and 2018 WTA Tour year-end singles champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and former Wimbledon and French Open champion and world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
No. 3 seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who won her first Grand Slam title here last year after a tough final against Halep, is in the same section as Maria Sharapova and has Petra Kvitova at the top of her quarter.
No. 2 seeded Angelique Keber is in the same half as Wozniacki and has 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in her quarter.
No. 1-ranked Djokovic opens against a qualifier and could face wildcard entry Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round in a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open, won by Djokovic, his first major singles title. A third-round match could develop against No. 25-seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who is a crafty bet to soon breakthrough in a major tournament on UK’s tennis betting sites. Djokovic could face No. 8-seeded Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals. No. 4 Alexander Zverev is in the same half as Djokovic and could face the Serb in the semifinals in a rematch of the 2018 ATP year-end championships in London, won by Zverev with new coach Ivan Lendl in his corner.
Defending champion Federer is in the bottom half of the draw with No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal. Federer is seeking his third straight Australian championship, a 21st major title and a 100th career singles title, Federer will play crafty shotmaker Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Marin Cilic, the No. 6 seed, is in the same quarter as Federer, setting up a potential rematch of the 2018 final in the quarterfinals.
“The moment you find out the draw, that’s when you shift your focus to the first round and only the first round — not going for your seventh (title) or anything like that,” said Federer, who was heading to the practice courts immediately after attending the tournament draw. “You try to really simplify it rather than look too far ahead. To win has to be the goal, but I try not to put too much pressure on it.”
Andy Murray, the former world No. 1 coming back from hip surgery, opens against No. 22-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, who won the pre-Australian Open warm-up in Doha, Qatar.
In perhaps the “popcorn” match of the men’s first round, 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic takes on the talented and mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios, who is unseeded.
