The bottom half of the women’s draw is anchored by second-seeded Angelique Kerber, last year’s Wimbledon champion. Kerber opens against 92nd-ranked Polona Hercog, and could face fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals. Stephens opens against her fellow American Taylor Townsend, who was the 2012 Australian Open junior champion.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, seeded third, is also on the bottom half of the draw. She could face 30th-seeded Maria Sharapova, the 2008 champion, in the third round, and 15th-seeded Ashleigh Barty, the highest-ranked Australian in either draw, in the fourth round. Big hitters No. 8 Petra Kvitova and No. 11 Aryna Sabalenka loom as possible quarterfinal opponents.
Third-seeded Roger Federer, seeking a third consecutive title on the men’s side, opens against 99th-ranked Denis Istomin. He could face 14th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round, and sixth-seeded Marin Cilic or 10th-seeded Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals.
Andy Murray, who is playing through continuing hip pain, will open against No. 22 Roberto Bautista Agut in Khachanov’s section of the draw.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who has lost his last five matches against Federer, could face him in the semifinals. Nadal has struggled with his durability on hard courts, however, completing only one of the 12 tournaments he entered on the surface last year before withdrawing or retiring from a match. Nadal received a comfortable opening round match, facing 238th-ranked James Duckworth, an Australian wild card.
Nadal could face fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson or ninth-seeded John Isner in the quarterfinals. Isner faces a rare challenge in his first round: an opponent taller than he is. The 6-foot-10-inch Isner will face Reilly Opelka, a 21-year-old from Michigan who breaks the seven-foot barrier.
In the top half, top-seeded Novak Djokovic opens against a qualifier, and could face wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. Djokovic, who is seeking his seventh Australian Open title, beat Tsonga for his first in the 2008 final. In the quarterfinals, Djokovic could face eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori, who won the ATP event in Brisbane on Sunday for his first title in three years.
The only other Grand Slam champion on the top half of the draw with Djokovic is unseeded Stan Wawrinka, who opens against Ernests Gulbis and could face 16th-seeded Milos Raonic or Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Those players are in the second quarter of the draw, anchored by fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, the champion of the year-end ATP Finals in London last year who has yet to reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam.
Source : NYtimes
