he first Grand Slam of the tennis season is nearly upon us as the world’s best finalise their preparations ahead of the Australian Open getting underway next week.
Novak Djokovic is back in Melbourne and competing at a tournament he has won nine times, 12 months on from being deported due to his vaccination status.
He has already hit the ground running, winning a warm-up tournament in Adelaide, while long-time rival and defending champion Rafael Nadal is the top seed after Carlos Alcaraz announced he would miss the Grand Slam due to injury.
On the women’s side of the draw, Iga Swiatek is once again the player to beat. The 21-year-old is a long way clear at the top of the world rankings after a stellar 2022, winning two majors, and is a strong favourite to win her first Australian Open title.
Emma Raducanu faces a fitness race after suffering an ankle injury in Auckland, while 42-year-old Venus Williams, given a wildcard into the main draw, will not compete in Melbourne due to an injury picked up at the same tournament.
When is the Australian Open 2023
The Australian Open main draw gets underway on Monday, January 16.
It will run for two weeks, with the women’s singles final taking place on Saturday, January 28 and the men’s final played a day later on Sunday, January 29.
When is the Australian Open 2023 draw
The draw for the tournament takes place on Thursday, January 12. A start time has not yet been confirmed.
As usual there are 32 seeds in the men’s and women’s singles draws, with the top two seeds placed in opposite sides of the draw to ensure they cannot meet until the final.
Seeded players will not face each other until the third round, but those who are unseeded, including Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu, are vulnerable to extremely tough draws.
How to watch the Australian Open 2023 draw
The Australian Open draw will be shown live on the tournament’s official YouTube channel on Thursday,
Emma Raducanu left the court in tears after picking up an ankle injury in Auckland
/ Getty ImagesAustralian Open 2023 projected seedings
Men’s singles – top ten:
1 – Rafael Nadal
2 – Casper Ruud
3 – Stefanos Tsitsipas
4 – Novak Djokovic
5 – Andrey Rublev
6 – Felix Auger-Aliassime
7 – Daniil Medvedev
8 – Taylor Fritz
9 – Holger Rune
10 – Hubert Hurkacz
Women’s singles – top ten:
1 – Iga Swiatek
2 – Ons Jabeur
3 – Jessica Pegula
4 – Caroline Garcia
5 – Sofia Kenin (protected ranking)
6 – Aryna Sabalenka
7 – Maria Sakkari
8 – Coco Gauff
9 – Daria Kasatkina
10 – Veronika Kudermetova