MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic are on opposite sides in the draw for the first major of the season, ruling out a rematch of last year’s semifinals possible.
Sinner defeated Djokovic in the semifinals here last year and then beat Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the final to win the title. His first Grand Slam singles title.
Top-ranked Sinner will face Nicolas Jarry in the first round, and the quarter draw also features Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Medvedev. Fritz will face fellow American Jenson Brooksby.
Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals, with the semifinals likely against No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
Defending champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka walked into the official ceremony with trophies in hand as the singles fields were drawn on Thursday.
Sabalenka achieved her second consecutive championship by defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the 2024 Melbourne Park final. Sabalenka will be seeking a third consecutive women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, a feat last achieved by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.
Sabalenka had a tough match against 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in her first match and was in a group that included 17-year-old Mira Andre Mirra Andreeva and Zheng.
“I have a lot of great memories, coming back here… as a two-time Australian Open champion, it’s definitely something special,” Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane International last week, said during the draw. “I hope I can continue to do what I did in Australia.”
Third seed Coco Gauff is Sabalenka’s potential opponent in the semifinals. Gauff will face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round, who is in the same group as seventh seed Jessica Pegula.
The Australian Open opens in Melbourne on Sunday morning (Saturday evening EST) and will run for 15 days.
Djokovic will play his first match with new coach Andy Murray, his frontcourt rival and three-time Grand Slam champion. No one has won the men’s title at Melbourne Park more often than Djokovic, although he says he is still traumatized by a year of not being allowed to compete.
2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from this week’s exhibition match against Djokovic with an abdominal strain, assuming the mercurial Australian is fit enough to play in his first start since the 2022 US Open He will face Jacob Fearnley in the first round of a major championship. Kyrgios is in the same area as Zverev.
