Emma Raducanu will play Russian No26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the Australian Open, while British No1 Katie Boulter was handed an excellent opportunity to make the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Raducanu was also drawn against Alexandrova in the first round of Wimbledon but the Russian withdrew through illness. The 30-year-old is an extremely aggressive player but Raducanu should fancy her chances, as she continues to train freely after a back injury disrupted her pre-season.
As for Boulter, the No22 seed begins against Canada’s Rebecca Marino, who was comfortably beaten by Raducanu at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November.
Marino’s game, with a big serve and forehand, is broadly similar to Boulter’s but the 28-year-old from Leicestershire ought to be a class above. In the second round she would play either Olivia Gladecki or Veronika Kudermetova – nothing to fear there – before a possible third-round meeting with No15 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who Boulter has beaten in two of their three meetings.
Sonay Kartal will play Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Jodie Burrage will face a qualifier or lucky loser. Good draws, then, on their Australian Open debuts but big beasts lurk in the second round – Kartal could play defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Burrage would likely face Coco Gauff.
On the men’s side, the standout draw for the Brits was Jacob Fearnley, also a debutant here in Melbourne, against returning anti-hero Nick Kyrgios.
The draw was kind to Katie Boulter (pictured playing in the United Cup in the lead-up to the Open), who will fancy her chances of making the second week of a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career
Russian No26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova awaits Emma Raducanu (pictured in a practice session this week) in the first round in Melbourne –
The antagonistic Aussie has been laid low by injury and this is his first Grand Slam since 2022. He is a fitness doubt for his first round match after sustaining an abdominal strain so Fearnley could yet face a lucky loser instead.
Jack Draper has a good draw against Argentina’s Mariano Navone, who he thrashed in New York last year en route to the US Open semi-finals. The No15 seed could face Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round and Novak Djokovic in the quarters, so another run to the last four feels unlikely.
Cam Norrie has a rough draw against former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
The number of Brits in the draw will remain at seven after the two remaining qualifying hopes lost on Thursday. Harriet Dart and Billy Harris were seeded third and 19th in qualifying but both lost in straight sets in the final round.
Defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner has landed in a plumb section of the draw but Carlos Alcaraz is on a collision course with Novak Djokovic.
Sinner and Alcaraz won all four Grand Slams between them this year but they are yet to meet in a major final, having been drawn in the same half three times in a row.
But fans can hope for that dream final in Melbourne after Alcaraz was placed in a stacked bottom half of the draw, away from his Italian rival.
However, the news isn’t so good for Cam Norrie (pictured playing in New Zealand’s ASB Classic this week)
Jacob Fearnley has been drawn to face the tournament’s biggest local drawcard, Nick Kyrgios, in his first match
Aryna Sabalenka was saddled with a tough first-round opponent in Sloane Stephens, while Jannik Sinner will be happy with the section of the draw he landed in
Alcaraz, who plays Kazak Alexander Shevchenko in the first-round, is due to face 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and No2 seed Alexander Zverev in the semis.
Sinner could play Aussie No1 Alex de Minaur in the quarters and then either Daniil Medvedev, who he beat in last year’s final, or Taylor Fritz in the semis.
The defending champion’s first round against Nicolas Jarry, of Chile, is harder than he would have liked but he ought to be extremely happy with his draw overall.
The women’s draw delivered a couple of blockbuster first rounds for the favourites, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka facing 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, and No3 seed Coco Gauff taking on Sofia Kenin, who won the title here in 2020.
Sabalenka and Gauff are set to meet in the semi-finals, which leaves No2 seed Iga Swiatek sitting rather pretty in the bottom half of the draw.
