Defending Australia Open tennis champions Novak Djokovic of Serbia (left) and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus (right) share a joke in front of their trophies at the official draw of the Australian Open in Melbourne, yesterday.
MELBOURNE: World number one Novak Djokovic’s bid for a third successive Australian Open title has been given a boost with a relatively smooth draw in the first Grand Slam of the season.
The 25-year-old Serb kicks off his title defence with a first round tie against unseeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the draw announced yesterday and faces no major hurdles until a potentially dangerous quarter-final against fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych.
In a top half of the draw free of ‘Big Four’ rivals Roger Federer, Andy Murray and the absent Rafa Nadal, a possible semi-final clash with fourth seed David Ferrer, looms for five-times grand slam winner Djokovic, who beat the tenacious Spaniard in the quarter-finals last year.
“I think realistically, three can win,” Australia’s former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash said at the draw, referring to Djokovic, second seed Federer and third-seeded Murray.
“You’ve got to say Novak, you’d expect him to be the favourite ... but Andy Murray is hitting his peak.”
Former world number one Federer faces a tough first week in his bid to add to his record 17 Grand Slam titles, however.
The four-time champion will also play an unseeded Frenchman in Benoit Paire in his opener, but is likely to face former top-10 player Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the second round before another potentially tricky clash with local hope Bernard Tomic in the third.
Big-serving Milos Raonic of Canada, the 13th seed, is then an unpalatable prospect in the last 16, with athletic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a good chance to meet the Swiss in the quarter-finals.
US Open champion Murray will start his campaign against unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase but the Briton is likely to have one eye on Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, who looms as a possible quarter-final opponent.
The towering Del Potro, who upset Federer to win the 2009 US Open but has since struggled with injuries, shapes as a big threat to Murray’s hopes of a second Grand Slam title after enjoying a solid season in 2012 with four titles.
In the women’s draw, Serena Williams will start her bid for a sixth Melbourne title against Romania’s Edna Gallovits-Hall, with a potential quarter-final clash against former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
The 31-year-old Williams, raging favourite to win her 16th grand slam singles title awould then be in line for a showdown with defending champion Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka cried off their scheduled semi-final at the Brisbane International last week, blaming an infected toe from a bad pedicure, which critics suggested was tactical. Williams won the title.
“(The toe) is much better,” she said at the draw, held under a hot sun on the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra river. REUTERS
