The organizers of the Australian Open carried out the draw for the women’s and men’s singles draws during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, including a 100% French duel between Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gaël Monfils. As for the favorites, the title holders Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have inherited affordable draws while Novak Djokovic will have his work cut out to try to win a 25th Grand Slam title.
Just qualified for the semi-finals in Auckland and after challenging Novak Djokovic in Brisbane, Gaël Monfils seems to be in good shape at the start of 2025. The current 52nd in the world will, however, have to pull out all the stops during the first round of the Australian Open played in Melbourne. In front of him, one of the other French players in full swing: Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (21 years old).
Facing the recent semi-finalist in Brisbane, the 38-year-old veteran will want to keep the fun going against his compatriot 17 years his junior while the 31st in the world will be keen to honor his top seed status at the Australian Grand Slam. .
Huge challenge for Pouille, great duels for the Blues
No other 100% French duel beyond this clash of generations, but some nice posters for the Blues. Adrian Mannarino will face the Russian Karen Kachanov while Arthur Rinderknech will fight against the American Frances Tiafoe (17th in the world).
Great challenge in perspective, too, for Corentin Moutet against the local Alexei Popyrin and especially for Lucas Pouille. At almost 31 years old, the one who benefits from an invitation to this Australian Open will face Alexander Zverev (world number 2) in the first round.
Sinner is doing well, Djokovic a little less
World number 1 Jannik Sinner will face Chilean Nicolas Jarry to begin the defense of his Australian Open Tennis title while Novak Djokovic has inherited a perilous path that could lead him to face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarters, according to the draw made on Thursday.
Jannik Sinner, comfortably installed on the throne of the ATP circuit, with more than 4,000 points ahead of Alexander Zverev according to the ranking published Monday, beat the Russian Daniil Medvedev last year in the final of the tournament. After this first Grand Slam coronation, the Italian won the US Open and ATP Masters trophies.
The N.1 seed, however, is entangled in a case of alleged doping, after the discovery, twice in March 2024, of minute traces of clostebol (steroid) in his body. The Italian was completely cleared by the International Agency for Integrity in Tennis (Itia) before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed. A decision is awaited.
-The 23-year-old could meet Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Australian Alex de Minaur for the quarters, and Medvedev in the semi-final. Falling back to seventh in the world, Novak Djokovic will start against the American Nishesh Basavareddy, a wild card holder.
The Serbian, former world No.1 who is coming out of a 2024 season without a Grand Slam title – a first since 2017 – will have a lot to do to try to win a 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, his favorite major tournament which he won ten times. From his fourth match, however, he could have to win against the tenth in the world, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, then Alcaraz in the quarters and Alexander Zverev in the semis. Carlos Alcaraz is on the road to the Kazakhstani Alexander Shevchenko who recently managed to defeat Tsitsipas during the United Cup.
Sabalenka dreams of imitating Hingis, Garcia goes back in time against Osaka
On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka must begin to defend her title against the American Sloane Stephens, former winner of the US Open but dropped to 66th in the world. The Belarusian, seeded number 1 in Melboure, is aiming for a third consecutive victory at the Australian Open, a feat which has not been achieved since Martina Hingis between 1997 and 1999.
For her first match, world number 3 Coco Gauff will have to overcome Sofia Kenin, who won this same tournament in 2020. Second seed Iga Swiatek inherits a less arduous confrontation, facing the specialist Czech doubles, Katerina Siniakova (46th). The Polish tennis star could, however, find Elena Rybakina and Emma Navarro on his way.
For the Blues, in addition to the only survivor of the qualifications Léolia Jeanjean, the draw offered beautiful posters to the French players. Diane Parry will launch her tournament against Croatian Donna Vekic while Varvara Gracheva will fight against Catherine McNally.
A year after her great victory against Naomi Osaka, already in the first round of the Australian Open, Caroline Garcia will meet the Japanese for her entry into the Australian Grand Slam. After a complicated year in 2024, the 31-year-old Lyonnaise will want to climb back to the top of the WTA rankings and show that she deserves better than her current 58th place.
