World number one Jannik Sinner has been drawn to face Nicolas Jarry to start his Australian Open defence, Afrosport reports.
Sinner is awaiting the outcome of an appeal by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) after twice testing positive for traces of steroid clostebol.
The 23-year-old was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, but WADA has the final say on the issue.
Top seed Sinner could meet Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or Australian Alex di Minaur in the quarter-finals.
Feels great to be back @AustralianOpen 🤝🏻 pic.twitter.com/FRavuVEvLQ
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) January 4, 2025
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was drawn against American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy as he bids to win a record-extending 11th Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam.
Djokovic is seeded to meet world number 10 Grigor Dimitrov in round four and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, before a potential clash with Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.
Alcaraz will get his tournament underway against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko who recently defeated world number 11, Stefanos Tsitsipas at the United Cup tournament.
In the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka kicks off her title defence against American former US Open winner Sloane Stephens.
Second seed Iga Swiatek will go up against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, while four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka opens against Caroline Garcia in a repeat of last year’s first-round clash that the French player triumphed.
