Jannik Sinner’s opponent comes from the qualifying tournament. © AFP / DAVID GRAY
Last night (CET) the main draw of the Australian Open was drawn in Melbourne. It’s the start of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
January 13, 2022
Author: fop
The draw for the first round was initially postponed by 75 minutes at short notice. Reasons for this were not given on Thursday. At the time of the postponement, a decision on the visa for number one seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic was still pending. Nothing changed when he was finally drawn to a duel with his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic. As has now been leaked, the “Djoker” will have to wait at least until Friday.
Meanwhile, the looks of Jannik Sinner and waited Andreas Seppi excited to see their names on the display panel. Kamil Majchrzak was finally drawn to Kalterer, who is ranked 98th in the world rankings computer. The Pole is 9 positions behind Seppi in the ranking, which is why he is by no means an outsider in what is now his 130th Grand Slam game. The only meeting so far last year at the lawn tournament in Nottingham was decided by Seppi in 3 sets.
Andreas Seppi will play his 130th (!) Grand Slam game in Melbourne. © APA / afp / PAUL CROCK
Also Jannik Sinner has a solvable task to start with – although he does not yet know the name of his opponent. That’s because he was drawn in the first round to a yet to be determined qualifier. So there is a good chance that the 20-year-old Sextner (ATP 11) will make it into the second round on the hard courts of Melbourne Park for the second time after 2020. There the winner of the duel between Steve Johnson (ATP 84) and Jordan Thompson (ATP 73) would be waiting. Sinner could have the first really tough chunk in the round of 16 with the Norwegian Casper Ruud (ATP 8).
The opening round of the Australian Open will be held next Monday and Tuesday. The men’s grand final is on Sunday, January 30th.
