The Australian Open 2023 Draw

The draw is completed and the stage is set for the players to try to clinch the first Slam of the year. Unfortunately, world no. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the first major due to another injury on his leg, and with Carlos out of the picture, Rafael Nadal is the top seed and defending champion in the men’s draw.

The Australian Open 2023 Official Program cover / ausopen.com.

This time again, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are in different quarters of the draw and it means that we could potentially watch another final match between these two GOATs. However, the road ahead of Nadal seems tough as he is matched up with world no. 40 Jack Draper in the first round. 
Though they have never played against each other, it seems like Jack Draper may potentially pose an issue for Nadal. Draper is also a lefty and is in great form ahead of the Slam as he made the semifinals at the Adelaide International 2, while Nadal lost two matches at the United Cup to start his Season. 

Iga Swiatek is the favourite and top seed in the women's draw. However, she was drawn to play German Jule Niemeier who managed to take a set from her in the fourth round at US Open last year. It was not an easy match for Iga as she had to fight to come back in the second set after she was broken early by the German. An exciting re-match between the ladies is expected and Jule may potentially cause a great upset to the world no. 1. 

Other first-round matches to look forward to are Andy Murray vs. Matteo Berrettini [13], Victoria Azarenka [24] vs. Sofia Kenin and Andrey Rublev [5] vs. Dominic Thiem [WC].