Auger-Aliassime attracts Thiem, Raonic tasked with de Minaur in riveting opening spherical matchups
The draw for the 2024 Australian Open was made on Wednesday night, and no less than 5 Canadians can be collaborating in the principle attracts of the 12 months’s opening Grand Slam. Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON) and Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) discovered their first-round opponents for the singles most important draw, whereas Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON) will seem within the doubles draw. With the qualifying spherical nonetheless underway, Rebecca Marino, Katherine Sebov and Gabriel Diallo are every one win away from qualifying for the principle draw; nonetheless, Sebov and Marino will play one another of their last qualifying match, which means solely one in all them will advance to the principle draw.
Fernandez enters the match ranked No. 36 on this planet and can face a qualifier within the opening spherical. Fernandez can be trying to construct off an unbelievable finish to her 2023 season, the place she secured a WTA 250 title on the Hong Kong Open in October earlier than serving to lead Crew Canada introduced by Sobeys to its maiden Billie Jean King Cup title in November. Fernandez’s path to a last might embody clashes in opposition to No. 4 seed Coco Gauff within the third spherical and Naomi Osaka or Caroline Garcia within the fourth spherical. It will mark her fifth time enjoying on the Australian Open, making it to the second-round final 12 months.
Auger-Aliassime, No. 27 on the ATP Tour, will tackle 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem in his first-round matchup. His path to the ultimate might embody matches in opposition to No. 3 seed and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev within the third spherical and No. 8 seed Holger Rune within the quarter-final. The 23-year-old loved an uptick in kind on the finish of the 2023 season, as evidenced by his win on the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors Basel in October. Auger-Aliassime made it to the fourth spherical in 2021 and 2023 and made it to the quarter-final in 2022.
Shapovalov, ranked No. 116 after lacking the latter half of final season as a consequence of an damage he sustained at Wimbledon, used his protected rating to enter immediately into the principle draw the place he’ll face a qualifier within the opening spherical. He made his return to the courtroom final week on the ASB Basic in Auckland, shedding within the opening spherical. The 24-year-old made it to the third-round final 12 months, the quarter-final in 2022 and the third spherical in 2021. His path to the ultimate might embody potential showdowns with No. 9 seed Hubert Hurkacz within the second spherical and Rune within the fourth spherical.
Raonic additionally used his protected rating to enter the principle draw, as he’s at present ranked No. 317 on the ATP Tour. Raonic could have the powerful job of taking over residence crowd favorite and No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur within the first spherical, with potential matchups in opposition to No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev within the fourth spherical and No. 4 seed Jannik Sinner within the quarter-final. He’s made it to the quarter-final 4 occasions on the Australian Open in his profession and reached the semi-final in 2016. After a protracted layoff as a consequence of damage, Raonic made his return to the ATP Tour final summer season, enjoying in quite a few tournaments together with Wimbledon, the US Open, the Nationwide Financial institution Open introduced by Rogers and on the Davis Cup Finals.
Dabrowski enters the Australian Open ranked No. 7 on the WTA Tour in doubles after an unbelievable 2023 season. Alongside her new accomplice Erin Routliffe, the duo gained the US Open doubles title, a WTA 500 title on the Zhengzhou Open, and made it to the semi-final of the WTA Finals in Cancun. Dabrowski additionally performed a pivotal function on Crew Canada en path to the nation’s Billie Jean King Cup title. The doubles draw can be made within the coming days, the place Dabrowski and Routliffe will study their opening spherical opponents.
After successful their first two matches of the qualifying spherical, Sebov and Marino will face one another for a spot in the principle draw. Marino has appeared in the principle draw on the Australian Open six occasions to date in her profession, whereas Sebov made her debut final 12 months. In the meantime, Diallo might want to defeat David Goffin to qualify. This could mark the primary look in the principle draw of a Grand Slam for the 22-year-old.
The primary draw of the Australian Open will start on Sunday, January 14 (Saturday night, January 13, in Canada) and can be broadcasted reside on TSN and RDS.
Canadian followers can catch the world’s finest tennis gamers in Montreal and Toronto this summer season on the Nationwide Financial institution Open introduced by Rogers. Click on right here to purchase tickets now.
