The Australian Open in 2022 will be unlike any other, as the tournament draws will be influenced by the happenings surrounding Novak Djokovic. His vaccine and visa cancellation ordeal has flipped Australia on its head.
Still, if we look ahead to the men’s and women’s drawings for the 2022 Australian Open, Djokovic leads the men’s draw, with a very straightforward road to the final. Off-court incidents include a probable deportation from Australia, an enraged audience, and fellow players desperate to prevent him from capturing a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam.
Women’s Draw
The top seed on the women’s side is Ash Barty, Australia’s favourite daughter. Even so, there’s a prospective match-up that’s worth seeing. If Barty, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon, gets past an unimpressive group in the first three rounds, she will meet Naomi Osaka in the Round of 16 in what might be a blockbuster game. For both players, that’s a challenge. In 2021, Osaka won the Australian Open, but she spent the remainder of the year off due to mental health issues. As a result, she lost ground. That’s how she ends up playing Barty so early in the game.
Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, is in the bottom half of the draw. Unfortunately, the Belarussian’s second serve has been plagued by the yips, and she cannot be considered a favourite to progress far in the competition. Simona Halep, who won a warm-up competition last week, former French Open champion Iga Swiatek, and American Coco Gauff, who has adjusted her forehand backswing to match the Australian surface, are also players to watch.
The first-round barnburner is between Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa, the 2021 Indian Wells champion who has seen her career take off in the last six months. Apart from Sabalenka, the player who looks to be out of form is Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open Champion, who has only won two matches since her victory in New York.
Barty defeats Gauff in the semi-finals, while Swiatek defeats Halep.
Swiatek loses to Barty in the finals.
On the female side, the rational number is 81. That was the percentage of time Barty kept her serve in 2021, and she had a vast sample set of 49 matches to work with. This is the most impressive statistic on the tour.
Men’s Draw
Djokovic is still in the draw as of this writing. Even if the walls of Pompeii are collapsing around him, the world number one and current GOAT is always a factor when he enters any event. If he can tune out the hostile audience and go past fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic and American Tommy Paul, his only major concern heading into the quarterfinals is a possibly in-form Gael Monfils. Then there’s the possibility of a showdown with Matteo Berrettini, Nole-kryptonite Pablo Carreno Busta, or Next Gen great Carlos Alcaraz.
Rafael Nadal, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, has a tougher draw than the Rod Laver Arena surface. Australian comeback youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis, mainstay Karen Khachanov, premier tour player Hubert Hurkacz, and last year’s breakout sensation Aslan Karatsev are all possible opponents. Rafa is unquestionably capable of winning the matches. But how much will it cost? Any further sets the Spaniard superhero has to play might put his 35-year-old body under strain for the following round.
Daniil Medvedev, the US Open Champion, and Alexander Zverev, the ATP World Tour Finals King, appear comfortable and limber before the competition. Both are expected to have good runs. American Taylor Fritz, who has shown progress and took Djokovic for a 5-set spin at last year’s Australian Open, is an under-the-radar talent who seems powerful.
Alcaraz, who came to Australia only recently and chose to skip any of the several warm-up tournaments, is one player who may be a question mark.
Zverev defeats Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Medvedev defeats Fritz.
Medvedev defeats Zverev in the finals.
The rational number is 46 in this case. Only three guys have converted more break points in the last year: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Daniil Medvedev. Converting break opportunities will be a valuable skill in Australia because of the server’s supremacy on hard courts.
