The Australian Open draw has finally been announced, and there are some interesting matches on the cards in the men’s singles discipline. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and his biggest rival on the circuit, Jannik Sinner, are touted to be the favorites to battle it out for the title at the end of two weeks in Melbourne Park.
But there could be some surprises on the way as we aim to explore the biggest winners and losers in the men’s singles draw. There have been some interesting runs in the qualifiers, which ended on Thursday, and these unseeded players will be hopeful of springing a surprise early on in the draw.
Biggest Losers: Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur Have Difficult Draws
Among the top seeds, World No. 3 Alexander Zverev and the home favorite Alex de Minaur have difficult draws leading up to the semifinals of the Grand Slam. The German, alongside Minaur, is placed in the top half of the draw.
Zverev begins his journey with a round 1 match against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, while Minaur will face former top-10 seed Matteo Berrettini in the first round. Early on in the competition, Zverev could lock horns with Francisco Cerundolo or Andrey Rublev, while he could potentially face Felix Auger-Aliassime or Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals.
As for de Minaur, he could face Frances Tiafoe in the third round, No. 10 seed Alexander Bublik in the fourth, and Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, which will not make it smooth sailing for the Aussie to reach the semifinals of the Grand Slam. Zverev could then be facing Alcaraz in the semis and potentially either Sinner or Djokovic in the finals.
