Federer, Djokovic drawn in the same half
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Defending champion Roger Federer has been drawn in the same half of the Australian Open as six-time winner Novak Djokovic, who is returning from an elbow injury and is seeded 14th. Federer beat Rafael Nadal in the final here last year on his return from six months on the sidelines and is seeded No. 2 as he bids for a 20th grand slam singles title.
Top-ranked Nadal will open against Victor Estrella Burgos, has a potential fourth-round match against John Isner, and has No. 3-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in the same half of the draw, which was held yesterday at Margaret Court Arena.
Federer will open his title defence against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene next week.
Women’s top seed Simona Halep of Romania faces Australian wildcard Destanee Aiava in the first round, with second seed Caroline Wozniacki starting out against Halep’s compatriot Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Serena Williams will not defend the women’s title having had her first child last year but 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, who failed a drugs test at the tournament in 2016, is back unseeded after a ban and will face Germany’s Tatjana Maria.
Williams’s sister Venus, who lost to her sibling in the final last year, is seeded fourth and the 37-year-old was handed a tricky first encounter against Swiss former world No. 7 Belinda Bencic, who is 17 years her junior.
Men’s third seed Grigor Dimitrov will face a qualifier, with Alexander Zverev, ranked fourth, playing Italian Thomas Fabbiano but with 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, returning after surgery, is in his section of the draw.
Young gun Zverev had little luck in his first Australian Open draw as a top five seed with either Wawrinka, who plays Ricardas Berankis, or Djokovic potentially standing in his path in the quarterfinals.
Six-time Melbourne Park champion Djokovic will take on American lefthander Donald Young in his first match with mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils looming in round two.
Federer also has Milos Raonic, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin and Tomas Berdych in his quarter of the draw, while Nadal would appear to have the easier section, although former US Open champion Marin Cilic looms as a last-eight opponent.
If the draw goes to seeding, Dimitrov would face American Jack Sock in the last eight, with ailing world No. 5 Dominic Thiem, who withdrew from Kooyong because of illness yesterday, taking on Zverev.
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