Serena may face Wozniacki in quarters
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TOP-SEEDED Serena Williams will play Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in the first round of the Australian Open as she begins her attempt to win a 19th grand slam singles title.
Williams could meet former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the semifinals following yesterday’s draw. The season-opening major begins on Monday at Melbourne Park.
In the other half, second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who plays a qualifier in the first round, could meet Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanovic, whom she beat in the Brisbane International final last weekend, in the semis.
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, unseeded after an injury-hit 2014, will take on American Sloane Stephens in the first round in a rematch of their acrimonious semifinal two years ago when Azarenka left the court for a medical time out and Stephens questioned her reasons for doing so.
In the men’s draw, No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Rafael Nadal were drawn into the same half. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and defending champion Stan Wawrinka are in the other half of the draw. Djokovic drew a qualifier in the first round and Federer will play Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei. Djokovic and Milos Raonic are in the same quarter of the draw.
Federer could meet sixth-seeded Andy Murray of Britain in the quarterfinals. The 17-time grand slam winner also has “Baby Fed,” No. 10-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, in his quarter.
Nadal, still recovering from appendix surgery he underwent in November, has a tough first-round match against former top 10-player Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Wawrinka will begin his title defense against Marsel Ilhan of Turkey. “Starting the year with a grand slam and finishing with the Davis Cup, it was an incredible 2014,” Wawrinka said as he and Li Na, the 2014 Australian Open women’s champion who retired in September, delivered the trophies to the draw location outside the newly refurbished Margaret Court Arena.
Li, who has retired, said she plans to open a tennis academy in China and start a family.
Former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, contesting his 19th consecutive Australian Open, will meet Chinese wildcard entry Zhang Ze.
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