FAVOURITES AT THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

• The Australian Open’s 2023 draw is set to be released on Thursday.

Among the Australian players who will be in the tournament are Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur, who are both expected to avoid some of the most dangerous players at the tournament.

For the first time since 2020, Nick Kyrgios will be seeded inside the top 20 of the Australian Open. On the other hand, Alex de Minaur will be placed in the 23rd position. This means that both of them will have to wait until the third round to face a fellow ranked player. Because of their seeding, they are in the 17-24 bracket.

Since they will be facing different opponents in the tournament, Nick and Alex will avoid some of the top players such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Daniil Medvedev until the quarter-finals. Defending champion Rafael Nadal will be the No.1 seed due to the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz.

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The withdrawal of Alcaraz increased the number of players in the tournament who are ranked inside the top four. This means that Novak Djokovic can now look forward to facing Nadal in the semi-final. Until the fourth round, Nick and Alex will not be able to face each other.

WTA FAVOURITES AT THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

On the WTA side, US Open defending champion Iga Swiatek is the overwhelming favourite to win the tournament and become the first woman from the country to win the Australian Open since 1996. She won her first hard-court title last year and her second French Open crown the following year. Unfortunately, unlike ATP, there are no Australian women in the top 40 this year.

Ajla Tomljanovic was the last player left in the race to secure a seed, as she was forced to withdraw from the lead-up events due to an injury, and she would have to face a seeded player in her opening round.