A Nick Kyrgios-shaped question hangs over the all-important draw for the 2023 Australian Open, which will be held on Thursday afternoon (3pm AEDT) at Melbourne Park.
But critically both he and fellow Aussie Alex de Minaur are well placed to avoid the most dangerous players in the tournament until at least the last 16.
Follow our live blog from inside the draw room at the bottom of this article!
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For the first time since 2020 – when he made the fourth round and fell in four sets to Rafael Nadal – Kyrgios will be seeded at his home grand slam (20th), while de Minaur is just behind him (23rd).
It means neither Aussie can face a fellow top-32 player until the third round; and because they are both in the 17-24 bracket of seeds, neither can face a top-eight player until the fourth round.
That means both men will avoid Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and other top contenders for the title until at least the round of 16.
Defending champion Nadal will be the No.1 seed after current world No.1 and US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury.
Alcaraz’s exit elevated Djokovic to the No.4 seed, which is also a boost to his chances – though he’d be the favourite either way – because he cannot face Nadal until at least the semi-finals.
On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek is the dominant No.1 seed and warm favourite to win her first Australian Open, after last year adding the hard-court US Open title to her two French Open crowns.
No Australian women are seeded this year, with Ajla Tomljanovic costing herself any chance of a seeded position when injury forced her to withdraw from the United Cup and other lead-up events. She is the world No.35, with No.33 Jil Teichmann the last woman seeded.
It leaves the Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finalist either needing a pair of late withdrawals to earn a seed, or she will be at risk of facing a seeded player in the opening round.
HOW THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN DRAW WORKS
– Players are seeded 1-32 based on the ATP/WTA rankings
– Seeds 1 and 2 are in the top left and bottom right of the bracket, respectively, and cannot meet until the final
– Seeds 3 and 4 are placed in the other corners, and cannot play 1 or 2 until the semi-finals
– Seeds 5 and 8 are randomly placed in each corner, and cannot play 1 to 4 until the quarter-finals
– Seeds 9 to 12 are randomly placed, to face seeds 5 to 8 in the fourth round
– Seeds 13 to 16 are randomly placed to face seeds 1 to 4 in the fourth round
– Seeds 17 to 24 are randomly placed to face seeds 9 to 16 in the third round
– Seeds 25 to 32 are randomly placed to face seeds 1 to 8 in the third round
– All other players are placed randomly throughout the draw
‘Demon’ takes down Thiem in winning run | 01:32
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023 MEN’S SEEDS
1. Rafael Nadal
2. Casper Ruud
3. Stefanos Tsitsipas
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Andrey Rublev
6. Felix Auger-Aliassime
7. Daniil Medvedev
8. Taylor Fritz
9. Holger Rune
10. Hubert Hurkacz
11. Cameron Norrie
12. Alexander Zverev
13. Matteo Berrettini
14. Pablo Carreno Busta
15. Jannik Sinner
16. Frances Tiafoe
17. Marin Cilic
18. Lorenzo Musetti
19. Karen Khachanov
20. Nick Kyrgios
21. Denis Shapovalov
22. Borna Coric
23. Alex de Minaur
24. Diego Schwartzman
25. Roberto Bautista Agut
26. Dan Evans
27. Miomir Kecmanovic
28. Grigor Dimitrov
29. Francisco Cerundolo
30. Sebastian Korda
31. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
32. Yoshihito Nishioka
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023 WOMEN’S SEEDS
1. Iga Swiatek
2. Ons Jabeur
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Caroline Garcia
5. Aryna Sabalenka
6. Maria Sakkari
7. Coco Gauff
8. Daria Kasatkina
9. Veronika Kudermetova
10. Madison Keys
11. Paula Badosa
12. Belinda Bencic
13. Danielle Collins
14. Beatriz Haddad Maia
15. Petra Kvitova
16. Anett Kontaveit
17. Jelena Ostapenko
18. Liudmila Samsonova
19. Ekaterina Alexandrova
20. Barbora Krejcikova
21. Martina Trevisan
22. Elena Rybakina
23. Zhang Shuai
24. Victoria Azarenka
25. Maria Bouzkova
26. Elise Mertens
27. Irina-Camelia Begu
28. Amanda Anisimova
29. Zheng Qinwen
30. Karolina Pliskova
31. Kaia Kanepi
32. Jil Teichmann
Follow live updates from the 2023 Australian Open draw in our blog below!
