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Australian Open, Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Tennis News

Australian Open draw: Rafael Nadal avoids both Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem


Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem are in the same half for the Australian Open draw, with Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev in the other.

World number one Djokovic is going for a ninth title in Melbourne this month, but he has been handed a tough draw with Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, and Dominic Thiem potentially between him and the final.

Thiem’s quarter of the draw is much kinder, with world number 8 Diego Schwartzman the highest ranked player he can face before the semi-finals.

On the other side of the draw, Rafael Nadal has a potential quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas to negotiate, although in-form Italian Matteo Berrettini may also have a big role to play.

World number four Daniil Medvedev, meanwhile, has been drawn in the sae quarter as compatriot Andrey Rublev.

ALSO READ: Australian Open draw: Serena Williams and Simona Halep on quarter-final collision course

Australian Open draw – standout first round matches (Mens)

Laslo Djere v Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic v Jermy Chardy
Dominic Thiem v Mikhail Kukushkin
Vasek Pospisil v Daniil Medvedev
Marin Cilic v Grigor Dimitrov
Kei Nishikori v Pablo Carreño Busta
Jannik Sinner v Denis Shapovalov
Matteo Berrettini v Kevin Anderson


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.