Less than a
week remains for the start of the first Grand Slam of the year at the 2024
Australian Open. The organization will conduct the draw ceremony, and fans can
watch it through the tournament's official sites on YouTube and Facebook on
Thursday at 1 p.m. AEDT on 11 January.
The draw
will determine the path that the tennis players will have to overcome
throughout the tournament, both in the men's and women's brackets. The 32 seeds
are already defined, led by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the men's
category, and Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka on the women's side.
Some
Absences
At the
moment, most of the players who will be in each draw have been confirmed,
either through ranking, wild cards, or protected rankings, although there are
still 16 spots to be defined through the qualifiers. However, the tournament
already regrets some withdrawals, with the most notable being Rafael Nadal,
whose participation was expected but recently confirmed that he is not in good
physical condition and has withdrawn from the tournament. Other significant
absences include 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios and the American Reilly
Opelka.
On the
women's side, there are even more notable absences, with injuries sidelining
former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, world No. 9 Karolina Muchova, and the
American Madison Keys (No. 15). Long-term absences are also noted due to the
pregnancies of Petra Kvitova and Belinda Bencic.
Top Seeds
Men's side
Novak
Djokovic (No.1/SRB)
Carlos Alcaraz (No.2/ESP)
Daniil
Medvedev (No.3/RUS)
Jannik
Sinner (No.4/ITA)
Andrey
Rublev (No.5/RUS)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (No.6/GRE)
Alexander Zverev (No.7/GER)
Holger Rune (No.8/DEN)
Women's side
Iga Swiatek (No.1/POL)
Aryna Sabalenka (No.2/BLR)
Coco Gauff (No.3/USA)
Elena Rybakina (No.4/KAZ)
Jessica Pegula (No.5/USA)
Ons Jabeur (No.6/TUN)
Marketa Vondrousova (No.7/CZE)
Maria Sakkari (No.9/GRE)