Australian Open 2023: Nadal to undergo tough opening test; Djokovic, Kyrgios drawn in same quarter

The 2023 Australian Open gets underway on Monday and will be the opening Grand Slam of the year. The draw for the competition was made on Thursday, with some exciting draws. Defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain has been handed a tough opening draw, as he will be up against unseeded but fast-rising left-hander Jack Draper of Great Britain. The latter is a 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor who has scripted two successes over the top ten players. Provided the 22-time Slam champion gets past him, he could still have Mackenzie McDonald or Brandon Nakashima in the following round. In the quarterfinal, he could face last year's runner-up Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

In the pre-quarters, Nadal could face Frances Tiafoe of the United States of America (USA). As for Medvedev, he will start against Marcos Giron of the USA and could face another American, Sebastian Korda, in the third round. As for record nine-time former AO champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, he is drawn in the bottom half and has been drawn alongside local favourite Nick Kyrgios. The latter can face Holger Rune of Denmark in the third and Andrey Rublev of Russia in the pre-quarters before a possible quarterfinal meeting against the Serbian.

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Meanwhile, Djokovic starts against  Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain. As for Rublev, he faces 2020 runner-up Dominic Thiem of Austria in the opener, while Matteo Berrettini of Italy is up against former world number one Andy Murray of the Brit. Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada begins against fellow countryman Vasek Pospisil, as the winner is in line to take on 2014 AO champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.